female redtail boa

Question
QUESTION: we have a 11ft red tail and a 6 ft as well who are a breeding pair we recently housed them together for first time  female is VERY pink on her bellie . looks to be bigger than normal . we got the pair from a school. what is wrong with her ? could she be preganate

ANSWER: Hi Angel

it is possible that your boas may have bred and your female is pregnant.

if the belly of your snake doesn't appear to look sore or inflamed, the pink tinge may be due to the stretching of the skin as a result of the size increase, where the skin will be thinner and show the capillaries and blood vessels, giving it a pink/red tinge. retail boas as a species do have a pink tinge to them anyway.

try not to handle your female too much in the chance that she may be pregnant. check up on her over the next few months and, if her size increases noticeably, feel her belly to see if you can feel individual eggs. this will be a sure sign she is pregnant. If she is, make sure you provide your female with lots of water. once the babies are born, they will usually shed after 10 days. don't feed them until they have shed, as they will still be digesting the egg sack. but afterwards you can start feeding them on pinkie mice.

I hope this helps, and good luck,

Andy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: my female is swollen up to her tail i noiced two holes that looked to be leaking some kind of fluid .her eyes are clouded some of her scales aper to be pellling  she is very calm her skin is dry what can i do . she is laying under the blankets with me this is unuseul .whats wrong
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ANSWER: im going to need a bit more information to work out what this may be so a follow up would be needed, but it might be a better idea to take her to a vet rather than waste time.

she is likely shedding, which will be causing her eyes to cloud over and her scales to peel, this will be due to the swelling she is experiencing.

the swelling itself may be a kind of infection, which would account for the fluid excretion.

i would take her to a vet to get checked over, a vet will be able to identify the problem, if any, much more easily and efficiently.

I hope this Helps,

Andy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well she has began to shed just behind her head. but she wont soak in the water .she would rather be held or sungeled under warm blankets beside me.in her cage she dosnt move from one corner. at times she scares me and lookes almost dead yet will allow me to touch her,mist her . we even put the male snake back in with her,she is swelling but not sure how to tell if she is preg. we dont have a exotic pet vet here.

Answer
a couple of things you can do, is just to check the tank conditions. your temperatures should be 84F in the centre with a hotspot of up to 95F. if you are using something other than newspaper as a substrate it might be a good idea to use that. it is generally cleaner and will allow you to more easily assess whats going on. make sure you have places for her to hide at either end of the tank so she can feel comfortable at the hot and cooler end, allowing her to thermoregulate more easily.

A couple of tell-tale signs of a gravid (pregnant) snake are:

the snake will stop eating, the snake will become alot more active and the snake may become aggressive. i have heard that some species of snakes will partially lie on their backs when pregnant...  

the other thing you can do is feel her belly for the eggs. her belly will feel lumpy and may have up to 50-60 lumps. they will be easier to feel later on in her pregnancy.

it may be worth taking her to a general vets, they may be able to diagnose the snake, otherwise you may have to travel to the closest exotic pet vet you can find. =S

i hope this helps,

Andy