oh do guess

[drache]

despite all my occasional concerns that it may just be obesity, I am actually fairly certain that Sammy is gravid
and I like these contests
so guess how many she'll have and the winner will be awarded one of her offspring
please also keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well for her
this is her first time
she shed a couple of days ago and today she's had a couple of episodes of restlessness
this is what she looks like now

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2367/2512431988_1d19f9ea51_b.jpg

[Snake lover 3-25]

12 is my guess CONGRATS!!!!!:D:D:D:D

[gregmonsta]

12 :P i hope lol :)

[gregmonsta]

Dammit ... not again .... mmmm 9!!!!!

[Stefan-A]

14.

I hope you're right about her being gravid. :)

[Zephyr]

7. :P
I'm thinking my little Fatty's gravid too. :P
Probably that WC male what done her in. XD

[adamanteus]

13 maybe more, or perhaps less..... but certainly no more than 100.

[lestat]

I hope she is gravid and i think around 7.

[Sid]

Rhea, my guess is 16 and let's hope all healthy.:)

[drache]

I hope you're right about her being gravid. :)
me too
if nothing comes out any time soon, she's going on a crash diet
but after all that action with Boyfriend . . .
I can't imagine they just stuck to foreplay

I just saw that Shanley gave Sooty's length
Sammy's probably about 26" long

[Zephyr]

I can't imagine they just stuck to foreplay

Hahahaha! XDDD

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

I guess 15

[Elliot]

My guess is 8. :)

[Lori P]

I'm guessing 11!

[anji1971]

I'll go with 10!:)

[Charlet_2007]

19 babies!!!!

[Tori]

I say 17!.....................

[count dewclaw]

I'll guess 17.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

haha tori just guessed that

I'll guess 17.

[Snaky]

I'm guessing 16 :)

Didn't look that good, it's already taken :(. So I'm guessing 22, although it's a bit much probably :D

[count dewclaw]

haha tori just guessed that

That stinks! The time stamp says we posted at the same time....oh well, Tori's showed up first...I guess I'll go with 18.

[drache]

oh - and if that helps:
her weight is 152.8g

[ssssnakeluvr]

I'll guess 23......

[reptileparadise]

oh - and if that helps:
her weight is 152.8g


Now I'm really getting curious! I've got a preggie thats ready to pop at 151 g!!!

[KITKAT]

23!

Here are well wishes for lots of live babies, and no slugs!;)

[drache]

just an update photo
yes she's still gravid
yesterday I felt some lumps for the first time

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2119/2541758776_6772b04e71_b.jpg

[Josh]

20 I guess
all the good numbers were taken lol

[reptileparadise]

How far is she?

[enigma200316]

I'll guess 21, and they will all be healthy!!!!!!!! fingures crossed:)

[drache]

How far is she?
who knows?
I think any minute now
but I've been thinking that since she shed
it's like a "watched pot never boils" kind of thing

[Snake lover 3-25]

she shed already????:eek: :D:D:D:D

[el lobo]

My guess is 11. Congrats!

[drache]

she shed already????:eek: :D:D:D:D
she shed almost two weeks ago
I'm beginning to wonder whether she's going to shed one more time before it happens
her eyes sometimes look kind of . . .
probably just my imagination, because I want something to happen

[Snake lover 3-25]

that's exactly what happened to me a few days ago!!!!!!!!:eek::D:D:DLOL

[drache]

what happened?
Sooty looks like she'll shed again?

Sammy is clearly acting like a woman under the influence of hormones
she get these periods of restlessness that in human women would probably translate into those fits of cleaning frenzy on gets right before the baby pops out
she drags her big belly all over her tank and rearranges the substrate (care fresh)
and she's never shown any remote interest in the substrate before - never even burrowed in it

[Snake lover 3-25]

no i mean my eyes tricked my into thinking her eyes were turning blue!!!!:D:D:p

Wow sooty had started burrowing too!!!!!!! and she had no intrest in it either!!!!!:D:D:D

[drache]

here's the answer to the "it looks like she's going to shed again" mystery

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/2545329520_8be87a8c99_o.jpg

darn my eyesight again - I should have caught it sooner
this is a retained brille from her last shed
I'm not exactly sure what to do about it at this point

[Zephyr]

Moisten it with some sort of wet material and wipe it off. :P

[Stefan-A]

Or do what "viperkeeper" does on YouTube: wrap a piece of tape around your finger with the sticky side out and use it to take off the eyecap. :)

[adamanteus]

Or do what "viperkeeper" does on YouTube: wrap a piece of tape around your finger with the sticky side out and use it to take off the eyecap. :)

That's what I do. Only I don't use my finger, I use something smaller, such as tweezers with the tape around the tips. I find I can press the sticky tape against the eye more accurately using a smaller implement.

