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i have a female that has been in my care for 7 months now she ate when i first got her but has been off feed since mid to late oct. she did go through a small cooling period in dec. when i was making her a new cage, then i got her temps regulated back to normal. i have monitored her weight and she hasnt lost any. she is now sitting at 1995gms. last week she went into the opaque phase of shedding wihtout have eaten for 7 months. she was constantly on the cool side of her cage. now as she is about to shed i have noticed that she is definately swelling a little an has moved back to the warm side. now here is my question. she has not been with a male while in my care. i do have a 500gm very healthy male pied. if i put them together right after she sheds is there a chance i could get eggs. or did she some how store sperm for this long a period of time form a breeding befor i got her.thanks for the info.

joe

Joe,

I was just about to answer your post below.

Without seeing her it is hard to say what is going on. I strongly doubt that she is gravid. When you mentioned swelling, you said it was little. Ovulation is BIG! However, I had a female last year that displayed all the signs and I didn't witness ovulation. She laid 8 perfect eggs for me. It was a nice surprise.

I would countdown 27 days from the time she sheds. If she starts nesting on the warm side and forms a perfect coil with one week to go, you might be in the money. I also find that gravid females spine stick out more when they are close to laying eggs.

As far as introducing you Pied male, I wouldn't at this time. If she did ovulate it is too late.

Hope this helps!

MJ
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she hasnt been anywhere near a male for 8 months. is it possible to store sperm from a previous mating for that long a period of time.

thanks for the response i will just have to wait and see.

joe