09 double clutch on the Ranch

[guidofatherof5]

My girl Speckle(aka radixzilla) gave birth on March 29th of this year. I was home today with a sick child and was down in the snake room. I had been concerned about Speckle and her weight gain(she was up to 340 grams). I wasn't sure why she was gaining so much weight. She's always been a good eater but over the last couple of months she has only been an average eater.
While on Thamnophis I glanced over at her enclosure and saw a baby radix wondering around.
Speckle is having another group of babies as I type. So far only 3. Here's the big girl.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/speckle1.jpg
Here's a couple good shots of the umbilical cord. I've also got a great video of a babies first breath I'll load on youtube later.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/umbil1.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/umbil.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a link to a baby radixes first breath video.
YouTube - first breath (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgaj_bO_k1w)

[garterchick]

Congratulations, that's awsome!
I wonder if my flame girl is doing the same thing. She's huge, not eating with her normal gusto, and mostly just laying around. I'm worried about brumating her if she in fact is pregnant, what should I do?

[guidofatherof5]

Congratulations, that's awsome!
I wonder if my flame girl is doing the same thing. She's huge, not eating with her normal gusto, and mostly just laying around. I'm worried about brumating her if she in fact is pregnant, what should I do?

If she's pregnant I would think brumation is out of the question for her. If she has the babies she will need time to put some weight on before she gets a cool down.
Babies are the best, good luck.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a few more pictures. She's had 12 babies so far.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/head_first.jpg

I had to help deliver this one and for good reason. She came out in a knot. With a little gentle pulling I was able to get her out.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/knots.jpg

[MasSalvaje]

That is awesome footage! Good save on that last one Steve, Congrats!

-Thomas

[gregmonsta]

Excellent :) congrats :D

[sirtalis01]

wow :eek:kool..congrats

[confused]

Wow. That's insane.

[snakems]

what a great video of the baby's first breath!! :) enjoyed it a lot...

now that I see this video and your babies I am wondering how old the babies were the I had found because they were even SMALLER than the ones in this video! maybe they were freshly born! which may be why that one did not survive the cat attack :(

[drache]

amazing - congrats
great photos btw

[jitami]

Very cool Steve! Loved the video and that knot is pretty wild!

[GarterGeek]

Congratulations!

How many were there in all?:D

[guidofatherof5]

Well, the final count is in. There were 20 babies, including 1 stillborn that I found this morning
I now have 19 healthy little radixes to take care of this Winter. Speckle is doing great and I've returned her friend to the enclosurer.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/late_09_babies_Speckle.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Speckle is back eating again. I'm going to ease her back into a full meal for the first week or so. Don't think I'll brumate her this year as I won't breed her next year.

[drache]

well . . .
not brumating her might not do the trick - you didn't this summer after all
I think the only safe bet would be keeping her away from the dudes
nice litter btw - congrats

[guidofatherof5]

well . . .
not brumating her might not do the trick - you didn't this summer after all
I think the only safe bet would be keeping her away from the dudes
nice litter btw - congrats

Yes, she will remain dudeless for the year.:D

On the other hand, she is a young, healthy girl and seems to take to this baby thing very well. I really don't know if not breeding her is doing her any favors or not. This sounds like a good discussion issue and I'm going to post it as its own thread.

[GarterGeek]

Nice to see another beautiful, healthy litter! :) I know it's early, but are any eating yet?

Is her second litter as large as her first?

I'm not sure if the title "Radix-Ranch" covers your operation anymore! :D You probably have enough citizens to qualify as a nation. How about "Republic of Radix?"

[drache]

"Republic of Radix?"
some ancient greek guy wrote that, right?

[GarterGeek]

some ancient greek guy wrote that, right?

Not that I know of. It was just the first thing that came to my head, probably because of the alliteration. :) Of course, for all I know, I may be the great descendent of some ancient greek guy. - It would explain so much...Like my extreme intelligence. :D:rolleyes:

[guidofatherof5]

Not that I know of. It was just the first thing that came to my head, probably because of the alliteration. :) Of course, for all I know, I may be the great descendent of some ancient greek guy. - It would explain so much...Like my extreme intelligence. :D:rolleyes:

and don't forget your great modesty:D

[charles parenteau]

Condrad very nice!

