Hey guys! You guys have been so helpfull with my other questions ! So I’m back again to seek my council from you all. Below are picture of my female Mojave. I know that ovulation is seen by a swelling just past mid body. But I don’t know how swollen? So I’m including some pictures. Hopefully I can get some opinions from you all. She is definitely gravid. I know because she is absolutely ravenous. She has eaten 3 rats in the last 4 days and she is still trying to find more food. Any feed back you guys give is much appreciated.
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If she has eaten 3 rats in the past 4 days, then she might just be fat 🤷🏼♀. Hard to tell ovulations just by pictures alone. I wouldn’t recommend giving her more food for at least a week, as it could easily do more harm than good.
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Awww will do haha. I watched a video from Justin koblyka(def spelled that wrong) and he said when his females are building he feeds at their pace. That when she is satisfied shell let you know/ she needs more food for building. I’m not super worried. The first rat 4 days a go was a large the other 2 were a medium and a small. So I don’t think she is super stuffed but she definitely thiccer than a Snicker’s.
Also do you know the time frame for ovulation? As in how long after pairing it usually takes?
She is definitely gravid. I know because she is absolutely ravenous
She is not gravid unless she ovulates, because she eats 3 rats in 4 days does not mean she is gravid. Ravenous behavior generally occurs during the building phase. (follicle growth)
When gravid they usually do not eat you will have an exception taking a rat or two after ovulation but it is rare.
Based on the picture it is hard to tel especially considering she has that much food in her.
Now one thing I will point out is that you are really feeding too much too little apart, space your meals a little more and remember that digestion takes a toll on your animal the bigger the prey the longer it takes to diges, and while JK does it, he has experience and knows what to look for and where a female stands in her development.
And to answer your question on time frame there is none from pairing to ovulation, it can take 1 or 10 pairings before ovulation, and you might pair animals and not get an ovulation at all.
Follicular development takes 4 to 8 months.
Ovulation to eggs is 45 days.
The real question was the female growing follicles to start with and paired at the right time during that follicular development?
Back to being gravid or not what behavior have you observed?.
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Well with her pairings she was very receptive. This is her first year breeding. When introduced to the male she began wagging her tail, scenting the tank, etc. Since the pairings (4 total, all of 24 hrs) her demeanor has changed. She was very mellow, slow moving , easy going. Now she is more alert, Darty, much stronger feeding responses. She used to take a large rat and would stay in her hide and chill for around 5,6 days before she started wandering and looking again. Now it’s like a day or two and she is on the prowl. Anything above the tank put her in feeding mode. I’ve also caught her laying on her back two or three times now. She was 2056 grams at the first pairing a month and a half ago now she is 2518 grams and I have been feeding her normally outside of the extra small and medium rat in the last 4 days. Her Is a pic of her on her back. This is a less extreme example.
Where does she spend the majority of her time in the enclosure, cool spot or hot spot?
Before I fed her cold, she been on the warm for a few days now. Understandably
If she spend the majority of her time (not taking in consideration digesting) on the cool side she is definitely not gravid but in the process of building.
I only paired her four times with the male. The male was on the small side, around 600 grams. He went off food and since was already a little small. I decided to stop breeding him for the season. I changed his bedding and alot of other stuff. He finally started eating again yesterday.
Pic for comparison
I mean that’s kinda what I meant haha. I thought gravid was pre ovulation building 