Getting warmer

So this weekend, I spent a significant amount of time cleaning and prepping and feeding and cleaning some more.

And you know what, you guys?

I actually noticed some ovulations.

This is fantastic news, and makes me feel that much better about things starting to heat up.

Why, Heather, are you freaking out so much?

Well, my friends, last year I would have already had a clutch on the ground at least. This year it is looking like it will be another two weeks before I see any eggs.

This of course, is nesting, usually after ovulation. I think she is in her pre-lay shed.

This is only a problem because of the snake shows I intend to vend at. If the snakelings don't hatch in time, I won't have much on my tables.

No big deal, really, but it would be nice to have a good spread of things when the time comes.

This is where the pressure/time crunch comes from.

Of course, when eggs do come, is when things start to get more calm.

But now is the storm before the calm.

KABOOOOMM!!!

Which of course means I still have until next month to be inundated with eggs, but that is fine by me. Just bring on the eggs... EGGS!!!!

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

What to look for

My friend, Jackie, asked me this question in the comments a few days ago, and I think this is the perfect time to answer, as I'm sure plenty of people are wondering, and the breeding season is upon us!

"So what are the signs that they're getting ready to ovulate? Are there any signs I should be keeping an eye out for? And when exactly do I need to stop pairing her? I've been rotating her between the black pastel boy and the het pied boy, with emphasis on the black pastel... but will she start rejecting them at a certain point? Is an ovulating female a possible menace to her boyfriends"

Alright, Jackie!

Here we go.


Signs she is getting ready to ovulate:

Glowing -

If your female starts looking like another animal, or is getting to look hypo-ish, she is glowing. Sometimes this is extremely dramatic, and sometimes it isn't. But look for a color change.
If she is brighter, bigger, fatter, happier, etc (and this is true of human women too), know that something is going on!


Pre-ovulation shed -

Look for a shed. Any shed that happens during or after she is glowing is a good sign that this is the pre-ovulation shed. If she hasn't hooked up with a male yet, you should put him in NOW and pray that they get it on in time.



When to stop?

Whenever you feel like it may be time. Usually if you catch the ovulation, that is a good time to think to yourself, Hey, breeding may not be worth it anymore. If she gets fatter, chunkier, and refuses food and male advances (which she will!), that is a good sign it's not worth it to continue introducing a male. But if you have ANY doubts, it may be worth it to continue until you see a sign of something.

You need to be one with your snakes. Ohm.


Is an ovulating female a possible menace to a male?

Well, yes and no. An ovulating female in snakes is not like those stereotypical human females that ovulate and go haywire as some people seem to think... There is no harm in a female ovulating while still in with a male, but the male will be ignored and possibly pushed around or sat on. This is the biggest concern, as with a big female versus a yearling/younger male, the male will loose. Can he be killed? In a freak accident, yes. But more than anything, he will just get put in a corner, or under a water dish. So don't worry too much, but if you know the female doesn't need the male, just take him out. It's better for both the female and the male.


I hope that helps, and with a few more photographs to take, I will try and catalog the glow and ovulations that I will see.

Shoot me more questions, and have a great day, my friends!

Heating up

I realize I fell off the map on Friday, and I apologize.

My mother came into town, and that kinda took my mind off of snakes, to the point where I also forgot about the blog.

BUT I AM BACK!

And yesterday, with some help from some good friends, the snake room is clean, the snakes are accounted for, racks are somewhat rearranged, and I am back to a point of peace in the snake room (for the time being... Oh wait, look, something to clean...).

And while we were cleaning and talking and having a good ole' time, I am pleased to announce that we have had some build-ups to ovulations already!

Here they are...

 This is very similar to last years attempts to take photos of the ovulations, and this is the same difficulty that I was having last year.

Take a look at her mid-area, more towards the vent. 

Can you see the lumpy area? Her stomach is distended. 

These photos portray it a bit better. You can see where the belly area is lifted and fatter than the rest of the body...