[Mommy2many]

Beautiful bunch of newborns! I loved the video of its first breath.

[GarterGeek]

and don't forget your great modesty:D

Thank you for reminding me! Among my multitude of virtues, modesty is probably my strongest.:D ;) Nobody is more modest than me. I attribute that character trait to my Viking bloodline.

[guidofatherof5]

After work I was in the snake room and heard a snake poop. When one of my big girl go it makes some noise. I looked over and saw Speckle with her tail up. I walked over and opened the enclosure up. In with the fecal matter was a stillborn. I hope she will be okay as I've never had this happen. She seems fine and is eating again so I hope this will be the last stillborn.

[guidofatherof5]

Tonight, 6 days after giving birth Speckle passed another stillborn in her feces. Speckle is doing fine and appears to be acting her normal self otherthan a more than normal attraction to me. She has always been a little skittish but now is calm with me and wants to spend time out with me. I think she likes me:D

The count total is 22 born, 3 stillborn. The remaining 19 are doing great.

[GarterGeek]

Glad to here that the little ones are doing so well! It's nice to hear that the mother is fine as well. Congratulations! :)

Are the stillborns deformed in any way?

[guidofatherof5]

Are the stillborns deformed in any way?

They looked perfect. No idea why they were dead. It was the last 3 in the delivery order.

[guidofatherof5]

Speckle passed 5 more stillborns tonight. That puts her clutch up to 27 total with 8 stillborns.
These 5 all appeared fully developed. I've had mothers pass stillborns a day later but never 7 days later. Speckle eat a adult mouse and appears to be fine.

[guidofatherof5]

Speckle has had a good week and no more stillborns

The babies are eating like pigs. All 19 look great and I hope they carry the tendency to get big like their mother.

[drache]

glad it's over with the stillborns and everybody well

[guidofatherof5]

She is still passing stillborns. I found one this afternoon and watched her pass another while I was there. She seem to be doing fine and acting normal. If I had to make a prediction I would say there are more stillborns to come.
The babies that are coming out are not in egg sacks. They are complete but dead. I think I will give her a nice long warm bath and see if I can help to get this ordeal over with. It's been a month since she gave birth. I'm afraid if she doesn't get them all out they could go septic. I'm also going to get a call into her Vet.

Looks like the Vet. will have to wait until Monday. He's gone for the weekend.

[gregmonsta]

Fingers crossed for her Steve.

[guidofatherof5]

The warm bath did the trick in that she passed another stillborn. I think there is more to come.
This puts her up to 30 babies total. I sure wish they could have all made it.

[guidofatherof5]

Today, Monday she passed another stillborn. To me she still looks like she carrying more. I hope she gets through this time soon.

[guidofatherof5]

Today, Monday she passed another stillborn. To me she still looks like she carrying more. I hope she gets through this time soon.

Make that 2 stillborns for the day:(

[gregmonsta]

I hope you see an end there soon mate. Must be tough.

[ConcinusMan]

Doesn't sound too bad really. I always get a few stills, especially with a large clutch. They tend to come out last. You want to worry if it starts with still borns, or if their is a rotton smell and/or it appears that the dead have been decaying. If that's not the case, and she's passing them (may take several days) that's a good sign. She'll probably be fine.

I had a wild-caught concinnus just out of brumation that passed all still borns, all of them very decayed and stinky. She appeared to be very old and not in the best health. She passed them all, did fine, recovered and was released.

[guidofatherof5]

My concern is that it has been 1 month since she gave birth. Passing stillborns now seem extreme.

[ConcinusMan]

hmmm.... that is concerning. No 2010 breeding for her!

I'd keep her on very small meals for a while. Watch for tell tale signs of septicemia. If the dead one's are coming out stinking really bad, she might need a vet before they make her sick.

[guidofatherof5]

Well, I think the stillborns are done. Speckle is back to her old self in the looks and eating department. She is such a large radix compared to even my big girls. Tonight I had a few worms left over from a baby feed so I offered them to her group. I opened the enclosure and this huge radix came shooting out at me. It looked like she was fired out of a gun. She came sliding up to the edge of the door and stopped. She waited patiently but wanted to be the first fed. A couple other girls headed out of the hide. She turned and gave them a stare. They stopped dead in their tracks and waited until I gave her a worm. Then they came in for one. She is a dominate snake.