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Female maybe gravid wont eat

C

C.Stringer22

New member
I have a female that we had a male in with her for about 3-4 days and then we took him out after seeing them mate non stop for those days and now her lower body is huge and she isnt eating and she looks like she is startin to dull but we cant figure out why she wont eat at all, please help us.
 
They will often refuse feed while gravid and/or just before laying. They will also shed a week or so prior to laying. Best to put in a lay box, very similar to a moist hide, as soon as possible. The breeding experts will likely give you more exact dates and instructions or point you in the right direction for further info. Good luck :)
 
Thanks we are new to the whole breeding thing, and I knew they shed riht before laying but I thought it would take about 2 months for her to lay bc we put them together the 15th of April, so I wasnt expecting her to might lay so soon but Im not really sure on how to make a lay box either
 
She should not be fed from now until after she lays. I would give her a lay box with barely damp sphagnum moss. She may lay before she sheds, but will most likely lay sometime a week or two after that. After she lays, you can feed her a small meal, like a couple fuzzy mice, the next day, and then she will go blue again right away and probably won't eat until after that shed. It's okay, after the pre-lay shed, to take her out for gentle exercise up till when she settles in to lay. I mean, crawling on the floor, gently climbing over your fingers, don't let her fall.
 
Indeed, I believe it is approx 60 days for gestation. Perhaps her shed cycle's falling mid-gestation. I've heard of some shedding no where near the time of laying, some during or just afterwards.

Here's a link to a thread on here: Setting up Nest Boxes 101.

There are a variety of substrates that'll work for a nest/lay box, as well several incubation techniques. If you use the search function here I'm sure you'll come up with plenty of reading material.
 
Oh, and remove her big water bowl right now and replace it with one so small she can't get into it, so she doesn't lay her eggs in it. That drowns the eggs.
 
Okay thanks for all the help and info... and what do you mean by blue Ive heard it alot but not really sure what it means. and she has just been in her hide out and not wanting to be messed with and we have handled her a little bit but not much just in case she is about to lay, and Ive heard of females laying only like 21-30 days after being with a male is that true?
 
Sounds like you may have needed to do a bit more research before you got into the breeding bit :p Do you have an incubator going yet? Do you have housing for the hatchlings?

Most of the time if a female lays really soon after she has been bred it is because she actually went into season before the breeder thought she did. I have had it happen loads of times and it messed me up last year :( Sunny is a very large older snake so she doesnt have a post brumation shed and you can NEVER tell when she is ovulating.

I noticed that you asked what a lay box was so I took a couple pics of mine. Basically a lay box is a designated area for the snake to lay the eggs. The tub should have a hole or two about 1.5 to 2 times the width of the snake in the top or on the side and should be filled with damp sphagnum moss. Soak the moss in warm water for about 10 mins then take small handfuls and squeeze out most of the water and put the damp clump in the lay box.

I also mostly cover the tub with paper to give the snakes more privacy, leaving a gap on the lid so I can still see into it without taking the lid off.
 

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Oh an the term "in blue" means in shed, we call in blue because often the snake takes on a blueish tint.
 
yeah I know we should have but we didnt expect to be breeding them and thats what I thought in blue ment but my snakes dont really turn blue but I wasnt really sure and yes I do have an incubator already and with the lay box I wasnt really sure how to do it and your pics helped alot... thank you
 
C.Stringer22 said:
Okay thanks for all the help and info... and what do you mean by blue Ive heard it alot but not really sure what it means. and she has just been in her hide out and not wanting to be messed with and we have handled her a little bit but not much just in case she is about to lay, and Ive heard of females laying only like 21-30 days after being with a male is that true?
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It is true. I know that there have been a couple of us on here that had it happen this year. Mine layed exactly 30 days after first hook up. You could have caught her right as she was ovulating.
 
oh dang bc the 15th of this month will be 30 days since they were first together....so I got to get cracking on getting my laying box together I guess
 
Oh yeah if she is starting to look like she is getting ready to shed then I would get it in there with her right away.
 
I'm confused, you put them together for 3-4 days and did not expect them to breed? Can you illaberate? Did you believe them both to be females or something?
 
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