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Gertrude - Candycane Amel
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Old 08-01-2020, 12:55 AM   #1
hypnoctopus
Gertrude - Candycane Amel

I picked up this hefty girl the other day - she weighs exactly 800 grams. She's really sweet, but refused to sit still for photos. I took one cell phone photo of her after getting her home, and then she shed the very next day, so I wanted to take one more before leaving her alone for a bit, but as I was handling her, I noticed some lumps, so she may actually be gravid. She was being fed rats by her previous owner (although he claimed she was quite obese before he got her and he helped her slim down), but I noticed the lumps 10 days after her last feeding, so I can't imagine that it would be leftover undigested food. Plus, they're really distinct feeling, and lower down in her body than where a food lump would be. Anyway, I provided her a lay box just in case, which she immediately retreated in to, so we'll see what happens. I only felt two lumps, one much larger than the other, which is the only reason I question it being eggs. Her estimated age is 6-10 years.

 
Old 12-06-2020, 11:51 PM   #2
hypnoctopus
My other snakes had just been fed, so today Gertrude got the honor of being my Christmas snake model. I wasn't sure how it would go because she's quite resistant to handling - not aggressive, but just constantly on the move. But she actually did really well! She tolerated her little hat and even stayed relatively still for most of the session. I was hoping to do a full body shot, but that was definitely pushing her patience a little too far. She would rather have just escaped into the tree.

 
Old 12-09-2020, 11:54 PM   #3
MysticExotics
Very nice!! I love the hat!
 
Old 12-10-2020, 12:49 AM   #4
SnakeCreations
Well, that is just adorable!

-Tonya
 
Old 04-24-2021, 05:16 PM   #5
hypnoctopus
So Gertrude consistently throws me for a loop. I was really hoping to breed her this year just as a fun little project that my kids could enjoy with me while I wait for my long term project babies to grow up.

I started pairing her in January even though she hadn't had her first shed of the year. I only paired her every other week just to see how she and the male would react. My male was ready to go from day one, but Gertrude was not very interested. She didn't get aggressive with him, but just tried to stay away from him.

She finally had her first shed of the year on April 8th. So I was excited to really get started with breeding. Almost immediately after her shed she became very active, 24/7. I thought maybe that meant she was looking for a mate, even though that would be unusual for a female. I tried pairing her with my male a few times and she reacted very poorly every time. Instead of just trying to stay away from him, she would act like she was in a panic. I supervised every pairing very closely and she would thrash around. I actually felt bad for her, so I would only keep them together for just a few minutes before separating them.

I started to wonder if maybe she was actually a male? Her tail is extremely short and tapers quickly and she was sold to me as a proven female breeder, but I haven't actually sexed her myself. Anyway, she continued to be super active (which is highly abnormal for her too, she normally hides 100% of the time). She also refused two meals in a row, which is not very unusual for her (how she every became overweight I'll never know, because she often is a sporadic feeder for me). And I did the math and realized it was about 14 days since her shed, so I gave her a lay box just in case and she instantly retreated to it. She laid in there for two days without leaving. I checked on her today and she laid 12 eggs. I doubt any of them are viable. 10 of them are definitely slugs, but two of them look okay. I would be very surprised if anything hatches, but I set them up anyway. I also palpated her several times over the whole course of this thing, but she hates being handled and is still a bit overweight, so she tenses her body and I could never get an accurate read.

Anyway, my previous breedings with other corns have been extremely textbook, so this girl is constantly confusing me!
 
Old 04-24-2021, 06:36 PM   #6
SnakeCreations
That is the way of things... never a dull moment.

-Tonya
 
Old 04-24-2021, 10:14 PM   #7
Frank Pinello
I know where your coming from. It seem that each year I have only about half or less of my females that are consistent with their previous years post winter shed, time they are willing to accept a male and ovulation. About the other half and usually the younger ones will go through a second post winter shed before ovulating and accepting males and for some reason some females are ready much earlier than the year before.
Each year I always think I’m sure more or less which order my group of females will ovulate. And every year its never even close to my prediction.
One would think that being kept in the same room with the exact same conditions and very similar feeding schedule that the start and finish of egg laying would be much tighter. I guess there are other factors to it.
 
Old 04-25-2021, 01:43 AM   #8
Shiari
I can definitely sympathize. It took me 3 years to figure out when Raka would be receptive and then she laid in her aspen rather than a lay box and panicked so badly she upturned all her eggs that were scattered about her. Only 3 hatched. I've given up with her because she didn't bounce back from that laying well. Hopefully your gal will be nicer next year!
 
Old 04-26-2021, 12:40 AM   #9
MysticExotics
So frustrating when they do that!
 
Old 04-26-2021, 01:29 AM   #10
hypnoctopus
Glad you guys can relate! It's difficult to rant to non-reptile people, haha!
 

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