Well, I have to agree your vet needs changing!! Ovulating females will re-absorb infertile eggs, so I don't feel that oxytocin should ever be used in a case like this. The only time I would administer oxytocin is in an egg-bound snake, that is one that has laid some eggs but has become egg-bound throughout the birth, or one that is unable to pass the eggs - it is quite obvious in these circumstances.

Good luck with Talyn and keep us updated on how she goes on.. I really do hope Q has spread his genes somewhere back along the line

Re. the food - yes, you can offer small food items occasionally throughout the pregnancy, though, if she is gravid, she will be unlikely to accept them. One of Monty's rats is fine - I would say anything up to half the size of the food items you normally feed. Gravid females will eat less, or usually stop feeding altogether, as the babies grow and take up more room. If she refuses the next couple of feeds I would cease to attempt to feed her for now and give her the time to either have babies or reabsorb eggs.

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"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

Hello,

Thats great Andrea! The xrays are wonderful! Thank you for sharing.

I wanna see xrays of your snakes belly now Rachel! Good luck!

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Great pic Andrea, thanks for sharing them with us! And good luck with the eggs.

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

That is way too COOL!!

Steve

I just hope that if the eggs are fertilized that blasting them with the radiation of the X-ray didn't cause any serious damage!
Just a reminder to anyone who might be misled by the term "eggs": Talyn is a boa and live-bearing, so these eggs have soft, waxy shells. She will keep them in her body until the babies are full-term, then give birth.
So I won't be incubating any eggs here. It's all up to Talyn.

Thanks for the reassurance about the oxytocin Rachel. I too doubt that Talyn is egg-bound, and trust that she can deal with the eggs. (My vet also said that if the eggs didn't pass, I'd have to consider surgical removal: basically slicing more than half her length open! (I said that just wasn't going to happen.)
So -- fortunately I just heard of a vet who just moved into our area and specializes in reptile medicine. I'll be calling him in the future!
Thanks also for the advice on the rat-size. I'll offer her one tonight and see if she takes it. She hasn't eaten anything since the 26th of December.

I'll let you know!

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Andrea

Awww - I so hope that Talyn does well with her 'eggs'. I am not a snake person nor do I know anything about breeding herps as that is a section I have never gone into (yet!) but I wish you both (blackjack and Bitis) tonnes of luck with your snakes - I now patiently await lovely pics of little biddy baby snakes

Hey

long time no talk been busy with work and school over here so havnt been that active. But had to stop by and say congrats! neat photos and hope all goes well

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

Awwww I'm hoping for baby snakes... maybe someday her babies will end up over here and for sale!

Talyn ate a small F/T rat (68g) last night. I injected it beforehand with extra water and after she ate it, I saw her come out to drink. She's been hiding so much -- day and night -- that I've worried about her not getting enough fluids. So I was happy to see her drink.

Whether she is gravid or not still seems anyone's guess at this point. I've shown her X-ray pics to Rainbow boa breeders all over the internet. Some have said they are definitely follicles, others said they could be fertilized or unfertilized eggs.

I guess only time will tell. Boy Tom Petty wasn't kidding when he sang "The Waiting is the Hardest Part"

Here's a nice close-up of my big girl:

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Andrea

Beautiful! I love rainbow boas...and I love tom petty...but now I have to go get the greatest hits CD so I can listen to it!

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"If you're not falling, you're not trying." - Sonni Trotter

~*~Lacey~*~

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