Gravid Body temp question - Where Responsible Reptile Keepers Connect!

danktat · #1 (**permalink**) 11-15-2007, 06:58 AM

OK so here is the scenario. I just separated my males as they were (doing very little for a couple of days) for a feed. Bear in mind that my season has been a bit "sluggish" as far as courting attempts so far. As I was checking the my setups I noticed that one of my heat pads that was on the bottom of my AP cage has fallen off (adhesive went beat) and is no longer touching the cage (I have an inch spacer between stacked cages). This is no the cage that the Yagi female is in (who was breeding Hercules). Just for kicks I decided to check her body temp as the ambient is only around 81° at this point. Guess what.....Her body temps are in the high 80's.

The gound she is sitting on ... well ... see for yourself....

This pair has only been together since 10-26-07. Breeding has been "sparatic" at best and I have not seen ovulation. She doesn't really appear to be going into shed but I will give it a check over the next few days. All of my other snakes (including the other female that is breeding) are reading between 80 and 82 and they have heat.

My questions are....
*is it possible for a boa without a heat source to raise their body temps to that extent
*could she be raising it because she is already gravid and I just missed ovulation and it is before she is going into her POS

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Masahiko · #2 (**permalink**) 11-15-2007, 07:38 AM

I believe its possible for them to 'sustain' temperatures without heat loss for quite some time...especially the larger snakes.

they are very good at thermoregulating from what I know.

good luck man

trendkill · #3 (**permalink**) 11-15-2007, 03:02 PM

Remember Mandea (my Futo female) was keeping herself at temperatures gravid boas sustain (86-87ish) after being paired with a male and then shedding, but she wasn't gravid at all? Had me confused for a while, but I've come to find those temperatures are actually quite normal for her. On most empty stomach days she'll temp at 85-86 degrees, and a few degrees higher after meals (usually 88). The lowest she's ever temped at was 81 I think, and I've only had that reading from her once.

Doesn't mean your pretty girl isn't gravid, I couldn't say how common it is for boas to keep themselves at higher temperatures because most of mine stay relatively cool, but her habbits could be relevent so I thought I'd share.

Johnny Utah · #4 (**permalink**) 11-15-2007, 04:40 PM

How do you stick the head pad back on? Has anybody else with APs had this problem?

Oh yeah, good luck with your snake.

danktat · #5 (**permalink**) 11-15-2007, 05:25 PM

Just with the factory applied adhesive. It is a different set up than I got from AP. I divided my 6 footer in half and use a uth on each half. The original belly heat is still there but it is only on one side (not in the center where it would heat both sides) because it was originally set up for a retic. After a conversation with Mark at AP, we decided that the uth option would be the best way to go after dividing.

danktat · #6 (**permalink**) 11-17-2007, 07:08 PM

Just to update what was going on. She is in blue right now. I still don't think it is a POS as that would have been wayyy too quick (only about three and a half to four weeks of breeding) AND I just put Hercules back in with her last night and he mounted her immediately. He, I suppose doesn't feel like he is finnished with her. The interesting thing is that her last shed was only about 5 weeks ago (i called Phong to figure that out). I will keep everyone posted.