Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys just wanted to see your thoughts on things. This is my Normal that I've been breeding to my Spider. I've only introduced them once. I know it's lazy, but the spider is only 2 years old and around 985g it's his first year breeding and I did't want to over due it with him. I've put him with two females and I've made sure that I waited for him to eat atleast once before reintroducing him again. Anyway... The normal has been doing a lot of cold seeking lately and has gained about 700g in the last few months feeding once a week. She just shed last week and this is what she now looks like. Unfortunately I don't have a picture prior to compare, but she looks significantly lighter to me. I've been trying to palpate for follicles and eggs, but I really can't feel anything, but what just feels like muscle moving, but this is my first try so I don't really know what I'm feeling for exactly. I was just wanting to know what you guys were thinking.
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1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python
0.2 Het for Axanthic Ball Python
0.1 Axanthic Ball Python

She went from 1700g to 2380g since Jan.
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1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python
0.2 Het for Axanthic Ball Python
0.1 Axanthic Ball Python

Put your male back in...
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Jason Amos

Ball Pythons
6.40
Dogs
1.1 Staffordshire Bull Terriers

Just did last night, was just wondering. Is that your way of saying no?
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1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python
0.2 Het for Axanthic Ball Python
0.1 Axanthic Ball Python

No one can tell you if she's glowing because you didn;t include another pic for reference.

As for her weight gain, all that says is that you feed her. Females don't gain weight when they ovulate, or are gravid, they gain weight from eating.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

the color change, or 'glow' as it relates to egg laying, is the first visible sign that your breeding is paying off. it doesn't happen out of the blue, there are other clues you can watch for. after you have done this for awhile, you will notice females that get 'puffy', just a little soft and a little fatter than normal. if you pick this up correctly, there is a mid-body bump when you slide her through your hands. this is the bb sized follicles, bunched up like grapes. the snake is probably still feeding well at this time. the next shed is key, she should come out of the shed with 'the glow', a noticiably lighter color, and in a few days, small pea sized follicles strung out past her midsection. this is the time, if you are still breeding, to pour on the male. those small follicles might grow quickley or slowly, so more breeding can't hurt. as the follicles grow, the snake will become less interested in food, a good clue is killing but not eating the rat. the follicles swell up to the size of ping pong balls. at this size they are easiest to count accurately. the snake will rarely reabsorb the follicles at this point, but the next sign seals the deal. the snake will develop a midbody lump, the pre-ovulation swell. at this point, i have never had a snake reabsorb follicles, or eat again until after the eggs are laid. after this is textbook, ovulation, 3 1/2 weeks to prelay shed, 30 days till eggs are laid. but paying attention to the smaller signals and understanding what they mean is good stuff to learn. hope that helps, kurt d.

Very good information thank you. I hope I'm not wishful thinking, but I'm pretty sure that is glow. The when you mentioned that around this time they may give up on food. I feed f/t so i cant tell about kill, but not eat, but she is typically a garbage disposal and i've actually never had her skip a meal. On Monday which was my last feeding day she showed no interest in the rat. I'm positive she is lighter in color than before. I just wasn't sure if maybe because she was gaining so much weight. I've heard that as they get bigger they can lighten up because the scales get bigger. Also it's unfortunate I don't have a picture of her before this shed, but at the very tip of her tale you can see there is darker color in her. That is her typical color. I'll re read the post. I was under the impression that after follicles the breeding was pretty much over and nature was going to take its course. I'm glad you responded. Sounds like my breeding season is just getting started. That makes me really excited because that means there's still hope for my pinstripe too.
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----------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python
0.2 Het for Axanthic Ball Python
0.1 Axanthic Ball Python