[drache]

I'll try that, thanks

[drache]

Itried it both ways and it didn't work
I also don't want to stress her right nowand she dislikes this procedure
my vet would probably tell me not to woory about it and to just make sure it does come off with the next shed

she's 176.7g now
wow - that's quite a weight gain

[osubeaver22]

I say 18 babies.

[GartersRock]

Heck. 20!
=)

[drache]

ha! whew!
I don't have to worry about the retained brille at all, because it's not what it is, which is why it's taken me this long to see it
she's going into shed again and the left eye for some reason got cloudy sooner than her right, but they're both blue now
given that she just shed a couple of weeks ago, I'm feeling a sense of anticipation now . . .

[Stefan-A]

Good news. :D Then again, one failed shed can lead to a second shed starting sooner than usual.

[drache]

because of her scar, I usually have to wet bag her and help her with the shed around the neck and head area
I check her over pretty well, which why I was surprised to have missed a retained brille
I'm pretty sure now that this is just a normal shed by a gravid snake who has gained 25g or more since her last shed

[Zephyr]

because of her scar, I usually have to wet bag her and help her with the shed around the neck and head area
I check her over pretty well, which why I was surprised to have missed a retained brille
I'm pretty sure now that this is just a normal shed by a gravid snake who has gained 25g or more since her last shedOoh! I have an idea!
Ya know how with the elements they have an average atomic mass?
Maybe we should correlate some sort of average snake mass? (ASM lol)
Seeing as she's an eastern, you could weigh a few of her newborn babies when she has them, and we could get others from the forum and the garter community to weigh their easterns, or other species, so we could help calculate how many baby snakes are in a gravid female. Late in development, of course, but it would be a lot less stressful on the snake than feeling for babies.

[Snake lover 3-25]

:eek::eek::eek!!!!!!! that is DEF. the best idea EVER!!!!!!!!!! i'll do the same w/ Sooty!!!!:D:D:D:D

[Stefan-A]

More than just babies come out of a snake when it gives birth. :rolleyes:

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah true but you could just subtract that according to the added weight of the young and the lost weight of the mother!!!!!:D:D:p

[Zephyr]

Yay math. :P

[Snake lover 3-25]

BOO honors Geometry!!!!!!!:(:(:(:p

[enigma200316]

Hurray Beer!!!! LMAO..........:D

[Zephyr]

Well, we could do it.
We start with the weight she's gained, then subtract her original weight. Once she has the babies, we can mass the babies and subtract this from the weight gained. Then divide this number by the number of babies and, voila! The ASM! :P

[drache]

Kyle
you gotta come over and do it for me
for me to weigh a snake twice in a month is a major accomplishment
I'll see what I can do . . .

[Zephyr]

You know you can just weigh a container, then weigh the container with the snake, then subtract the difference...

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah...... i didn't know there was any other way to do it!!!!!!:D:D:D:p:p:p

[drache]

she hasn't really gained any weight
mostly she's been in her damp hide and for a while I thought that maybe I was wrong after all and she's just fat
so today i took her out to weigh her and take a look
well, take a look for yourself and tell me what you think:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2602722850_b514e33840_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/2602724610_a4631a5c96_b.jpg

am I being unduly inpatient?
I'll head over to the Sooty thread now

[ssssnakeluvr]

Hurray Beer!!!! LMAO..........:D
gotta agree with that!!! :rolleyes:

[ssssnakeluvr]

you might be....I would say definitely gravid...but they can have their babies anywhere from 90 to 120 days after breeding....my red sider pushed that to the limit last year....

[drache]

Sammy's gone into shed again
she seems fine - very gravid

[Snake lover 3-25]

awwww lucky!!!! i guess she's going to win the race!!!!!:( LOL

[drache]

who knows
I thought she was going to pop two sheds ago
maybe she'll just grow and grow and shed every other week . . .

[crzy_kevo]

im gonna geuess 8

[Elliot]

im gonna geuess 8

Beat you to it. :p

[drache]

yeah
if you're gonna guess a number somebody else has picked, at least make it a high one
if it's over 20, I might be willing to part with two . . .

