Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't know if I'm in the right forum, but I thought you guys might be able to help me.

I recently purchased a pair of Haitian Dwarf Boas (Tropidophis haetianus). The female appeared gravid and my suspicion was confirmed yesterday when she gave birth to one young. I don't have any experience with live bearers as my collection consists entirely of egg layers (rat snakes). I intended to start working with these and collect information about breeding dwarf boas over the next few months, but this has caught me a little by surprise.
With egg layers the process usually only takes a few hours at most (unless the animal is egg bound). How long does giving live birth take? Is it possible that it could take much longer? It has been well over 24 hours since the birth of the first baby and the female still looks like she might have a lot more in her.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Sacha

http://www.sachakorell.com
http://www.ratsnakes.com

I don't have expereance with this one. I have always missed the birth of my litters. I always show up 10-15min after the fact. GOOD LUCK.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

I do not have alot of live bearer experience but what I do have they are usually finished within a few hours. If she does not drop any more neonates but remains looking like she is holding some you may want to take her to a vet to see if she is bound up. (slugs can become "egg bound" inside the female with the same effect as a python being egg bound) Good luck with her and I hope she doesn't have any serious issues.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

Thanks for trying to encourage people to reply, bahreptiles.

I got an e-mail from Linda who told me to massage the abdomen and encourage the female to crawl around to hopefully induce some muscle contractions. I followed her advice, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I just took her to my vet this morning and he administered a dose of Oxytocin to induce labor. He told me that with cold blooded animals it may take overnight to take effect (as opp. So I guess I'll wait and see. He gave me another dose of Oxytocin for tomorrow in case she hasn't given birth to the rest.

Thanks for the advice, Linda!

Sacha

it may kill the baby's, i won't tell you any horror story's about Oxytocin,but it seems alot of vets don't know what there doing when it comes to reptiles,please keep us posted on this,,Greg VanZweden

If I may suggest... don't double up on the oxytocin. You may induce contractions to the point of tearing up the oviducts. If the snake has a big slug blocking her up, oxytocin will not help and may do serious damage.

Find a good vet surgeon and get your options on removal.

What part of the country are you in?

Doug Taylor

>>it may kill the baby's, i won't tell you any horror story's about Oxytocin,but it seems alot of vets don't know what there doing when it comes to reptiles,please keep us posted on this,,Greg VanZweden

About three hours after the Oxytocin injection, the female gave birth to 10 more babies (no slugs), and they all seem well. The female seems ok for now, however it feels as though she still has one lump in her, but it may be part of her last meal which she had a day before the birth of her first baby. This lump is at about mid-section of her body, so I don’t know. She had her last meal on Wednesday so I’m thinking that she should have already digested most of it. I’m a little hesitant to give her the second dose of Oxytocin, and may wait until Monday to consult with my vet and possibly have her x-rayed if that lump hasn’t moved and is still the same size.
My vet is very knowledgable about reptiles, and he's been treating my animals for over 10 years. I live in North Alabama.

Thanks for all your concerns and suggestions.

I have attached a couple of pictures of the first born Haitian Dwarf Boa.

Sacha

I'm glad she finally gave birth and hope the remaining lump resolves itself over the next day or two. What tiny babies they have! I've been looking at the Tropidophis for a while, very pretty little snakes! I've heard they start out as lizard and frog eaters . Please continue to post as to their feeding progress and I hope your female recovers quickly.

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Lora

Great snakes and pics, Sacha. I hope everything works out and keep us posted. I've been wanting to see some posts on dwarf boas for a long time and didn't know which forum to go to either. Maybe this is the one

terry