Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[lovesnakes]

. . . and I'm getting a little worried?!

my female bull snake is around 6 to 7 years old, NEVER mated but does get overwintered! and now she seems to be getting bigger

The only thing i thought this could be perhaps is she's about to produce infertile eggs?! but now I'm not sure whether to get her to a vet or wait it out?

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Andy

sorry, picture quality not great, had to use my camera phone!!
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best of luck in the new season

[serpent]

Female snake will produce eggs without being in contact with a male, so why would you take her to a vet ?
The eggs will of course be infertile, so just dump them when they are laid and feed her slightly more than normal to help her regain the lost weight.

How big is she ?
My female was around 7ft before i sold her.


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[lovesnakes]

was looking for reassurance as I've not had any of my snakes produce infertile eggs till now, so as she started to swell i got a little worried - hence the vet!! - although now it's a little more obvious and I've relaxed

she's currently a little over 6ft.
I moved her into a 5' x 2' x 2' at the end of last year, so who knows, maybe she'll continue to grow??

would it be advisable to put a nest box in to encourage her to lay?
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best of luck in the new season

[serpent]

Nest box ? It cant do any harm and it may like the slightly higher humidity
_________________
People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[lovesnakes]

nest box?! err! yeah, you know what i mean


cheers, thanks a lot serpent
Andy
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best of luck in the new season

[johndavidwoods]

A nest box is a good idea, yes. If she is going to lay the eggs, she needs somewhere she can do it. Otherwise, she might retain them which could lead to problems.

Hopefully she'll lay them all and then get a back to normal, and you can just remove the nest box at that point and chuck the eggs out.l
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Johnny

[serpent]

If you are not sure what to use, I use a 12in x 12 x 9in tupperware container with great effect with a hole cut in the side. (cheap too !!! )

Checko out 2nd tank from the bottom on the right


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People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[lovesnakes]

Cheers, managed to pick up a container that looks surprisingly similar to the stack of white/transparent containers you have stacked around the room, (no doubt for either hatchlings or inverts?!) it was fairly cheap and with a few of using next year - I'm in the process of looking for a mate for her. nice looking boa(?) btw

johndavidwoods - thanks, hopefully got it sorted now so I'm going to hope for the best, I've heard that retained eggs can cause all sorts of probs although I'd like to think it's only a small % of snakes??

thanks again guys
Andy
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best of luck in the new season

[Al Stotton]

[lovesnakes]

cheers Al,
put the box in two days ago, I'm using a none treated hedge peat!!! only thing my local pet/garden shop had, (all out of vermiculite at the mo')
if she gives me a chance, I'll switch to a vermiculite mix tomorrow as I'll have a chance to pick some up.

a shame the eggs are infertile, hopefully next year this will be different?!

she went in for the first time a couple of hours ago and does seem to be enjoying herself, digging around a bit although she has since settled.

does the water bowl removal make a big difference
want to make sure i can do what i can to insure she passes all the slugs.

one last thing, is it relatively easy/obvious to check for the presence of any retained eggs

much appreciated
Andy
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best of luck in the new season