Is my snake pregnant?

[Alexander]

Hello guys,

I need some advise for my beatiful snakes. As i said in my first post they are still recovering from moving. They had mites and the shedding was horible.

First problem im having my male snake (2meter long) and shedding goes horrible. the biggest issue is his eyes. He has skin codering his eyes and i cant get it off.

The humidity is 80% and the temp is 30 degrees. 20 degrees at night. The floor is coverd with cocos vibers and water. There is a wooden stick. And the water bowl i replaced with a oven scale since they both fit in there completely.

Also i think my female (1.80 meter)is pregnant. She is doing much better and is seems to have more bodyfat in a healthy way. I bought the male and the female together and they seem very happy to be together. They usually lay tangeld into eachother with the female head on top of the male head. Now when i checked them earlyier i noticed the males hemipenes were out just a little bit. I decided to give him a bath in the kitchen sink. Now a fiew days later i notice my femeles skin is starting to glow and i can litterly see rainbows in her skin when the light is on. That means its about a week before shedding. Does this mean its POS? Or is she just shedding becouse of the move?

I am having a little trouble with the snakes and they are not cheap at the moment but they are really timit and will probably never bite me or even try to bite him.

Thanks

Alexander
(Not a native english speaker dont judge my english)

[Tsubaki]

First of all, no matter what, someone is going to ask this ..so it might as well be me. Why do you house them together? There are more good reasons to house snakes separately, than there are to house them together, which I won't get into too much now because that's a too long story to type out on my phone at this moment .. It's going to be long enough as is. Do want to mention that they aren't happier together, that is not how a reptile functions. I would seriously consider housing them separately, especially during recovery from such an ordeal. (Good you saved them though! Don't get me wrong)

So the humidity, do you measure this digitally or analog? If not digitally; Did you test your meter? (Some can be way off, I had one that was 40% off) Do you spray water or is the humidity achieved otherwise? Do you offer more humidity during sheds? (Another reason to house separately, raising humidity for a shedding animal without forcing non shedding roommates into high humidity) do you offer humid hides?

Secondly the temperature, how do you heat the enclosure, and do they have a gradient? (Can they lie someplace cooler) Also is 30C° the hotspot or ambient (air temperature)?

Rainbow glosses on the skin doesn't have to mean sheds, my healthy animals glow like rainbows under proper light, it's just how light refracts of their scales. Foggy blue eyes and muted colour / pink bellies, amongst other things. These do indicate sheds, which you probably knew. Did you see a lock between them? Did you observe an ovulation on the female? If you are unsure how to look for these things, another good reason to house them separately. Also if they were mistreated, having a litter is probably not the best thing for the females body right now.

P.s. Your English is fine, don't apologise for it. :)

[Alexander]

Thanks for the reply @Tsubaki

I mainly house them together becouse I bought them as a koppel, they were always together and like I said they dont seem to compete for heatspots (they lay together in them) and get food outside of the cage.

About the humidity, I have the coco fiber bedding which is pretty moist but healthy so they don't get rotten scubs. When nessicary I will spray the sides. I have no bedding on one side and there is a platform on which I put a towel just in case they want to lay dry. (Under the platform is a big hide and they slide trough the towel to lay there pretty much

All of this seemed like enouf humidity do you think i needa humid hide?

I also need to mention that I didn't plan on breeding yet, i have the light on 12 hours a day and the heat is like i mentioned not colder then otherwise.

30 degrees is the heatspot, the coolpoint is about 24. At night its all 20

Im sorry I was not very clear in my message, I can always see the rainbows but when they shed you can see the skin getting thicker, then those rainbows are amazing.

I have a digital divice to measure the humidity and temperature.

The female is however in a much better shape then the male, she misses scales on top of her "back" but she looks much healthier then a fiew weeks ago.

Hope this helps.

P.S I read a lot of information online about snakes and taking care of snakes but i got to say i keep bumping in to new information.

