Pre-birth shed

[Strutter769]

I have Amaryllis' due date @ 3/16 and she shed last night (not a good shed). Could this mean birth is near? Also, she's not looking as plump as she has been, but you can see she's pretty thick. I just gave her fresh water and she practically dove into it! Do you think babies are close?

[Ms. Medusa]

I'd be interested to hear the answer to that myself-- I've not bred boas before but should be this next fall-- so curious.

[KORBIN5895]

I can't say I have ever heard anyone mention a pre birth shed.

[Strutter769]

I'm not sure I have either, Kevin. Possibly wishful thinking on my part.

[marvelfreak]

I have heard it mention before but i don't remember where. You should ask Cliff.

[Strutter769]

I don't see a shed mentioned on Dave's Care Sheets. )-;

[marvelfreak]

Found it. Reptiles USA magazine 2009 Annual. The article is called "Beauty of The Rainbow"
by Michael Lockwood page 53-55 talk about breeding and the post-ovulation shed. You can download back copies of the magazine at Reptilechannel.com.

[stephanbakir]

All pythons and boas, and as far as I know all other snakes have a prelay shed.

First breeding occurs and they will lock up several times and you wont see them all so dont get excited. Leave the male in there.....the female will be developing follicles at this time and you will see some swelling but nothing like an ovulation. after the breeding she will go deep into blue and stay that way for what always seems like a little longer then normal. The day she comes out mark it on a calender and start counting down 20 days. When she drops the sperm to the follicles after shed more times then not it will happen after 20 days and you will see a massive swell which means she just fertilized the eggs. She will go back down small in size after ovulation and then its the waiting game. If she continues to get bigger despite the fact she has not fed you are more then likely ready to rock....

After introduction and copulation the female will get a mid body swell. This swell if caught at the right time can make them look like they have eaten though they have not. That is an ovulation.

QUESTION: Harry, how long does it take after copulation to see the swelling of ovulation in a female? ANSWER: Anywhere from 21-40 days after copulation you will see the mid body swell we talked about but its a short window period so keep an eye on her. Also start your count after you see the male showing no signs of interest like laying on the other side of the cage from her.

If they take a dump I would clean it when they're not locked up. But for anything else, just spot clean. I've been told by Harry to not mess with them too much, or really at all I tip toe around them dont get me wrong but go look at the pics of females I have been breeding. I spot clean and lay new paper at least.



EGG LAYING

Rob I like to use a nest box with sphagnum moss. Females seem to really like them and will make nests readily in them and anything that will put less stress on them is a good thing. Roaming gravid females are unhappy ones. Make your box a little bigger then your females coil and you should do well.

QUESTION: Hey Harry, when you put the nest box in with the female do you put it on the warm side, cool side, or the middle. Also, what type of nesting material do you reccomend ? ANSWER: You will put it on the heat side and check it for a temp of 88.5 with a heat gun. This way if she lays and you dont find it right away you wont burn up the eggs. I suggest spagnum moss for the egg box.

Pre-lay shed is 33 days before she will lay them so mark your calender from shed to 33 days and let me know how that works for you...they will almost always try and catch a nice weather front to lay as well. I think it has something to do with the barometric pressure.

first year females will lay 18-25 good eggs most the time so to be safe on 2 I would get 60 tubs set up.......

Harry from Monster Snakes had a Q&A post and a user compiled a collage of it in an organized fashion, this is a small cut of it, I'd you'd like the entire post message me.

[Strutter769]

I see info on the post-ovulation shed, but not a pre-lay/birth? Did I miss it?

[stephanbakir]

Post ovulation shed is the shed following ovulation, prior to birth/laying

[Strutter769]

I understand. That is when you start counting approximately 122 days etc. I thought there was also a shed maybe 110 days or so later, that would be another indicator of a birth date.

[Snakesitter]

No pre-lay shed of which I am aware, Roy. POS, yes, and at that point it's about 117 days to delivery for this species, assuming a temp in the low 80s.

Good luck!