Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all let me say thanks to all of you who gave me suggestions on incubating GTP eggs! The good news is I have a very good incubator all ready to go! 95% humidity 88 degrees!

However I am worried that my GTP may not be gravid. I bought her and her partner, a proven breeding pair, I started breeding her fri-sun at the first of Sept for 5 weeks. I saw them lock tails almost every night! The female started feeding ravenously like the book said she would and she swelled up for a day or so like the book said she would. She progressively got bigger and pretty chunky looking. She continued to feed every week on a small rat and was more than eager to get the rat, she would actually fly up out of the top of the cage and snatch the rat before I could even get it to her and she never used to do that. She passed urates once. Her humidity is 85% (fogger in tank) Her temps have stayed at 83-84 with a basking spot on one end of 92-93.

The prev owner told me and sent me photos of her mating, laying eggs in terra cotta pot and of the eggs hatching. I have a terra cotta pot set up the same way for her now. She just shed about 12 days ago and during her shed cycle she looked so plump her belly was obviously large. Then this morning she had her first bowel movement since Sept. It was a bit bigger than her usual but not much so.

I know her last clutch was 16 eggs. She has always been full bodied and still now seems a bit hefty her mid to rear but not nearly as plump as other pictures I have saw of gravid GTP's. She moves from her high perch to low perch quite often. I thought that she would beging laying after the bowel movement but she hasn't went in the terra cotta pot. Now that she has had the bowel movement, her mid section is not as huge as it looked for the last month. I know that snakes get puffy near their vent when about to defecate and after it is smaller.

Any thoughts anyone? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Take care
Jason

Lower temps, lower temps, and keep pairing. Try to get your night time temps around 68-70. Lower your day time basking temp to about 86-88.....93 is TOO HOT. Keep pairing them. If your female is feeding like you say, she is not gravid.

Read the breeding section of your book again, and when you are done, read it again. Keep pairing them until you see no interest and your female stops feeding. Once she stops, be watching for her to ovulate a few weeks later. You'll notice this by her constant shifting on the perch and looking like she just ate a huge meal. The swelling will subside in 24-48 hours.

Here is a series of pics of my most recent ovulation.

11/20/08 Showing typical "pale" look with "flattened" head.

11/26/08 Slightly bloated look. And beginning to "roll" her sides.

12/1/08 Full on ovulation. Constant shifting, uncomfortable appearance, and HUGE mid-body swelling.

Keep pairing, lower temps, and good luck.

Brandon Osborne
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

Oh yes, during the whole month of august i cooled them before breeding and kept it cool at night down to 70 during the 5 weeks they bred. Then after I thought she was all swollen up, I kept daytime at 84 on coolside and a basking spot at 92, the basking spot is just one small section on her high perch though. Her cage is 3 feet long, 2 feet high and 2 feet wide. And after the breeding I kept night time at 78 with no basking spot area. Then after what I thought was her prelay shed, I kept the temps at 83/84 all the time.

Here are a pic of them breeding and a pic of how plump she looked before she shed.

I still think your temps are too high. In my opinion, 84 on the cool side is still way to hot. Most of my animal sit around the 84 range, which is just shy of the heat source. I also continue to cool until I get eggs. It is my opinion, notice I said MY opinion, that excessive heat during fertilization or ovulation can kill sperm.

Females will usually take on a pale color, appearing as though they are stuck in a shed cycle. Their heads look skinny and flat, as opposed to the usual bulbous brain look.

Although for me, this Sunflower's ovulation was only about 6 weeks after breeding, it is unbelivably quick for things to happen this fast. If I were you, and I didn't see an ovulation, I would continue to cool them and pair them on and off. Like I said, my room thermostat is set to a 68 drop from 8 pm until 6 am. This is when most of the magic happens.

From the looks in the pics, it appears she is in shed in the second and third pics. Her color looks to be taking on the effects, but it's not quite typical of aru types. From what I know, they tend to be the most BLUE of all locales when gravid. Her head still looks nice and plump, but as you say, her body doesn't.

Keep cooling, lower temps more, and keep pairing them. You could be missing your window of opportunity.

Good luck.
Brandon Osborne

>>Oh yes, during the whole month of august i cooled them before breeding and kept it cool at night down to 70 during the 5 weeks they bred. Then after I thought she was all swollen up, I kept daytime at 84 on coolside and a basking spot at 92, the basking spot is just one small section on her high perch though. Her cage is 3 feet long, 2 feet high and 2 feet wide. And after the breeding I kept night time at 78 with no basking spot area. Then after what I thought was her prelay shed, I kept the temps at 83/84 all the time.
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>>Here are a pic of them breeding and a pic of how plump she looked before she shed.
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

I put Merlin in with Medusa late last night and he must really like mating with her, it wasn't an hour and he had locked tails with her. And what stamina he has, he has been locked up with her tail for hours now. I snapped a few photos of them breeding again. Hopefully this time it will take. I am going to mate them every fri sat and sun until they just wont mate anymore. Wish me luck on round 2! I have temp in cage at night at 70 and day at 83 and took out the basking spot until I can get a smaller bulb. Humidity is at 99% now, I just hooked up a zoo med repti fogger and it is awesome!