Posted by:
wohlerswi
at Thu Mar 20 15:26:47 2014 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by wohlerswi ]
I appreciate the input, but you are jumping to conclusions based on assumptions of your own. The thing is, she was brumating. She was almost completely inactive all winter, and yes you are right. Most colubrids still stay active during their winter cool down, but that doesn't mean that they arn't still psychologically and physically brumating. Even in the wild, colubrids will surface of warm days and hang out for a while. Temps only hit 54-55 for a period of a couple hours, on three seperate days. Every other day was below 49 but averaged around 46-47, and that was from Thanksgiving until Feb 20th so I know she was brumated, and cooled properly. I mean out of a couple hundred snakes, she is the only one to not brumate? That doesn't make any sense.
Ok now the reason I know she was brumating is the fact that she was inactive to the point of not even being able to finish her shed cycle till the end of brumation. If she would have finished her cycle before I put her down for the winter, then I am logically left to believe she would have laid these eggs right after she shed in the late fall. The thing is she carried these eggs in her all winter. Im lucky I didnt lose her during brumation just from the eggs solidifying in her. The first egg that she laid was solid as a rock, almost like a piece of urate. It was crazy. Obviously been in there for a long time. What I'm trying to figure out is how the hell did she survive the winter with them in her. I know snakes and hognose specifically are resilient creatures, but Im completely shocked she survived. Another reason for my post was just to see if anyone else has ever had this happen. Again I'm so shocked. I also question whether or not she should be bred this season. After that scare I believe its better safe than sorry for her, and gonna give her the season off.
[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]
|