[Tsubaki]

Thanks for the reply @Tsubaki

I mainly house them together becouse I bought them as a koppel, they were always together and like I said they dont seem to compete for heatspots (they lay together in them) and get food outside of the cage.
It is not about competing for hotspots, if one of the animals has a weird stool. You won't know which one. If one of them gets sick, keeping the other one healthy is a lot harder. Feeding outside of the enclosure is necessary with multiple animals in one enclosure, but unnecessarily stressful. Feeding in the enclosure has my strong preference. Also moving an animal that just ate is always a risk, one I would personally never take. If they ever get into a fight, they could seriously injure each other or worse. If its a pair like you said, they will inevitably breed if they are comfortable enough. Some need extra stimuli but others don't, just having a good enclosure might mean they will start breeding. Constantly breeding is very straining for the female, another reason not to keep them together. Also they might never fight now, but if the male is determined to mate and the female does not want to this could easily cause problems. It could be they never bred before because they weren't kept properly (like you said they were in poor shape, betting because of poor conditions)


About the humidity, I have the coco fiber bedding which is pretty moist but healthy so they don't get rotten scubs. When nessicary I will spray the sides. I have no bedding on one side and there is a platform on which I put a towel just in case they want to lay dry. (Under the platform is a big hide and they slide trough the towel to lay there pretty much

All of this seemed like enouf humidity do you think i needa humid hide?

How moist is moist? If you squeeze it together in your hands does water come out easily? If so it's too wet. Wet bedding does not equal proper humidity. A slightly dry bedding so they can lie relatively dry everywhere is healthier than needing a towel to create a 'dry spot'. Cocofiber should be wet enough it slightly sticks to your hand and you can pinch a clump of it, but no water should seep out when you gently press it together. (I don't mean squeezing the life out of it)


I also need to mention that I didn't plan on breeding yet, i have the light on 12 hours a day and the heat is like i mentioned not colder then otherwise.

Cooling them down and shortening days makes them more eager to breed. You indeed do those things deliberately if you want to breed, simple because it stimulates the animals to do so.. BUT not doing so, does Not mean they will not breed. Some will mate, don't assume they don't know what season it is. I don't cool down my animals now because I'm not breeding this year, yet my boa males turned into female scouting ***holes that just have one thing on their mind. They really don't always need extra stimuli..


30 degrees is the heatspot, the coolpoint is about 24. At night its all 20

The hotspot may easily be 34/35, especially with recovering animals. I would advise raising it a bit. Do you use a thermostat? Do you measure ambient temperatures?



Im sorry I was not very clear in my message, I can always see the rainbows but when they shed you can see the skin getting thicker, then those rainbows are amazing.

Well it's hard to tell you if she is pregnant if you do not know if she ovulated/locked.


I have a digital divice to measure the humidity and temperature.

Good that should be relatively accurate, did you clear the males stuck shed? Especially his head/eyes should be cleared if he does not do so himself. You can put him in a box with a moist towel or a thin layer of lukewarm water, let him soak for a while and then very gently rub (with the scales, never against it) and see if it comes off.



The female is however in a much better shape then the male, she misses scales on top of her "back" but she looks much healthier then a fiew weeks ago.

Hope this helps.

P.S I read a lot of information online about snakes and taking care of snakes but i got to say i keep bumping in to new information.

Good that they're looking better, well done! There is always new things to learn, I've been in the hobby for about 17 years and yet I still learn every day. Do you have any pictures of them? Would love to see; particularly curious about those missing scales.

[MartinD]

Another thing about pregnant snakes is this......'The litters typically consist of approximately 25 baby snakes, but have a range of anywhere from a mere 10 to a massive 64 little ones.'......could you honestly look after that many baby snakes and if you have no outlet for them then you have got a massive problem on your hands

[Alexander]

Another thing about pregnant snakes is this......'The litters typically consist of approximately 25 baby snakes, but have a range of anywhere from a mere 10 to a massive 64 little ones.'......could you honestly look after that many baby snakes and if you have no outlet for them then you have got a massive problem on your hands

I would of course take care of them if she is actually pregnant, I would find curvers and stack them and order a 100 of those little mice, then after the first shed i would start feeding them. Thats what I know now, I would keep looking for information of course!

