Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4.5 year old Irian Jaya Carpet that I just found out is ovulating. She was acting a bit strange so I took her to the doctor just for a regular checkup. The doc said her calcium is high (a symbol of ovulation) but that she's a bit anemic. The thing that has me worried is that usually she is a fantastic eater. The moment the rat is in her cage, she is on it and eating within minutes. Just this past month though, I've had three unsuccessful feeding attempts. Once with a fat small rat (borderline medium), once with a regular small rat (her usual diet), and once with a mouse. It's been over 4 weeks now and she has not eaten. Should I be concerned?? What are typical feeding habits during ovulation? This is her first cycle, so I'm a bit new to all this...

Thanks!

A lot of pythons will go off feed when gravid. Its nothing to worry about unless they are too thin. Both of my female Irian Jaya are gravid and neither has ate for about a month. After they lay the eggs and are seperated from them they will eat a lot and bounce back quickly.

Jaremy
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Jaremy Douglas

Did you see a bulge from ovulation and has she started her prelay shed cycle yet?
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Jaremy Douglas

She is definitely thick around the midsection, but I didn't see a noticable bulge. She has looked like she is going to shed for a couple weeks now... in fact she went into ovulation just as she was due for a shed, but her eyes have not blued. She still doesn't seem to show any interest in feeding, but I don't try every day. Do snakes always lay an egg when they go through this cycle?

"She is definitely thick around the midsection, but I didn't see a noticable bulge. She has looked like she is going to shed for a couple weeks now... in fact she went into ovulation just as she was due for a shed, but her eyes have not blued. She still doesn't seem to show any interest in feeding, but I don't try every day. Do snakes always lay an egg when they go through this cycle?"

The wording of your post is a bit confusing.

If you didn't see a noticable bulge then what are you calling ovulation and what do you mean by, "she went into ovulation just as she was due for a shed"? If you didn't see a noticable ovulation then you don't know if she has ovulated and if her eyes didn't go blue how do you know she is in a shed cycle? Is her belly blue? Carpets appear bulged as egg follicles develop. So much so that you think it is ovulation. A good indicator that a female has ovulated is if your male loses interest after this bulge and the female turns opaque.

If a python ovulates it has to lay eggs. They may be infertile or fertile but they will lay eggs if they ovulate.
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Jaremy Douglas