That my friends, is an build to an ovulation. A small one, and I either missed the big blow or will see it in a few hours/days, but there it is. 

And of course, this was unexpected, as I hadn't started as early as I usually do... This gal was bred to the Pastel Lesser, and it feels like a good four or five eggs. 

This gal has the same paunch, and she is getting ready to blow. This gal is a possible het TSK Axanthic, and she was bred to the Axanthic het Albino. Come on, baby! Prove out!

And you've heard of the phrase "Glow before they go?" Well, this gal is surely glowing with her boyfriend, the Mystic. Let's hope that she has had enough Mystic to get some babies. I never caught them locked, so I am really just hoping for the best at this point... PLEASE!!!

So yeah, I am off to do a few more things in the snake room, and hopefully get a few more photos of critters to share this week. 

Happy President's Day!!!

Have a great day, my friends.

Alls quiet on the Western front, and Zoo pics

But not for long!!!

Lots of activity is going on in terms of Ovs and flat tires, so I expect a bunch of clutches in June, which is typical of my seasons.

I am actually looking to getting a clutch or two before the end of the month, but that is not guaranteed, so we shall just wait and see.

We are at clutch number four, and so far we are looking at:

Pied x Pastel: 6 eggs
Pied x Poss Het Pied: 5 eggs, 1 going bad
TSK Axanthic het Albino x TSK Axanthic poss het Albino: 5 eggs
Genetic Stripe x Het Genetic Stripe: 5 eggs

Looks like I will have a lot of my recessives out of the way early, eh?

Not too shabby.

Anyway, I wanted to share a few more photos of Washington DC while I have the right memory card in the computer.

We took the Metro to the Zoo in Washington DC, and the escalator up to street level was LONG!

But yes, we went to the DC Zoo, as it was walking distance, and you know I'm a sucker for animals.

I don't know who that kid is, but the picture was more for the sign than anything else.

This guy is a Fishing Cat. He was taking a nice nap. I was jealous.

Lots of animals were taking naps. Here are the otters. 

And they had an excellent Panda exhibit. I caught one of them munchin.

And an awesome Elephant.

Golden Lion Tamarind

 

Red Pandas, which are not really Pandas...

Prairie Dog was watching us...

And they have an excellent Reptile House, but I didn't take any photos of inside, due to the fact that I was with some young cousins that were constantly asking me questions, so I didn't have the time to snap photos. But I did get this photo of the outside! 

And here is the link for the photos that the Smithsonian offers of the reptiles they house anyway...

Reptile Photos courtesy of the Zoo

By the way, there were no Ball Pythons. I'm thinking about donating one....

Maybe later, eh? 

Have a fantastic week, my friends.

Ovulation across the nation

Well, not really...

Actually, maybe...

But I was referring to the ones I caught all weekend.

I had cranky fatties all day while I was trying to clean up..

Some were crankier than others.

Some were fatter than others.

But the trend was the same.

I'm angry cause I'm ovulating.

Of course it was very difficult to get some females to actually show their bellies, but this one was pretty obvious. 

In a few months, there will be PLENTY of eggs to spare. 

Especially today. 

Count down begins as of yesterday on all these gals. 

Sheesh.

Anyway, I wanted to send a little shout out of gratitude to the California Reptile and Invertebrate Society for letting me speak on Saturday at their show. 

I did a little presentation on Ball Pythons, got to bring some cool critters to show off, and had a blast educating the public, and donating to the local reptile rescue. 

So to those who were there, THANKS! It was great to see you all, and I hope to be able to do it again soon.

To those that missed it, I'll make sure to remind you all of the next event when the time comes.


Have a fantastic day, my friends.

And hopefully, there will be plenty to discuss.

Easter Eggs?

Not quite. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get any Snakey Easter Eggs. I did catch some ovulations and buildings however, including this peachy gal who was ready to eat my face.

I have to say, this is looking more and more like a late year for me. I may need to get used to it. I'm not ready to do so, but I may have to.