[Alexander]

It is not about competing for hotspots, if one of the animals has a weird stool. You won't know which one. If one of them gets sick, keeping the other one healthy is a lot harder. Feeding outside of the enclosure is necessary with multiple animals in one enclosure, but unnecessarily stressful. Feeding in the enclosure has my strong preference. Also moving an animal that just ate is always a risk, one I would personally never take. If they ever get into a fight, they could seriously injure each other or worse. If its a pair like you said, they will inevitably breed if they are comfortable enough. Some need extra stimuli but others don't, just having a good enclosure might mean they will start breeding. Constantly breeding is very straining for the female, another reason not to keep them together. Also they might never fight now, but if the male is determined to mate and the female does not want to this could easily cause problems.

How moist is moist? If you squeeze it together in your hands does water come out easily? If so it's too wet. Wet bedding does not equal proper humidity. A slightly dry bedding so they can lie relatively dry everywhere is healthier than needing a towel to create a 'dry spot'. Cocofiber should be wet enough it slightly sticks to your hand and you can pinch a clump of it, but no water should seep out when you gently press it together. (I don't mean squeezing the life out of it)

Moist as in a little muddy, not wet.


Cooling them down and shortening days makes them more eager to breed. You indeed do those things deliberately if you want to breed, simple because it stimulates the animals to do so.. BUT not doing so, does Not mean they will not breed. Some will mate, don't assume they don't know what season it is. I don't cool down my animals now because I'm not breeding this year, yet my boa males turned into female scouting ***holes that just have one thing on their mind. They really don't always need extra stimuli..

Oh i really thought that it may fool them thanks.

The hotspot may easily be 34/35, especially with recovering animals. I would advise raising it a bit. Do you use a thermostat? Do you measure ambient temperatures?

No I am buying a thermostat later this month, for now i keep the temperature in close sight and pretty stable.



Well it's hard to tell you if she is pregnant if you do not know if she ovulated/locked.

Well i gues i should wait and see.

Good that should be relatively accurate, did you clear the males stuck shed? Especially his head/eyes should be cleared if he does not do so himself. You can put him in a box with a moist towel or a thin layer of lukewarm water, let him soak for a while and then very gently rub (with the scales, never against it) and see if it comes off.

I will try that box idea, sound like it would work. I wiped a lot of the skin with a warm towel but the eyes stay covered.



Good that they're looking better, well done! There is always new things to learn, I've been in the hobby for about 17 years and yet I still learn every day. Do you have any pictures of them? Would love to see; particularly curious about those missing scales.

I will post a fiew pictures later today.

[bigsnakegirl785]

As mentioned already, separate them immediately. Adults can and will eat smaller adults, especially when there's breeding tension.

As far as the night drops they're completely unnecessary and actually pose a health risk. All heat should be maintained 24/7 or you risk respiratory infections. This is a large reason why very few boa breeders cycle their animals anymore. They don't tend to need to be cycled (as Tsubaki found out they're ready to go even without it), and many boas become ill when kept too cold, even if it's just overnight every night.

[Tsubaki]

I have always had a night drop, I do not agree with the statement that this is dangerous (if controlled well!). The night time temperatures are lower but not cold, should never be cold. I have never had a boa or python or any species become ill of a night drop, and consider it far more natural that their bodies aren't always kept on full. Boas do not get ill from a nightly drop, if so every boa on earth would be ill... Being kept in perfect conditions 24/7 makes animals frail imo.. I have never had a snake with an RI or even a cold.. Sick animals, or otherwise weak animals with a bad immune system are snakes that would get Ill from a perfectly natural nightly drop. I spend a whole lot more on fancy thermostats that mimic a natural drop, no regrets. I only provide night heat nearing daytime temperatures for sick snakes.