[NikkiSixx]

i guess 11 if nobody called it.:D

[drache]

okay okay
I think it's actually going to happen
Sammy finished her shed earlier today
and then she did something she's never done before
she refused food

[Snake lover 3-25]

whoo hoo!!!!!! go sammy!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::D:D:D

[anji1971]

Rhea, that definitely sounds promising!!
Hoping for good results...........:)

[crzy_kevo]

ok fine i guess 23

[MoJo]

Good luck to you and Sammy. I can sympathize with your situation. I have 2 girls who have shed who are over 90 days but only one is refusing food. I must say I check their tanks quite often!

[Odie]

24 if it is not taken ;)

[Snaky]

Good luck and keep us posted :)

[reptileparadise]

Good luck and like Hans said...Keep us posted!

[drache]

I took her out for a little bit yesterday because she's been hiding a lot (very uncharacteristic) and I wanted to make sure all of her is okay
she is now so big that her tail kind of sticks up a little when she pulls that big belly around
it's good thing she's having a home birth
at most human birthing facilities they'd be past inducing labour by now
she looks just fine

[Sid]

I took her out for a little bit yesterday because she's been hiding a lot (very uncharacteristic) and I wanted to make sure all of her is okay
she is now so big that her tail kind of sticks up a little when she pulls that big belly around
it's good thing she's having a home birth
at most human birthing facilities they'd be past inducing labour by now
she looks just fine
Glad to hear she's doing well:)

[anji1971]

You must be getting pretty anxious and excited, Rhea!
I know I keep checking this thread to see what's going on...........:)

[drache]

it's happening!!!
when I walked past the tank a little while ago, I saw a little wigglely movement
and I saw two right away
of course I had to get the camera and the only shot I got was this

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2633602449_9dedc22a64_b.jpg

I realized right away that I needed to get rid of the carefresh
Sammy was in her damp hide with some slimy bloody looking stuff and I needed to get a clean place to put her
so I quickly took out everything and found a total of four healthy little babies

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2634428116_de8ac0ab10_b.jpg

then I put down paper towel and put Sammy on that
in the damp hide I found a poorly developed stillborn one and one that wasn't quite sure which end was up, with a bunch of shed stuck on it and quite limp
I gave it a little bath and after it perked up, put it with the others - seems fine now, or at least I can't at a prod figure out which one it is

this one needed help getting out of it's sac

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2633604423_4e662b2c29_b.jpg

there are more coming and because of where I found her, I gave her some damp moss

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2634555346_5b70d5394b_b.jpg

too bad I won't be able to see much now
I'll have to take a peek now and then
will keep you posted

[adamanteus]

Wow, great news, Rhea. And great photos too!

[jitami]

How exciting Rhea!!! Good job getting that little one going! Definitely keep us posted!

[Garter_Gertie]

What pretty babies, Rhea! I didn't think it could be much longer if her tail was sticking up. CONGRATULATIONS! Keep the pics coming!

[Lori P]

Oh how exciting!! Gooooo Sammy.... those babies are looking great!!!

[count dewclaw]

Woohoo! Way to go Sammy. Congrats Rhea! I love the pic of Sammy looking at the one just being born. :D

[Lori P]

I was laughing at that... her face so clearly says, "Worm? Should I eat it? Naaaa...."

[crzy_kevo]

congrats rhea keep those pics coming

[Snake lover 3-25]

congrats!!!!! i hope there are tons!!!!:D:D:D good luck sammy!!!:D

[SpyrotheGartersnake]

great news!

[Stefan-A]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2633604423_4e662b2c29_b.jpg


Congratulations! :) Great picture, by the way. :D

[Snake lover 3-25]

you're right!!!! contest pic?????

[drache]

thanks Stefan
would that qualify as a contest pic?
I like it a lot and there is certainly a size difference
but does the little one qualify as a full citizen?

[Sid]

They look great Rhea and keep us posted. The photos are fantastic.:D

[ScimitarX]

Congratulations on the new arrivals:D

[Snake lover 3-25]

thanks Stefan
would that qualify as a contest pic?
I like it a lot and there is certainly a size difference
but does the little one qualify as a full citizen?

i def. think so!!!:D:D it's a great pic!:D

[anji1971]

Rhea, I'm so excited for you and Sammy!
Can't wait to see the final tally, and of course more great pics. Congrats!:)

[Snaky]

That's so neat. Congrats already and waiting for the final result!

