Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im watching 2 of my gravid girls here on day 90 pos, and they are both getting antsy. They are moving off the heat, and spreading out more as well. Nothing new to me , but I was wondering at how many days after pos (normal being 105) do the babies seem to have good chance of being viable and normal. I have had 98 days with no issues, and about 115 days with no issues. Love to hear from some of you. Thanks

Too me the further along the better make sure not mist the cage at all or hope a storm front doesnt come in, sometimes they will drop a lil earlier. I love when they go many days past the 105 POS you get healthy big full term babies.
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Richard Ceniceros

I agree 105 is ideal, and of course a huge storm front is on its way in tonight. I know that the closer to day 105 is best, but I want to know about the 85-95 days POS. Has anybody had success when thaey are born this early, and did thaey do anything special to make this happen? The normal that I have seen. The female gets restless and will drop the babies 7-14 days after she becomes restless and out of her coiled up for 90 days mode.

I cannot add a good response or helpful to your question, so I can't really answer the question.

What I do know and have experienced plenty, is at about the 2 week mark, meaning 14 days until parturition.

At right around that point if a fem has a slug litter, slug heavy litter,14 days that's the danger zone
when they usually drop Slug . . . slug heavy and/or a few preemie type baby litters
from my experience.

So I always get very nervous at that 14 day mark, especially if a fem looks a little off or not too full looking
making me believe she might have slugs, I get very nervous at the 14 day mark.

. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz

I Support USark.org

They are both stuffed to the gills. I have never seen any of my females look so full, from 2/3 of the body down it looks like a continuous ovulation. Hope they are nice healthy babies. Thanks for your input.

I have had many litters that came earlier than the 105 day point. Many that were perfectly fine too with the earliest at 95 days if I remember correctly. That happened to be a relatively small female. She probably heated up quicker and so the babies just cooked a little bit faster. Few babies born at 105 days or later are problematic. As in excessively large bellies full of yolk.

All that being said, just keep on biting your nails. There isn't anything that anyone can say that will make that anxious feeling, that I have yet to feel this season, go away. My days are coming in about a week and a half. I still have three weeks to wait for the first one... another week and a half and I'll be right there with ya! : )
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK

Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site

No more nails left to bite, and I cant wait to see your gooey babies ! Thanks for the support

My own opinion on it is that early parturition is more likely the result of the overall health of the female than the result of most external forces (this would include being full of dead neos or slugs that affect toxemia). I think if a female has become run down during pregnancy, for whatever reason (not heavy enough to start with, having abnormally large litter, having touch of respiratory infection during the cool-down, lack of minerals/electrolytes perhaps from drinking purified water without eating for weeks/months or having bred several years in a row, etc.) then that is likely the biggest reason for going early. I doubt that spray misting has much affect unless it accompanies low-pressure systems flaring up. The benefits of misting to help keep the female from dehydrating (mine don't seem to drink alot like you'd think as the back-end swells) causing toxemia issues may outweigh potential problems...has anyone done an actual study? I'm also guessing there are issues pertaining to blood sugar as the juvies use up the mother's reserves quicker and quicker. That said, I've had females that are large and healthy give birth to smaller litters of smaller sized juvies, whereas small young females under identical care/temps give birth to big litters and large robust babies....I'm assuming that to be largely a genetic component. We mostly breed for colors in reptiles and will most likely start seeing genetic problems cropping up just as it has in show animals like show dogs bred for appearance instead of productivity (super motleys, super jungle problems being the first that come to mind, but that's mutations; I'm talking just that people don't tend to cull for productivity like in other "farming" situations). As for the storms moving in, one might consider giving a hide box, etc., if there are none...the safer, less stressed she feels the more likely she is to hold onto them a bit longer.

Thanks for the response. I wasnt overly concerned about my females dropping early, they were both very healthy 1st time breeders.(2005 and 2007) I dont use purified water, although the water in my county is some of the highest quality in the country (reverse osmosis). I agree with your answer that premature deliveries are usually a result of less than ideal husbandry, genetics.......... Today is day 93 and 94 by the way