Eggs laid on Days 428 & 429; sperm retention

Those who have noted my hopes for more babies from Artephius, my handsome Diffused Caramel male from Serpenco, may remember me saying that I hadn't bred him in years. I really had my fingers crossed that he was still fertile, and was delighted to get viable eggs from his pairings this year. Turns out I needn't have worried. Also turns out I had forgotten a single lock from last year.

Sceptre, a 2008 Caramel female het Amel, Anery, Hypo, Stripe, was theoretically retired. She's a sweetheart who has been an important matriarch for us. She's also been a classroom pet as well as having attended many educational/outreach events. She was not paired with anybody this year.

Several times before Sceptre had laid infertile eggs when she wasn't bred. I didn't think too much about it when her belly developed that "string of pearls" feeling. When she shed and refused a meal on 24 May, I gave her a nest box and touched base with the vet. Good thing I did.

Late on May 31, I found Sceptre with two slugs and one seemingly fertile egg. She didn't feel done. The next day she laid four more eggs, two of them apparently good. That was a shock. I didn't remember breeding her in 2021, but when I checked my records I rediscovered that she was paired with Artephius for two days and I'd seen a single lock.

Sceptre has had a rough time. I could tell she wasn't feeling well. I could still feel two bumps but they were very high. The first was almost mid-body. When she wouldn't settle after laying and seemed to feel worse, I took her to the vet. She prolapsed. The vet was able to work the tissue back in, and I left with meds and hoped she wouldn't prolapse again.

She did, more than once, then stabilized. She took a small meal and when that worked its way out, she had a bulge near her vent. A swim plus gentle massage and time and she passed a slug on 15 June. The midbody bulge moved down and out, too; another slug.

Tonight she prolapsed again. I was able to reduce it quickly. I really had hoped she was done with prolapse. I'll contact the vet about it tomorrow.

I put the three good eggs into incubation. They've developed veins, though not all evenly. At this point two are in track for hatching. I'm not sure about the other. I've been amazed at this whole thing. I will consider it to be be quite a miracle if I get healthy babies this season from last year's pairing!

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