[drache]

well guys
I ended up having to go to bed and if she did have any more, she must have eaten them
her belly still looks kind of big, but not lumpy, like before, so it's probably just still distended a bit
this then I think this is the final tally - six live and one stillborn
Kyle - it looks like you're the winner

it's still early and I want to take more pics later, but from what I could see yesterday, there are some with a more greenish-black colouration and some with more russet tones

another interesting oddity though, is that I can't see the red spots on Sammy any more
I wonder whether any of the babies got them

[drache]

mom and baby photo

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/2636439324_76cc4e39ea_b.jpg

now this may seem weird to some of you, but I was just taking a bunch of photos and when I looked afterwards I thought this was sort of interesting

it's Sammy right before she peed

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2635610627_3e2c04d419_b.jpg

and then right after

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/2635612459_c44b06fc1e_b.jpg

I guess she must have had a full bladder

and here's a bad shot of babies checking out the scene

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/2636432480_13a2ed999d_b.jpg

[reptileparadise]

Awesome!!! Congrats!
Great pictures as well!

[Garter_Gertie]

Rhea, fabulous two shots! I see the difference I think you're referring to. First pic it's thicker at her cloaca then in the second! Is that it? That is interesting.

Sammy's a doll and so are her babies! Congratulations!

[drache]

sorry to inundate you guys with Sammy
I do have other lovely snakes
but just in case some of you (with the low guesses) were hoping for one or two stray late-comers - don't hold your breath
her appetite is back

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2635882631_74697ec4d1_b.jpg

and here's another blurry baby pic

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/2636712114_98329b5656_b.jpg

[Garter_Gertie]

Oooooooooooooo. Yeah. Nice - VERY nice - kid. I want one!

[adamanteus]

Congratulations, Rhea. Beautiful babies.:)

[lestat]

Congratulations. Lovely babies and the mum is not bad.

[crzy_kevo]

ya i notice that difference in george if i see more of a bulge at the cloaca when i pic her up i know to put her back in the tank cuz she is gonna have abowel movement soon i know shes peed on me twice lol and im sure it wasn't musking

[MoJo]

Congratulations!

[drache]

thanks everyone - I'm pretty stoked

[Garter_Gertie]

thanks everyone - I'm pretty stoked

As well you should be. If you're feeling anything like what I felt at my Aby litters, it's like they're your own. Like you birthed them; like you made them. And your heart is so soft and warm and encompassing of them. They're YOURS!

Again, congratulations. Enjoy and relish the heady loving feeling.

[drache]

it's not quite as heady as when I first realized they were coming
but I guess pretty stoked is a characteristic understatement
you should have seen me
I was running around the house hyperventillating and squeaking OMG OMG OMG OMG I have babies OMG I have to call someone OMG BABIES no post no where's my camera OMG babies where's my camera OMG OMG Sammy hold on I'm coming OMG where is my camera - ah camera . . . OMG OMG wow Sammy . . .
you get the idea
notice how I'm using an abundance of capital letters and uncharacteristic exclamations of a nearly religious nature?

[Garter_Gertie]

Yeah, Rhea. I see. I'd say you were just a *wee* bit stoked! :D But it's to be expected, I think. Gosh. Why would you even want one battery pulled so as not to have such a happy excited reaction?

It's amazing, facinating and wonderful. I think your reaction was very normal. Anything less - for me - would border on brain dead.

[jitami]

it's not quite as heady as when I first realized they were coming
but I guess pretty stoked is a characteristic understatement
you should have seen me
I was running around the house hyperventillating and squeaking OMG OMG OMG OMG I have babies OMG I have to call someone OMG BABIES no post no where's my camera OMG babies where's my camera OMG OMG Sammy hold on I'm coming OMG where is my camera - ah camera . . . OMG OMG wow Sammy . . .
you get the idea
notice how I'm using an abundance of capital letters and uncharacteristic exclamations of a nearly religious nature?

:D Rhea, you just put a huge smile on my face. I can so easily see myself doing the exact same things... right down to the "OMG Sammy hold on I'm coming" :D Thanks for sharing that little bit about yourself Rhea. I love it... and you! :)

[anji1971]

Yep, that sounds like a great reaction, and very normal for a lot of us!
I missed the actual birth for mine, but I was running around screaming about the babies, and my husband was afraid I'd scoop them all up and run down the street to show the neighbourhood! And that probably wouldn't have gone over well...........:D