[Alexander]

As mentioned already, separate them immediately. Adults can and will eat smaller adults, especially when there's breeding tension.

As far as the night drops they're completely unnecessary and actually pose a health risk. All heat should be maintained 24/7 or you risk respiratory infections. This is a large reason why very few boa breeders cycle their animals anymore. They don't tend to need to be cycled (as Tsubaki found out they're ready to go even without it), and many boas become ill when kept too cold, even if it's just overnight every night.

But my female is just a little smaller and a lot fatter, I will get another tank whenever I get the oppertunity, in the meantime i hope they dont randomly start eating one another.

Most of my heat comes from the light, dont they need a day and a night?

[Andy_G]

As mentioned already, separate them immediately. Adults can and will eat smaller adults, especially when there's breeding tension.

As far as the night drops they're completely unnecessary and actually pose a health risk. All heat should be maintained 24/7 or you risk respiratory infections. This is a large reason why very few boa breeders cycle their animals anymore. They don't tend to need to be cycled (as Tsubaki found out they're ready to go even without it), and many boas become ill when kept too cold, even if it's just overnight every night.

No. Healthy individuals can handle night drops of a few degrees. The reason that a lot of breeders don't cycle is because it isn't necessary...not because it poses a health risk.

[Tsubaki]

In my opinion they do, I prefer to have them know exactly whether it's day or night. If you feel they are still weak, providing extra heat during the night is good. A heatmat would be enough, they can choose to lay on it if they need it. I had a rescue redtail that had one the first few weeks, she stopped using it as intensively when she had gained some weight. Offcourse she did still use it on occasion, she just no longer needed it. Became more active during the night. A healthy animal doesn't require picture perfect Day-time temperatures day and night, i keep my boas on 23C° during the night. Another tank is a very good idea! I doubt they will eat each other soon, but Bigsnakegirl is absolutely right, there is a risk. I'm never willing to take that risk, I house all my snakes individually.

[Tsubaki]

No. Healthy individuals can handle night drops of a few degrees. The reason that a lot of breeders don't cycle is because it isn't necessary...not because it poses a health risk.


Imo breeders ... Besides laziness and cost efficiency.. Do this it so their low resistance weaker animals thrive better, if an animal is weak it can't be breeding and produce. Being kept at high temperatures constantly actually takes a toll on their bodies, but it keep them going as best as they can. You can give them a break from digesting, but if their bodies are kept on full active mode fully heated up all the time it's not healthy imo. I am certain, if I have a power failure and heat up my snakeroom to an acceptable night temperature.. My snakes will be fine, I've done nightdrops since they were babies. I look up avarage night temps for each species, burms need quite a high one..I use a temperature slightly above avarage, to keep them comfortable. If they get sick from a simple night drop, they would not be an animal I'd breed with. I wonder how an animal always kept on high temps would fare during a power failure, used to nothing. Perhaps comparable to keeping children absolutely sterile, a bit of dirt and they become ill. I bought one snake that was kept warm day and night, slowly eased him into a natural night drop, no issues.. Tbh .. it is very common here to have a night drop, many Dutch care sheets recommends it.

Atleast they did when I still read and wrote them :D

[bigsnakegirl785]

I have always had a night drop, I do not agree with the statement that this is dangerous (if controlled well!). The night time temperatures are lower but not cold, should never be cold. I have never had a boa or python or any species become ill of a night drop, and consider it far more natural that their bodies aren't always kept on full. Boas do not get ill from a nightly drop, if so every boa on earth would be ill... Being kept in perfect conditions 24/7 makes animals frail imo.. I have never had a snake with an RI or even a cold.. Sick animals, or otherwise weak animals with a bad immune system are snakes that would get Ill from a perfectly natural nightly drop. I spend a whole lot more on fancy thermostats that mimic a natural drop, no regrets. I only provide night heat nearing daytime temperatures for sick snakes.

