How to tell if she's gravid...

[Labinnah]

Is there any way to just look at a female and tell whether or not she's carrying eggs?

 

[CAV]

Most of the time it is quite obvious

Her back end will get noticeably bigger.

 

[LuvzWDW]

Labinnah,

Thanks for asking this questions as I was wondering as well.

I have an additional question though, how long after the "attempted" mating can you notice that the female is gravid?

 

[aquilus]

how long after the "attempted" mating can you notice that the female is gravid?

I wanna know the answer to that question aswell..

 

[Labinnah]

Sorry Aquilus, but not -everyone- knows -everything- there is to know 'bout snake breeding. No need to roll your eyes at an honest question.

 

[aquilus]

I'm so sorry about the stupied smilie, it was not ment to be somekind of teasing.

Let me do it again..
----------------

how long after the "attempted" mating can you notice that the female is gravid?

I wanna know the answer to that question aswell.
----------------

Really sorry about the "rolleyes"-smilie, just thought it was cute =)

 

[Labinnah]

No biggie ^_^ That's the problem with the internet.. it's hard to tell the tone behind statements

 

[aquilus]

true, and It's even harder to write in a different language..
(I'm from Sweden.. Not a perfect writer in english.. but hey! I'm working on it) =)

 

[Jicin]

*lol* I know what you mean (Is Dutch).

I didn't think you ment bad with your post.

 

[Jicin]

*Wonders what the awnser to the question is to*

 

[Marcel Poots]

Labinnah,

I have an additional question though, how long after the "attempted" mating can you notice that the female is gravid?

In most cornsnakes it is pretty hard to tell. I usually are unsure untill pre-lay shed has come off. So when I have witnessed mating I look for shed signs. After the shed they usually do not feed any more (very good sign) and they get slight bigger. That's when I know for sure.

And when you see this you can be pretty sure she is gravid:

LOL..

 

[Marcel Poots]

I uploaded two pictures of two females right after pre-lay shed.. Hope that helps..

 

[Jicin]

How do you know when a shed is a pre-lay shed? Only because of the snake refusal to eat? Can't you feel the eggs in the snake? They look like pretty big eggs to me. Very carefull ofcource as to not to break them. I don't see anything special in the last batch of pictures :/

 

[Marcel Poots]

You will not know if the shed is a pre-lay shed untill she lays eggs. If you miss the signs in my last two pictures there is no other way to show you what gravid females look like. The last part of their bodyu is thicker than the first part. The scales are wide apart showing skin between the scales. Some people think they can feel the eggs. The eggs will not break easily. They are not like chicken eggs but soft and elastic. The thing you have to worry about is the female. She will not enjoy you counting eggs. They are very uncomfortable when full of eggs. This mostly restults in days of cruizing through their cage. (another good sign)

 

[Jynx]

It sometimes depends on females. If a female is willing to mate, but isn't ovulating, she can hold sperm inside them for up to a few weeks until she finally does ovulate, but normally the female will lay about 30 to 45 days or so after a successful breeding. A good way to tell that she's gravid is to compare her width to when she just eats. Normally the scales are a little stretched, and she just looks bigger overall in about the last half of her body. A good way to tell when she will lay is females normally shed about 10 to 14 days before the drop their clutch, so if you know the dates that you bred her, its sometimes easy to guess when she'll lay. Other signs include her just being very lazy and not wanting to move around alot, she'll also stop eating for about a 1/2 a month to a month but seem like she's gaining weight. A little trick that Kathy Love does that has worked for me when its hard to tell if they are carrying eggs is to put your hand palm up on a table and put a thin cloth (like a hankercheif) on top of your palm. Them let the female in question slowly crawl over your hand. You should be able to feel little bumps. Sometimes its harder than other times. If you get really good, you can use this method to predict how many eggs she might have.

 

[Jicin]

Neat thanks