Second time laying all Slugs!
I have a Female Pastel, Spider, Axanthic (TSK) She is approximately 6yrs old. So this is the second time I bred her and got all slugs. I am just crushed! It took so long to get here and nothing! I am just wondering, could she just be infertile? I don’t understand it all. I’ve bred the male who is a Axanthic (tsk) with other morphs and no problem. Can anyone share some insight on why this happed. Please Help?!
Did you breed her with the same male or a different male the first time? What are your temperatures and humidity like?
Different male she in a Ars rack and temp is 80 ambient and 89 hot spot. I’m thinking she’s just not fertile at all which sucks 4yrs later😖
Was that picture of her taken when she was gravid, or before/after? I don’t want to make a single judgement based on that picture without knowing, but if she’s overweight (which is super common in the hobby, especially if kept in bins that small when they can’t move much), it can impair fertility. Obesity and reduced reproductive capacity is pretty well established in many species.
The pic of her was when she was sitting on her eggs. I don’t think she’s over weight. Could it be that she just not fertile? Would you think it would even be worth trying again? Have you or anyone ever heard of a snake having 2 clutches all slugs and then laying actual viable eggs? I would imagine that if she was Vpi Insted of tsk that wouldn’t result in all slugs? Idk I can’t think of anything else.
I will second what Hilary said. If that is her sitting on eggs, she still has a lot of weight despite having just put a lot of resources into laying, even though they were slugs. Most ball pythons in the hobby are overweight, it’s a really common problem and she does look overweight to me, which as Hilary mentioned, is proven to be tied with infertility or sub fertility. It’s possible that she’s just infertile, but it’s also very possible that her weight is a factor. I sincerely doubt TSK vs VPI is a factor, both morphs are popular and well worked with.
I’ve definitely heard of snakes having two clutches of slugs and then laying viable eggs. That said, as for the question of if it’s worth it to try again, I personally would say no because she’s spider. Spider is becoming more and more unpopular due to the quality of life concerns with the wobble syndrome, spider combos sell for quite a lot less than they used to and if you’re wanting to produce TSK, I would focus on a pairing that doesn’t involve spider, personally.
I agree with Kayla and Hilary that she definitely could use an improvement in body condition. It’s easy to not see an animal isn’t healthy if they aren’t on an extreme of either end of the spectrum, but these guys are supposed to be almost all muscle. Having an improper muscle to body fat ratio definitely does impact them. I have seen it in some of my own snakes when I first started keeping - we all learn!
Secondly, I’m also in support of retiring her as a breeder simply because she is a spider morph. Because the hobby has finally admitted they have problems due to wobble, and more pet only keepers are doing research instead of jumping in impulsively, we’ve seen a massive tank on spider prices. It’s also important to remember that just because an animal is listed for x price doesn’t necessarily mean they sell for that price. I’ve gotten discounts for being a repeat buyer, for example. I am working on placing a pet only boy with an awesome couple and since they are offering me photos of his enclosure and gave me thorough vet references, I offered a generous discount. To me, the money is secondary to ensuring his well-being.
I would definitely recommend handling her and seeing if she’s squishy/flabby or is able to hold herself up and firmer - snakes that have inadequate muscle tend to be softer and “looser” (think similarly to how a female feels after laying) vs those with proper muscle and body condition. I do have some photos of different body conditions in some of my snakes if you’d like to see them. Most were taken for documentation and data gathering purposes since one snake in particular had ongoing health issues and I was trying to keep as much information on hand for myself and the multiple vets that saw her.