BOOOOOOOOOOO

Anyway, we did get to see some eggs in other places.

We went over to Joel's Grandmothers house for Easter Sunday, and got to enjoy the joy of little ones hunting eggs.

I, being the responsible adult that I am, got to hide them.

Did I eat a few?

Yes... Yes I did.

I didn't hide them there, someone else did. But the kids found them none the less.

Hey look!!! I found an egg!!!

Candy abounded, and as I type this, I am eating jellybeans.

Oh Easter, why must you be so much fun?

And we are back to the grind this morning, back to reality. I'm alright with that. Maybe that means more eggs of the snakey variety soon.

We can only hope.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Ovulation

Well, this is one of the first females I have caught this season that have ovulated. It is very tough to take the right picture to make it obvious, so I took a lot of pictures of the same animal at different angles.

People say it looks like the female swallowed a football.

Look above. Does she look like she swallowed a football?

Yeah... She does.

Upon closer inspection, it can look like a lump from different angles.

But from above and the sides where you see her stomach, it is rather obvious. I did not manage to catch her in her EXPLOSION phase, as I like to call it, when the female looks ridiculously oversized (larger than the photos show), but you can see that she has a large area of lumpiness, so I thought this would be good enough.

From this side, she looks like the eggs are actually pushing up against the sides of her stomach. You notice the wave of lump? She is sitting straight, but those waves are lumps of follicles being moved. (This is a day after the previous photos were taken, to show you the difference)

Here is a better angled shot to show you how lumpy she is.

So from now, I'll be expecting her to lay after her post ovulation shed, which should be in a week or so, and then a month from then, eggs will have been laid.

Incubator is on, anticipation is high, as this particular female is a Possible Het Pied Female that has yet to be proven. Her sisters proved to be carriers, so therefore, she should hopefully be one too.

COME ON, PIEDS!!!

Hopefully those of you out there waiting with baited breath to see an ovulation now know more of what you are looking for. I'm still waiting on that perfect time where I catch the HUGE ovulation, but so far to no avail. I think this is good enough for now.

Have a great day, my friends.

Girls getting ready

So as much as I may complain about not having much action, now is the time of season where we actually see some females developing and getting ready to lay their eggs.

How does one tell if a female is getting ready, or if they are even gravid?

Lets try and touch on a few points.

A female that is getting ready to ovulate has a glow. This is called the "Glow before they go" so to speak, and a normal ball python will become lighter in coloration. This is when the female is ready to move the follicles down the oviduct into an area in the tract (similar to the uterus) that allows the follicles to develop into eggs.

Follicles are pre-eggs, like in human women and the ovaries.

Yes, we are going to get technical, cause I am a Biologist.

Boys, close your eyes if you don't wanna learn about girly stuff.

Human women have follicles as well, but they only release one at a time (usually).

The follicle travels down the fallopian tube and ripens in the uterus.

Now in snakes, its similar, but the follicles are released many at a time, and develop at the same speed. When fertilized, the female ovulates, and the follicles travel down into oviduct and ripen there.  Then the follicles are eggs, and are laid in two months for incubation and hatching in two months.

These two females are getting ready for ovulation, aka "building."

They are getting fatter and wider, and the ridge of the spine is becoming more pronounced. They should ovulate in the next few weeks.

And then we have the female that is bathing itself. She is also glowing. This is an indicator that she is also building, but tends to be in the earlier stages of it.

Problem is, bathing is also an indicator of dehydration or illness, to name a few, so make sure that you are on top of your husbandry before beginning breeding, as this is a huge strain on a female that is not 100% healthy.

So what, if anything, should you be taking from all of this?

ONE: Heather is plugging in her incubator today.
TWO: Pay close attention to any females you may be breeding, as they do exhibit signs of being gravid if you know what you are looking for.
THREE: Girly parts are fascinating!!!
FOUR: Have a great weekend, my friends. I will be touching on some of the requests that have been asked in the comment section next week, including Chipo and some egg information.