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VERY gravid girl nonstop active--risk she won't settle into her lay box?

LauRuffian

LauRuffian

Perpetual Newbie
Kamalah is now obviously gravid and very uncomfortably heavy with eggs. She shed 8 days ago and I'd think should lay in the next 2-4 days or so--but she won't stay in her lay box! She's all over her tank, knocking over her (small) water dish, shifting her lay box around, creating tracks in her bedding, rubbing her nose on the mesh lid. I'm paranoid she will end up laying her eggs outside the lay box just because she won't stay in it. This is her first breeding year, so she may be a bit unsure what to do. She's finally resting now, all stretched out in her tank, but not in her lay box. Dangit.

If she does lay outside the lay box overnight (that's what I'm paranoid about), will the eggs be okay for those few hours until I'm able to retrieve them?

And, do you have females who exhibit similar behavior? Is there something else I should try, like a larger lay box (this one is shoebox sized) or maybe take the lid off the lay box? so it's less crowded feeling for her?
 
I don't have the most experience with gravid females, but I do have a little. My biggest piece of advice for you is to remove the water dish until she lays.

Just keep checking on her somewhat frequently. It won't be the end of the world if she lays outside her lay box if you get to them in time. Even if the water dish is small.. I wouldn't chance the eggs drowning in it.

One of my females was not bred this season. I could feel suspect eggs in her but I was hoping that they were all infertile and that she would reabsorb them. She didn't. I wasn't prepared (wouldn't have incubated anyway, as I have not planned on a clutch for this season) and she layed every single egg that looked potentially viable in her water bowl. I hadn't given her a laybox though, because I didn't think she'd clutch out.

Good luck with your girl!!
 
Thanks. I took the little water dish out just to be safe.

I woke up this morning to find her in her lay box, and I was relieved:
11214109_10207028570372154_4403721920227629915_n.jpg


Then, just a couple of hours ago, she came out to lie on TOP of her lay box:
11295937_10207029791162673_6066102368547182320_n.jpg


Really?? Ugh!

I just hope wherever she DOES lay I'm able to get to get to the eggs in more than enough time.

Hmm, should I turn off the UTH too as a precaution?
 
I would not stress it so much. She will likely lay in the box. Sometimes they are in and out right up until the last minute. And eggs layed outside the box is not really that big of a deal. And you are likely to find them in a short time. Even a couple days is not likely to kill them.
 
Day 17 after her prenatal shed, she FINALLY laid her eggs! I saw she was had laid about 6 eggs this morning, and by noon, she had19 big, healthy looking eggs (well, one looks to be a slug). :D
1908143_10207142887830019_1887526097653758246_n.jpg


https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11295586_10207142887990023_5753528667553836975_n.jpg?oh=a38cd7768f63728e973ea73d58b60d8f&oe=56053610[/url]

Hypos, lavenders, stripes, and combinations thereof await! Now the countdown to pipping begins!
 
Wow those eggs look GREAT!! Congrats, and can't wait to see what wiggles out of them here in the future. :cool:
 
Thank you! I'm curious about that far left bottom egg--it looked like a slug, but looking more closely it has a large circular spot on it that's that yellowish slug color, but the rest is white and its firmly stuck to the egg above it. In my very limited experience, slugs were all yellowish and could not adhere to the fertile eggs. Could this be a weird fertile egg?
 
Thank you beccasseven!

And oof, what a weekend. Short version: my mom has been in the hospital since Friday night. I was with her all weekend (about an hour away from my place) and came home yesterday. Things there are looking okay, FTR. Not all better/all managed, but getting there.

Not looking okay were the eggs when I got home. ACK! They had dried out a little and started to wrinkle. Per the recommendations of the corn snake Facebook group, I placed a damp paper towel over the eggs and put the lid on the egg container. (My mistake I think is not having put the lid on in the first place.) The group assured me they should plump back up in a few days and that eggs can look a lot worse than these and still come back, but it has me biting my nails a bit!

But also ACK: I took Kamalah out to feed her. I was horrified to see she's dropped 200g since before she laid the eggs. She was 570g-ish before laying the eggs, 530g-ish before becoming gravid (and she would NOT eat much before she went blue), and was in the neighborhood of 370g last night. Yikes!! I know egg laying can take a lot out of some females, and while Cleo never dropped this much, Cleo never carried a clutch this size. I fed Kamalah a weanling, and then while wanting to give her more without stressing her, gave her a fuzzy. She ate them both readily. My plan is to feed her a single adult mouse in about 5-7 days, then start going back to 2 mice weekly for a bit until she's back at her healthy weight. Sound good?

I also separated that iffy looking egg as it still looked iffy to me. Here's what the eggs looked like when I got home :( :
11141163_10207182970632064_582043172269310957_n.jpg


Ack! Here's hoping for plump happy eggs again soon!
 
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