Gravid Boa?

Dvan19 · 10-28-17, 05:59 AM

Hi guys. This is my first post here. So I just recently started breeding two of my boas(first time breeding). 2014 Lipstick Sunglow male and a 2012 jungle poss het kahl female. I got the female from a local guy who had just introduced his male to the female a little bit before I bought her. I had her for 4 weeks before I introduced my male. After about a week of being together, I saw courting and probable copulation over the next 3 maybe 4 weeks. This past week, I haven't seen the male show any interest in the female while i've been home. This past week i've also noticed what looked like a slo mo ovulation but I could be wrong Yesterday I noticed her starting to go into her shed cycle so I removed him. Today her eyes are starting to turn blue. Now I'm just not sure if she is actually gravid or if she even ovulated. I feel like I have noticed some slight swelling in her lower 2/3. What do you guys think?

richardhind · 10-29-17, 12:37 PM

It could well be pos (post ovulation shed) especially if you have seen them locked and swelling at her back half, last year my male went off the female after her pos but still kept him in for a few weeks to make sure and she gave me a litter 107 days after her pos, so fingers crossed for you

bigsnakegirl785 · 10-29-17, 02:47 PM

Introducing two new snakes after a 3-4 week period is not a good practice...one or both could easily have spread diseases between them, which will in turn affect the babies and any owners who buy your boas. People have lost entire collections doing that.

As far as ovulation, I do not yet have any personal experience, but she very well could be, especially if the male no longer has any interest in her.

Dvan19 · 10-30-17, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Introducing two new snakes after a 3-4 week period is not a good practice...one or both could easily have spread diseases between them, which will in turn affect the babies and any owners who buy your boas. People have lost entire collections doing that.

I got her from a guy I know pretty well. I felt pretty confident that she didn't have any diseases before I got her but I still quarantined for 4 weeks to be sure. How long do you normally quarantine for?

bigsnakegirl785 · 10-30-17, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dvan19

I got her from a guy I know pretty well. I felt pretty confident that she didn't have any diseases before I got her but I still quarantined for 4 weeks to be sure. How long do you normally quarantine for?

Even if you know him well, it's still good practice to quarantine, if they at any time receive new animals, their collection is at risk. Always quarantine a minimum of 3-6 months. The longer the better, as there are many diseases that can take a long time to surface. Honestly 3-6 months probably isn't enough, but it does weed out the majority of common illnesses.

**Andy_G** · 10-30-17, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Even if you know him well, it's still good practice to quarantine, if they at any time receive new animals, their collection is at risk. Always quarantine a minimum of 3-6 months. The longer the better, as there are many diseases that can take a long time to surface. Honestly 3-6 months probably isn't enough, but it does weed out the majority of common illnesses.

I'd say the two most common ailments in captive snakes would be mites and respiratory infections, which at most take a couple of weeks if not a couple of days to surface...practically all other pathogens of concern would be having to do with wild caughts (aside from IBD which could take much longer but is exceedingly uncommon and in this circumstance would've been noticed by the OP's friend before purchase). I'm not saying don't ever quarantine as that would be bad practice...but what am I missing here, BSG? Or are we just using old rules of thumb to err on the side of caution?

dannybgoode · 10-30-17, 03:12 PM

I generally quarantine for 90 days minimum even if I've bought from my favourite shop or trusted source.

For me it is more erring on the side of caution but now my collection is worth at least $3000 I like to take precautions.

Nothing has even shown up, not even mites (yet) but I like to be sure they're eating fine, passing find and are otherwise giving me no cause for concern whatsoever before I introduce them to the collection.

Ibd scares the crap out of me so I'm extra cautious with boids and Pythons.

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-02-17, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

I'd say the two most common ailments in captive snakes would be mites and respiratory infections, which at most take a couple of weeks if not a couple of days to surface...practically all other pathogens of concern would be having to do with wild caughts (aside from IBD which could take much longer but is exceedingly uncommon and in this circumstance would've been noticed by the OP's friend before purchase). I'm not saying don't ever quarantine as that would be bad practice...but what am I missing here, BSG? Or are we just using old rules of thumb to err on the side of caution?

Bacterial/viral infections can take a little longer to surface, IBD is not the only one. Septicemia can take a few months to get to the point you'd notice (though it is generally a husbandry issue). Internal parasites such as coccidia or worms may not initially show up during observation unless already at high enough levels when it arrives. There are also a lot of unknown diseases that pop up every once in awhile, that we know nothing about. It is always best to err on the side of caution.

Dvan19 · 11-26-17, 02:18 PM

Just an update for everybody. It's been about a month since she had a suspected Post-Ovulation Shed.

She doesn't really seem to spending a whole lot of time on the warm side. I'm keeping the cool side at 80. She does seem to be coiled up most of the time and she will sit in the same spot for days at a time without moving. Still seems like there is only minor swelling in the lower 2/3 of her.
Does it seem like she is gravid?
Thanks