Attached is photo of gravid Eastern indigo. Based on past years, she's further along than I'd like her to be. Behavior and shedding schedule suggest that eggs will arrive in early February. In past years any clutches of indigo eggs that have come for me this soon were always infertile. This snake is over seven ft. with a normally slender self that has become much heavier. She was second in breeding rotation, alternating with a much younger female during November and December. That snake appears to be on track for March eggs. Both females have produced fetile eggs in the past. Female pictured produced a small clutch (6 eggs) for her size last year. Other female skipped after producing her first clutch 6/03. Because of her size and good appetite since June 2004, I didn't hesitate to breed female in question without skipping a year. We'll see what develops.
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Gravid Eastern: too early?
Replies (1)
but by way of comparison my unis begin courting/chasing on their own right around labor day and lay just about on st. patrick's day w/out fail every year..... you could set your watch by them. natural photoperiod is the 'courtship' trigger apparently as they are surrounded by windows on 3 sides and it is still quite warm here at that time of the year. but why there's always a 30 week gap between the start of courtship and the appearance eggs is due to the females discretion i suppose.........dan