I'm also not sure how cold their night drop is. The most I'd do a night drop is a hot spot down from 90F to like 85F, but all ambients should still be 80-85F. The RIs were in cases where all heat is turned off and the temps were 70-75F, rather than just a couple degrees drop, which I'm assuming is what OP is doing here as there is a 10 degree difference that they listed. Which is a very large temp drop.

As far as lights, no lights should be on at night at all as they can see them and it can disrupt their behavior.

[Tsubaki]

Google converts just as well for you as it does for me :D The home page is a converter/calculator. I am constantly converting on this forum as we do not use the Imperial measuring system or Fahrenheit. But I suppose I'll do the converting...

I drop mine from 90F to 75F Ambient, with it being slightly warmer directly at the source (32C° to 23c°). They're not cold, it's not like they always stay near the heat unless they're digesting (which goes without fail, even for my wildcaught animals) OP has them slightly cooler, I'd advise to slightly raise temperatures. I wonder how poorly cared for or physically weak those animals were that they all got RI's from a simple night drop. (Depending on the species, some, like burms, really need a higher night temp) In their natural habitat it sometimes drops even further down with a massive rainstorm to go with it, nights in a row even. It's not like every wild boa then suddenly has an RI. They're hardy, used to nights sometimes being cold. For a healthy animal a 9C° drop should only be beneficial, it's a mild drop as it is a normal/warm night temperature.. It's even milder because it's a stable constant temp with the availability of warming up a bit (simulating for example finding warmth in a pile of leaves or anything you can think of) Which they do when digesting, find the warmest spot around and stay there. But it's not like that warm spot achieves hotspot temperatures during the night. Also my male wildcaught suriname is digesting and last night he was laying on the cool side, the female digesting too on the warm side. If they were cold, they wouldn't go away from their hotspot. But instead sometimes they choose normal temps.

So many people keeping snakes like they're made of glass. Sterile tubs, picture perfect temps, feeding schedules down to the hour.. Anything cared for like that, is one slip up away from becoming sick. It reminds me of a kid that lived down the street, never allowed to do anything dirty/wet/cold/being a kid.. She was the type of kid that became sick if she forgot her scarf at home once.

Everyone should keep their snakes as they seem fit, but calling a different method dangerous just because someone messed it up somehow isn't fair. I'm not forcing everyone to do a night drop, but don't judge people that do. I've been doing it for 17 years without fail, all my personal snake keeping friends and even the local zoo have a night drop. We do not have sick animals, if it was dangerous atleast one of us should have experienced an RI at some point? I can't remember it happening. Unlike 24/7 stable temperatures, nightdrops make sense to me. I'm not calling it bad, It can't really be 'bad' if animals are thriving. I just think it's pampering, and pampered kids make bad survivalist. And pampering weak children makes them thrive too, because they're the ones that can't be kept 'normally' without showing their weakness. So by all means, have a night drop or don't, both methods works, both have pros and cons. But it's not as bad as that example made you believe. Also anyone reading this that doesn't have a night drop, don't suddenly give your animals a night drop, if they are not used to it they might get sick.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Google converts just as well for you as it does for me :D The home page is a converter/calculator. I am constantly converting on this forum as we do not use the Imperial measuring system or Fahrenheit. But I suppose I'll do the converting...

