Gravid boa overdue...

Question
Hi there,

I have a four year old red tail boa who we bred this past season for the first time. Before breeding she was in perfect health and weight. This is only my second time breeding and I was fortunate enough the first time around that everything went by the books. This time around the only problem is that this female, Rosie, is now thirteen days over due (judging by the date of her post ovulation shed). She has been nesting every night for well over a week, pushing the bedding around so much so that when i take a peek first thing in the morning i sometimes cant even see her face as its hidden under the bedding. During the day she curls back up under the heat and then at night repeats the process. But so far that's all she's doing. No pre-birth waxy stool and certainly no babies. I asked about this on a message forum but got no conclusive answers. I've also been in touch with my vet who assured me that sometimes us humans just count better than our pets do...but I've yet to hear back from him regarding my one big question: how late can a snake be before it becomes dangerous for the mother and/or the babies? H did mention that we may need to do an ultra sound or an X-ray at some point but I'm waiting to hear back from him in regards to when we will reach that point.

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. For the last week Ive been misting the cage down twice a day to try to convince her that its the rainy seasin and, therefore, time to give birth...but so far she doesn't seem to have gotten the message. Every time a rainstorm blows through I think for sure I will wake up to babies...but no such luck. I swear Rosie is doing this just to torture me!

Thanks,
Rachel

Answer
I'm surprised that with you misting her she hasn't dropped.  I am in agreement with the vet that it's too soon to be worried.  If nothing has happened in another month then maybe I'd worry.  Open the windows and wait for a low pressure system to come through-I usually tell people NOT to mist them when they are close because that can cause them to delivery early, but honestly you have as much experience as I do with delivering baby boas, so keep reading and follow your vet's advice.