Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I palpated Hecate this afternoon, and I felt 8 good sized lumps, and 2-3 smaller ones towards the vent. I'd say each lump was about 1.5 to 2 inches in length, excluding the 2-3 towards the vent.

To me the lumps have grown in size from the last time I palpated, maybe a week or so ago. Could they have grown that much in size in only a week's time?

Can you feel a difference between fertile eggs and infertile ones? If so, please explain.

The 8 ones I felt, felt about the size and turgidity that I would expect fertile eggs to have (judging from wild snake eggs that I've found). And the 2-3 end ones felt quite a bit smaller and not as "full" feeling. Am I on the right track?

Thanks for any replies. =)
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

While I'm certainly no expert, especially on Corn snakes, I had a question about my blotched King and whether or not she was gravid. I was told that the 'slugs' always end up coming out first (though how they get there is anyone's guess!) and therefore would be nearest the vent. When my kingsnake finally lay her eggs, sure enough, one slug came first, followed by eight good eggs. I'm sure that you're feeling slugs and good eggs, and now you just have to have patience and she'll lay them in her own good time.
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~Sasheena

Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple, Licorice, Castle, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Pandora, Phantom, Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes, and Lady

How interesting that the slugs would be the first ones to come out. I would have thought it would be the other way around.

She looks to me to be very uncomfortable. Everytime I check on her, she's always switched positions, and is out cruising the tank in between rests in the laying box. Almost like a pregnant mammal, out and moving around trying to get situated to be comfortable.

Strangely enough, she's been laying in her box with her tail hanging out the hole. It's always from about an inch before the vent to tail tip that's hanging out. This mean anything? She usually has all of herself curled up within the container, and I have to remove the lid to see her.

I moved her into my bearded dragon's aquarium recently, because he had more floor space than in her cage, just to keep her moving around to try and prevent egg-binding. I think my BD is going to take over my huge bird cage I had for my cockatiel that suddenly died about a month ago. I need to get this cage out of the room and stop thinking about the bird anyway, and it'll be good use for my BD with wood to climb on and easier to clean than the wheat bran bedding. Hopefully he agrees that he likes it better. =P

As you may have noticed..I'm bored to tears. =P
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

How long has it been since your corn's last shed?

Her last shed was on May 26th, and that was also her last meal of a F/T fuzzy mouse.

She usually takes an adult mouse or gerbil in a normal meal every 10 days, so you can see how far she's cut down. I've never known her to turn down a meal either. Will even eat while in the height of blue.

She's out right now, cruising the perimeter of the enclosure.

I let her run across my hands tonight, and when an egg would go by, her body literally went up and down as my finger ran over the eggs. So I don't think these are exceptionally large eggs, but they do feel like fertile eggs, compared to the smaller more deflated feeling eggs more towards the vent.

I just hope they're fertile anyway. It'd bite to have to wait a whole other year. =P
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

Your snake should almost certainly lay her eggs within the next few days. I would be worried if she is wandering around the cage like that. She must not like your idea of an egg laying box. You might want to offer her an alternative just to be safe. Try taking a small shoebox (big enough for her to fit into tightly) and packing it to the top with moistened sphagnum moss. Make it so she has to 'dig' her way into the box, don't leave space at the top. Cut a hole in the lid and place the box inside her cage.

Just a suggestion... this is a critical stage. Either your snake will lay her eggs when she is due, or she will keep wandering and those nice big healthy eggs will keep growing inside her. If too many days pass beyond her due date, those eggs will have grown too large to pass. (and that's bad)

Not trying to scare you, but its better to be safe than sorry!

kk

Her nesting container is what she felt the most comfortable in. I tried 3 different size and shapes of Rubbermaid storage containers, and this is the one she spend hours and hours of time in. And it's filled full with moist sphagnum moss currently.

I had switched her nesting material from vermiculite to the moss, because she compacted the vermiculite down so much. It wasn't much of a nesting material, just more or less a wet floor. She doesn't seem to like the moss as much for some reason or another. I'll set up another container with the vermiculite like her previous laying container, and see if that's what she is wanting.

Here are pictures of her through out all stages of her gestation:

Picture taken before pre-lay shed, I'm guessing around the time of ovulation. She is quite swelled up.

Picture taken after her shed on May 26th, she isn't as visibly swelled up, hence why I didn't think she was gravid.

Pictures taken tonight. See what I'm saying about how she doesn't look gravid like pictures I've seen. I'm guessing its because she isn't carrying over 12 eggs, and they're all in a straightline down her body. You can still see skin between scales even when she's just sitting there, and not bent.

Thanks for the help you've given me. I think at this point she'll lay eggs, whether or not they'll be fertile I haven't the foggiest.
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

Sounds like you have everything covered, They only thing that makes me curious now is the fact that she ate on the 26th? Strange, most corn females I worked with wouldn't eat that close to laying but of course there are exceptions to every rule.

Also sorry if I preached at you, you obviously have a handle on the situation!!

kk

I know you have got to be going up the wall at this point. Patience is a virtue I'm afraid I never grasped

When my Ruby was getting ready to lay, she spent all her time in the nest boxt, till about a day before she laid, that day she spent cruising, I remember telling my boyfriend that I knew she was ganna lay that night because she was acting as uncomfortable as I did the night before I had my daughter And sure enough, the next morning, there were the little ivory gems

I think it must be typical to "work out" before laying eggs, it's a lot of work, and you know how they make women "walk the halls" to try and get labor going? I think that's what Ruby did, only she didn't have some old bitty nurse making her do it

FWIW: My pair we're not brumated and gave me 15 eggs, 2 slugs and one I killed by forgetting to watch the humidity.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

Well, she's got two laying chambers now: one with moss and one with vermiculite. And if she doesn't like either of those two, I can make her a perlite one (I have perlite left over from leopard gecko eggs). =P

Yeah, she wasn't really hungry when I put the mouse in her feeding box, as she ignored it completely. But as my little blizzard needs absolute privacy to eat, I left the room for 10 mins with everyone in their feeding boxes with the mice. When I came back, everyone had eaten theirs. Compared to the size of meal she usually eats, this was only a pinky mouse with peach fuzz hair showing.

I placed my hand under her while she was still in her cage this morning, and the eggs are bigger. She is still out of the boxes cruising the perimeter of the enclosure. But I guess she knows what she's doing, it's all up to her now.

I need to go mow the lawn, so I'll check back in on her today. I have a feeling that it'll be sometime tonight. Like IcedGoddess says, you just know.
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints