When do you just admit that she is not gravid....

[robertmcphee]

Either 129 POS or 124 POS
She doesnt even act like she is....Im so confused she has gotten smaller and looks normal. When do you just give up, feed her and/or take her to the vet to see if she has something wrong with her. Here is the story:
Introduced a male with her on September 15 2003. (During cage cleaning)
The male immediately courted her Witnessed no actual copulation, only caught tail waving of the male when they were lined up about 6 or seven times throughout October.
I never witnessed ovulation, but she got a little bit bigger the last week of October. Then she refused to eat for two weeks, which was the first time she ever turned down a meal. She shed POS? on around November 5th.
She shed again On January 3 2004
She got bloated
She ate a total of four medium rats since November.
She also has been on the cool side 84 degrees most of the whole time, her hot side is 88-90 since November.
And here I am on March 1st wondering what is going on.
Here she is as of this morning: Any ideas

[Sojourn]

She looks a little plump to me in the posterior.... I wouldn't give up just yet. But as to how long is too long..... I do not have the experience to say, but I am sure others will be along shortly to help as well.....

She is a beautiful girl for sure..... :'(

[robertmcphee]

Thank you, Im not trying to give up. Just getting a bit frustrated. More so because I worry about the health of her. I would hate to lose her.

[mike31]

I am going through the exact thing as you,my female was courted and presumably mated,swelled up for a little while and looked as though she might be gravid,started losing weight on the front part of her body and looked nice and plump on the last part,after a while she looked as though she went back to normal except for the weight loss,so I started feeding her again to put her weight back on,the last day the male was with her was october 15th,he acted like he did'nt want anymore to do with her.There is still a possibility,only time will tell, good luck.

[zenzinia]

She looks big not gravid for sure , I don't know how she used to be, but she has not lost weight she is still thick on the upper part of the body, so may be you shoud count  POS start from the second shed and see if she is will getting thinner on the upper part?

[Panama_Red]

Robert,
There is somthing that could be happening, false pregnancy. I have had 1 female do this 2 years in a row now. She never droped a thing! But she played the role well, cranky, not eating, laying on her side, basking, nesting, ect....I actually have a hard time convincing her she isn't gravid, to get her back to a normal feeding schedule. I would take her to the vet just for the mental peace... Some day I am sure my female will make a great mother, she just hasn't yet.

[robertmcphee]

Thanks! That is what I figured Id do at this point. The female I thought was not going to take is acting more gravid than this one. I just want to know so that I can resume feeding. She is dramatically thicker in the posterior than she was. I was not planning on breeding her this season anyway, it was basically an accident caused by cleaning cages and putting her in my eight foot cage that my other female and male was in. The male just took more interest in her than the other. Here is what she looked like in January when she started to swell up.

[robertmcphee]

Also I forgot to mention Zenzinia sp? I fed her a medium rat the other day which has changed the way she looks.

[bamk]

I'd give it a little more time. Many times when the yolk is being absorbed by the babies, the female appears as if she actually lost weight and one might think she is not gravid. I have had this happen on several ocassions and just when I wondered if she was gravid, out came a bunch of "bouncing baby boas." So I might give it a little more time and see what happens. If she shows no sign of being restless, I might then check with a vet, but be careful moving her just in case. Best of luck.