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Interesting litter today (09/18)

rainbowsrus Sep 18, 2013 12:00 PM

I checked on my females this morning at 9:45 and noticed Abby had two babies already born and working on the rest. I pulled out her hide and she did not seem to mind so I watched the whole process and had several interesting events/observations.




At one point Abby actually latched onto a live baby. The first one born was out cruising and she opened her mouth and closed it on that baby about an inch or so down it's neck. I did not wait to see what would happen, I applied light pressure on the sides of her jaw, she opened her mouth and the live baby was free. Immediately pulled it and put it in a separate tub.

4th out was a slug and she had to work extra long/hard to get it out. Something I have seen and noted before.

Most babies were born by "blow a bubble with sack/fluid and baby flows into it", something I documented earlier this year but I also noticed today that often the head is in the first body parts to pass through the vent into the bubble.

One baby (pic shown) was born with the sack burst, head and one body loop outside the vent. I reached in and gently pulled the baby out, it was fine.

One more baby was born with sack burst but was breach. Most was outside mom but the head was still inside. Again I assisted by gently pulling the baby the rest of the way out. Again, this baby was fine. For both of the burst sack births Abby was having a harder time passing the baby out and without intervention I think could have resulted in a still birth. As I think back I cannot remember one single still birth baby being in it's egg sack, all were separated.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Replies (3)

rainbowsrus Sep 18, 2013 03:22 PM

Second time mom, baby was out and cruising around. I really thought she was doing the normal nudge everything when her mouth opened and closed on that baby. It was fine, she did not clamp down hard, pull or strike at all. May have let go on her own but I was not waiting to find out.

Always seeing new things, even after so many litters this one was with some new observations.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

ccphoto Sep 19, 2013 09:02 AM

Congrats on the litter!

This may seem like an odd question, but did the dam actually pierce the skin of the baby or was it more of a gentle grip to move the baby/keep it near? I only ask because the behavior would resemble what we see in crocodilians moving babies. Odd.
-----
Chris Carille
Marist College and Mount Saint Mary College, NY
Department of Biology
Chris Carille Photography - carillephoto.com
Garden of Eden Exotics - edenexotics.weebly.com
http://nyexotics.blogspot.com/

rainbowsrus Sep 19, 2013 10:17 AM

I did not see any holes....
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

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