Birthing Question

[ATNGUY]

So "Aqua" our misidentified blue Thamnophis ordinoides, gave birth to one baby on 9/4...no duds or stillborns, I figured more were to come, she is pretty good sized, and I have heard of some big litters.

Nothing more until today, another little guy appeared.

Both babies look fine...

How long can the birthing process last?

She is in a tank with other snakes, should I isolate her? My thoughts were the new stress from moving would outweigh the possible stress created by her roomates.

[jitami]

Andrew, can you calmly pull the roommates out instead?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I found that stress often causes them to drop their babies faster... but I assume that the opposite can happen as well. I had it happen twice this year where I moved a gravid female and within the hour, they gave birth... and I bought a FL blue eastern at the last show, only to have 20 MORE of them appear in the deli cup once i got home

I would remove her tank mates, and give her lots of dark places to hide.

[ATNGUY]

I have realized I need to redo our housing situation. Mom is with 6 other snakes in a 70 gallon tank. So I don't think I can move the others out very easily. I am reworking some of the fish tanks to free up a 30 gallon tank for snakes.

I might be able to move some out.....

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

If you can, at least move her out then, just temporarily.....

I am housing 6 or 7 of my established females, like my puget, radix, concinnus and others together in a 75 gallon, I love walking into the room and seeing their heads all peek up at me like food, now????????? I take each one out at feeding time and place them on the observation table with a bowl of whatever's for dinner!

[ATNGUY]

She is isolated in a 60 quart clear plastic tub. She is a pretty calm snake to begin with, so hopefully she will be fine.

But does anyone know how long the birthing process can last? My wife went through 36 hours of labor with our first kid....but this snake is pushing 4 days.

[jitami]

It's not normal Andrew and is probably due to stress. Was the second little one ok? Sometimes they will hang on to the babies longer than normal when they're stressed. A fellow forum member had a horrible outcome when his wild caught girl did the same. Hopefully the rest of the babies are still ok. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's much you can do other than give her lots of peace and quiet so she'll feel secure. Will be thinking good thoughts for her and the babies.

Another thought... could the roomates have eaten some babies? That actually would be more common than the prolonged labor. Perhaps the little one you found last was hid in the substrate or somewhere else inside the tank? It is a large tank... just a thought...

[ATNGUY]

After the first one was born I looked around for any other babies, and cleaned the tank the next day, so I don't think I missed any. The second one had partially shed so I am pretty sure it was just born. Both seem to be fine, they haven't eaten yet, but I am not worried about that yet.

When my other momma gave birth two weeks ago, we were literally walking out the door for a four day trip, and I wasn't prepared to separate them, and they were fine. But it is possible that some were eaten.

[ATNGUY]

She popped out 7 more little guys today!

[count dewclaw]

Woohoo! Congrats!