I drop mine from 90F to 75F Ambient, with it being slightly warmer directly at the source (32C° to 23c°). They're not cold, it's not like they always stay near the heat unless they're digesting (which goes without fail, even for my wildcaught animals) OP has them slightly cooler, I'd advise to slightly raise temperatures. I wonder how poorly cared for or physically weak those animals were that they all got RI's from a simple night drop. (Depending on the species, some, like burms, really need a higher night temp) In their natural habitat it sometimes drops even further down with a massive rainstorm to go with it, nights in a row even. It's not like every wild boa then suddenly has an RI. They're hardy, used to nights sometimes being cold. For a healthy animal a 9C° drop should only be beneficial, it's a mild drop as it is a normal/warm night temperature.. It's even milder because it's a stable constant temp with the availability of warming up a bit (simulating for example finding warmth in a pile of leaves or anything you can think of) Which they do when digesting, find the warmest spot around and stay there. But it's not like that warm spot achieves hotspot temperatures during the night. Also my male wildcaught suriname is digesting and last night he was laying on the cool side, the female digesting too on the warm side. If they were cold, they wouldn't go away from their hotspot. But instead sometimes they choose normal temps.

So many people keeping snakes like they're made of glass. Sterile tubs, picture perfect temps, feeding schedules down to the hour.. Anything cared for like that, is one slip up away from becoming sick. It reminds me of a kid that lived down the street, never allowed to do anything dirty/wet/cold/being a kid.. She was the type of kid that became sick if she forgot her scarf at home once.

Everyone should keep their snakes as they seem fit, but calling a different method dangerous just because someone messed it up somehow isn't fair. I'm not forcing everyone to do a night drop, but don't judge people that do. I've been doing it for 17 years without fail, all my personal snake keeping friends and even the local zoo have a night drop. We do not have sick animals, if it was dangerous atleast one of us should have experienced an RI at some point? I can't remember it happening. Unlike 24/7 stable temperatures, nightdrops make sense to me. I'm not calling it bad, It can't really be 'bad' if animals are thriving. I just think it's pampering, and pampered kids make bad survivalist. And pampering weak children makes them thrive too, because they're the ones that can't be kept 'normally' without showing their weakness. So by all means, have a night drop or don't, both methods works, both have pros and cons. But it's not as bad as that example made you believe. Also anyone reading this that doesn't have a night drop, don't suddenly give your animals a night drop, if they are not used to it they might get sick.

lol Yeah but I was tired and lazy, I was posting right before I went to bed. I do usually Google the conversions, it was just a little much work when I just wanted to get off the forum and go to bed. I just knew there was a 10 degree drop, which seems drastic.

And the examples I mentioned weren't single night drops. These were several months of shutting off all heat completely so they sit at room temp, which is 70-75F (21-23.8C) or even colder, with no option to hug any heat for 12 hours every night even after a meal. As long as there's some heat going at all, they're still going to be warmer than the temps you're keeping them at. The heat coming off of the heating elements is going to be a lot hotter than ambient temperature, so a boa kept at 70-75F with heating elements working is going to be warmer than a boa kept at 70-75F with no heating elements on. If that makes sense?

I've just never been able to achieve a 10 degree drop with heating elements left on, so this is just me assuming that there's no heat on. No matter what you do, there's most likely always going to be a night drop of at least 2-3 degrees, and that's not going to harm them.

I try to keep my animal's temps very stable. No more than a 5 degree difference throughout the day, or during my winter drops for my adult boas. This has not make them weak, even if that seems like that's what it should be doing. I had an entire snake room fall to the low 50's (10-12.7C) last winter, and several snakes had 2-3 day old meals in their bellies. Cloud's enclosure was the warmest at like 63F(17.2C), most everyone else had nothing but belly heat which likely wasn't affecting the air temp - there was no condensation anywhere, which would happen if the tubs were warmer than the room. They sat at this temp for AT LEAST 8 hours before I discovered that the heater had not been on, and it took an additional 7-9 hours for the room to warm up to normal temperature. Nobody got an RI, nobody got ill, there was no regurges. Which if my keeping somehow made for weaker animals, I would have expected to lose at least one animal or have had to deal with an illness of some sort. It's been like a year and nothing has turned up. (This is also just a single night for a few hours and not every single night for the duration of an entire breeding season, plus they all had access to heat within their enclosures still.)