I have acquired my Ball pythons in the last 6 months. I have 4 of them all residing in the same cage. While reading the caresheet (I read them when I am bored lol) I noticed that it states a gravid female will lay belly up. Well, yesterday, while pulling the snakes out to show a visiting friend, I noticed Toni, my largest ball python was laying belly up when I pulled the hide off of her. She is currently still feeding and now I am concerned that she may be gravid. She was adopted alone and had never been with other snakes...and is now with 3 others...

What do you think?? Thanks...Lyn

__________________
Warmest Regards from Lyn

It sounds entirely possible to me Lyn. That behavior is common in gravid snakes to bring the developing eggs more warmth. Has the behavior continued or is it just a one time thing?

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Totally off topic, but HOLY CRAP LYN! You have sooooooooo much going on in your house!! How on Earth do you stay sane with all those animals, let alone all those plus 7 (8 if you count the hubby) human animals?! You're a much, much braver woman than I.

It sounds like a real possibility, Lyn. If I were you, I'd think about getting separate containers for those little rascals!

__________________
Andrea

Why are they all even housed together anyways? It is easy to feel eggs in a gravid female when you know what to look for, some females though do lay belly up or inverted on occasion, although particularly with gravid animals. I would sereiously look into separate housing for the animals, they shouldnt all be in the same enclosure anyways..unless it was planned breeding.

I have to ask what Amelia asked here,. why were they all housed together? - did they all come from different places?, if so, quarantine is something which should be seriously thought about, as one could have parasites which could be passed on to the others, etc. Also, problems could occur like the one you are experiencing now.. if you are unsure of the sex of them all, or if they are males and females, you could end up with babies, which may be undesired.

If she is gravid, and is showing signs of if she continues the belly-up basking, then it is best to separate her and provide her with a lay box. Good luck, let us know what happens.

__________________
"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I know this is an old post,but I'm curious what happened since you posted this,thanks Lyn!

I do have a question to this story; as you got two boys and two girls in one terrarium,is it really possible that they mate at all? I always thought for beeding balls you need to seperate them for a while and when it's breeding time put them together,otherwise it will never work!?! Or am I wrong? I would love to know and I'll be grateful if someone 's got some answers for me and Lyn.Thanks!!

You know I don't know how the animals were kept before she acquired all of them, so they could have been separated and then she just tossed them all together. Especially in captivity animals can be bred all year round.

Jacky, any male and female animal will mate if kept together. Separation and brumation, etc, are things which many breeders use to achieve a better breeding response and higher fertility rates, however, just because the animals weren't separated before hand certainly doesn't mean they won't mate, and be successful. Look at our two younger corns who were kept together from hatchlings, which bred this year without us going through the motions.. they produced some beautiful babies.

__________________
"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004