Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, here we go. My female Dumerils just shed on the 6th of this month. Now she is starting another shed cycle. She eats 1 large rat every sunday. Normally sheds once every 2 months. It has only been 3 weeks since she shed last. I know I need to just watch and see what happens. But, is there a possoblilty that this could be a pre-ov shed? I have been pairing her with my male for around 2 months now and they have locked up several times.

I think you asked this last month too? Have you seen her ovulating? A very large mid-bodied bulge that only lasts a few hours. I would have thought you'd have seen this between this post and the one from last month. Keep an eye out...an overall darkening of her coloration over time will be another indication your female is gravid.

Bill

No, I haven't seen any ovulation swell. Could have missed it though, I work outside of home. Could have happened while I was at work. I'm sorry if I'm a pain, I'm just excited and impatient, this will be my first pairings, I also have ball pythons that I'm trying to pair.

I have the same problem! I'm usually gone 3-4 days/nights per week. Did you properly cycle them prior to seeing the courtship activity? Ground Boas are famous for copulating..w/no end results. Same w/my Sanzinia. Unless properly cycled neither adult will develop those particulars necessary for the ultimate goal (viable semen, ovum). My male Mad. Ground Boa keeps attacking and constricting the female when introduced so I have a whole other set of problems to deal with!

As an example my Sanzinia need to get into the 50s for proper cycling.not for the faint of heart. I don't drop the Ground Boas quite that drastically but aim for the mid 60s for a few hours each night..w/a good warm-up for 4-5 hours per day.

Bill

Well, I'm concerned about them getting too cold with all the cold snaps we've been getting down here in Florida lately, I have been keeping one small heat pad under their tank, but, they are in a 55 gallon tank, three quarters fo the tank has no heat under it. The ambient temp in that room is around 70-75 degrees. Is this cool enough for them?

As long as they get a good "warm-up" during the day I would drop them cooler than that. I have all my Madagascan Boas on 14 hrs. of "night", 10 hours of "day" and will drop the day light to 8hrs next week. The heat is only on during the day for 4 hours and I'm using Kane Heat Mats so even though the pad is warm, the ambients around them are still cool. Even when the pad warms up the females stay off it but the males can be glued to the heat at the expense of courting. I watch the males, if they're glued to the heat I decrease it a bit, if not I'll even leave it on for another hour.
A good sign of success is if your female becomes glued to the heat after breeding/ovulation. Her instincts will drive her to keep the developing follicles nice and warm.
My cycles just started Nov.1 as it takes awhile for things to cool down here in Vegas. My Ground Boas still feed when in the low 70s to high 60s w/no ill effects though I don't normally feed during brumation. As a matter of reference my Ground Boas are in a 4'x3'x2' cage.
Bill

I can say that I understand what you are saying. Both of mine are staying on the cool side of the tank. When it warms up during the day, the female climbs into her water tub submerges everything except her head. I guess this her way of staying cooled down. I have been keeping close records of everything going on with her since November 13th. If you like I can post this info here so you can see what's going on.

Micromanaging..for lack of a better term will end up driving you crazy in the long term. Daily details are'nt needed. If the macroenvironment and the cycling parameters are done properly they'll do what they've evolved to do. A herper I greatly admire told me once "no wonder you can breed all this odd stuff, your being gone all the time for work forces you to leave your snakes alone"!

I don't handle any of my snakes except to clean and other husbandry stuff. I feed sparingly so as to keep my animals lean. Obesity is probably one of the biggest hurdles most breeders face...it really, really hurts successful fertilization. If you're housing them together and have the cage space to separate them pull the male, cycle them properly for say 5 weeks, then introduce the male during the cool down at night. Then watch. If nothing happens w/in 6-8 hours pull him for a week and retry.

My Bar Neck Scrubs will copulate then act as if the other one isn't even there. A 4 day break and they're right back at it.

Bill

OK, I'll try that. They did lock up 4days ago for around 6.5 hrs. I'll ull him in the morning and remove all heat from thier cages, see what happens. Thanks for the help.

At this point, you're hitting a sensitive point. You've had them together, they've been courting/copulating, and now you're thinking of pulling all heat??? I'd keep some heat, if your female keeps seeking the coolest environment, do something to drop your ambients a little more. Just watch her for your cues. If she happens to ovulate this far in, and you pull all her heat...then what? Anytime I think I've missed my window, I don't try to start over, I just wait. Cooler temps. are coming, just relax, enjoy the holidays and things will take their course. I promise you, Dumerils are not that difficult to breed. Leave them to it, just be there to tweak things as you observe them. If you think your patience is bad now, wait until you know she's gravid. I'd recommend not breeding pythons for a while, lol. Checking the eggs every 5 minutes probably isn't good for them, lol. Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Thanks for the advice. Impatients is a real bear to deal with isn't it? Problem with droppping the ambients in the room is that I have other reptiles in the same room. I live in a trailer down here and space is at a premium.

OK, Merry Christmas, the female Shed tonight while we were at a friends house for Christmas dinner. Here's a pic of her after her fresh shed.

Get that other snake out of there. If you can.
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Pat Higdon - Higdons Herps, Tuttle, Oklahoma USA
Oklahoma City Herpetological Society Member
4 dumerils boas, 1 bci boa, 2 rosy boas, 3 burmese pythons, 1 reticulated python, 2 ball pythons, 1 borneo python, 10 bearded dragons, 4 leopard geckos, 2 african fat-tail geckos & 1 sulcata tortoise

Definitaly not trying to argue with you Pat, I'll get him out of her enclosure, but, why? Do you see any problems with her?

nice share bro...

Good Point!!!

It is easy to get impatient with Dums. For example, my last female dropped two very large slugs on the 26th, OF THIS YEAR, and she ovulated in December of 2009. She still has 3 soft lumps in her, so hopefully she will drop the rest, whether it be slugs or neonates, very soon.

A buddy of mine had a female take a full week to finish having babies.
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Pat Higdon - Higdons Herps, Tuttle, Oklahoma USA
Oklahoma City Herpetological Society Member
4 dumerils boas, 1 bci boa, 2 rosy boas, 3 burmese pythons, 1 reticulated python, 2 ball pythons, 1 borneo python, 10 bearded dragons, 4 leopard geckos, 2 african fat-tail geckos & 1 sulcata tortoise