Last night I got home from our Christmas party around 9:30 and was checking snakes. I was misting my black-and-green speckled palm pit vipers (Bothriechis nigroviridis) and noticed that the big female Ive had for a year, yet has never eaten, was looking visibly skinnier than usual. Up to now, I've been suspicious that she was gravid due to her not eating but maintaining adequate body mass. I thought, "Man, she's really starting to show signs of not eating, I gotta maybe force-feed her soon or soak her to see if she's got a blockage". I misted them heavily and went out to check email, and then passed out cause a cold has me exhausted.
Well, I got up this morning and got ready for work, and turned on the light to the nigroviridis cage and noticed on the bottom of the cage under where the big female was coiled last night, an undeveloped ova!!! I was like "HOLY SH%T!!!"....at first I thought, Ah, she may have had one blocking her and couldn't deficate and may have caused her to not eat. Well, I thought I better look for any neonates, in case she dropped babies and that was the last slug. I looked and on some fake leaves I found two more undeveloped ova!!!!!! I carefully pulled them out with the first one and dropped them in a test tube with 25% formalin(concentration, not 25% of the test tube). I'm gonna let them soak a day, then fill the tube up the rest of the way with pure alcohol.
Tonight, I'll look closer for any babies, cause they are so tiny they could easily hide as I sometimes can't find the adults hidden in the fake vines, but just a rough inspection this morning didn't reveal any. AT LEAST, I know she's a viable female and it tells me she has no blockages and SHOULD start to eat now!
It holds promise for next year.
This is her drinking from the glass.
