Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a rather crummy shot today of my pyro Zunchara, who is in blue. I am hoping this is her pre-lay shed, but she does not seem to be very gravid. Since she mated from March 23 to March 31 I thought she ought to look more full by now. According to my calender she has until the 24th of May to produce any eggs. I would love to be pleasantly surprised, but am not optimistic. Has anyone else had females not seem gravid but actually produce a clutch? I have tried to gently feel her for eggs but being inexperienced and afraid of injuring her, can't tell.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

looks pretty plump to me... id wager 0.02 that she's gravid
good luck
,,,,,,,thomas davis
-----
Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Here is a better photo I just took of her in her moss hide. I sure hope I get a late May surprise.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Looks like possibly gravid in that pic. I've had pine snakes that didn't look gravid, including one this year, but not kingsnakes yet. Had a surprise clutch from a mandarin last year that didn't look gravid and she's not that big either. I'm hoping she is gravid now as she just shed and skipped her meal afterwards.
-----
Nick Puder
www.rnpreptiles.com

Here she is in March mating. She always looks very beefy, more so than any of my other pyros, so it is hard to tell much difference in girth now.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

She looks gravid. probably 4-5 long thin eggs.
-----
www.Bluerosy.com

The thing about the eggs is that as I imagine them inside the snake, they are long, thin and packed so closely together end to end that it is like a solid tube instead of sausage links in shape, so feeling any individual egg in the string is hard (at least for this neophyte! LOL!) When my other pyro Dotz laid her first five eggs, I was able to feel that she had two more to go as the space between the eggs increased since they were not packed so tight anymore.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Yes, not to say there aren't some great eggs in there, but many times when there are soft rubbery infertile duds, they are can be just as you described, and are often tough to feel.

I hope I am very wrong though, good luck with them Bob!

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

.
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

I redid the math and see that she has as late as early June to produce eggs, not May 24 as I previously stated. Math is my bane! LOL!
The one worry I have is that by the time she mated with Mazar he had been warm for several weeks and when not mating spent a lot of time on the UTH, so maybe his sperm got too warm? With Dotz he mated a few weeks after brumation and she produced 7 perfect eggs. Zunchara, the female in question, is about a month behind Dotz in the breeding. He had to wait for Zunchara to finish her post brumation shed during the time he mated with Dotz.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Cool!. In that case she could indeed be well on her way to producing some good viable eggs for ya!

good luck!

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

I also say she looks a little on the heavy side. Especially the lower 2/3 of her body. If it's her first year or if she is a little small the eggs will be smaller as well. Fingers crossed for you. I know the feeling. Feeling for eggs isn't really all that hard I just run my thumb down the belly following the direction of the ventral scales and keep a little pressure but let the bumps pass through without putting a lot of pressure. Mainly letting the snake relax and crawl through.The eggs are pretty tough (not saying squeeze the hell outta them) but you gotta figure they'll be coming out of a pretty small hole in the end anyway.
-JT

Here she is a about a week ago with her trio mates, the male and other female. She is the one with the very white bands. She is an 08, and this is her first breeding. She weighs about 270 grams. I will try to feel for eggs tomorrow; I think I have pestered her enough today! LOL!
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.