Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious. Does she not grow as much during the pregnancy as they normally would? I have seen folks determine whether or not they think they will be getting slugs or neos.

You want them to look sloppy. More times than not, if the female " well into the pregnancy " is flopped out the sides like a pancake and very flattened, she will have a good litter or at the very least, have more babies than slugs. If she is thick, but the swelling is more tall " like a really nice and large loaf of bread " , more times than not, you can expect a high slug count or probably all slugs.In 17 years, I have seen this theory put to the test many many many times, in my collection and in others and it has had a 95% success rate.........John Johnson

I am assuming then you wouldn't really know until later into the term. Thanks for your response.

My female had the "loaf of bread" thing going on and produced 24 live with no slugs or stillborns. Not saying you aren't correct maybe my female just didn't know about your theory.

Chris Cnada-Smith

It is hard to explain this " theory " without having animals in front of you to show the signs to the exact.It takes a little experiance and their are also exceptions to most rules. This works most times than not, but there is always an occasional exception.....Johnson Herp

But I had the exact opposite..I'm not claiming to be an expert AT ALL, but my boa had a very tight buldge and just birthed 18 live with only one slug...

Terry

She had,like 21 slugs and 13 babies. What I noticed was that her neck area did not look like my female who had the perfect litter. They both were fed through pregnancy, but the one with the perfect litter looked like she was starving to death. She looked like her neck was shriveling up. Andy

That is another huge indication that I meant to bring up and I thank you for doing so. Looking more emaciated in the neck region, is definately a good indication of a good litter being produced. It is not that the neck is getting thinner, it is that; " The more viable babies that are present in the female, the more fat stores or reserves are being utilized by the babies. " ........Good observations!........Johnson Herp

I used to get nervous when seeing my female look so worn down. But I heard a long time breeder say - the worse that she looks toward the end of the term, the better your chances are of having a high count of live babies. My female tend to get very saggy and wide in the last month, like Johnson Herp had stated.
BTW ,, today is 103 POS for my 1st albino litter and luckily the female looks terrible (in a good way).
-----
--aka DMOG68

I only feed my female 3-4 times max after the POS, and not at all during the last month.
-----
--aka DMOG68