shingleback x-rays

[scaredofbees]

Well, I now have a fairly definitive answer regarding my female shingleback's possible gravidity.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. The x-rays were held against a basement window and photographed with an iPhone.

top view



and a side view:



This is what I heard in my head when I looked at these: http://www.sadtrombone.com/?play=true

No worries, though. My skinks appear to be in good health and I'm going to try a few different things next year. Working from home now will also allow me to monitor temperature and lighting as well as their behavior a bit better.

Two years ago at this time, I would have taken hostages in my underwear on national TV for a single shingleback. I am now fortunate enough to have a small breeding group of healthy, supposedly proven animals... the most important ingredient in breeding.

[Linnea]

that is, if the baby had any proper calcium developed o.o though i guess it should have.....

sad, but a shingle x ray image for the forum is always super ive been looking at them for 30 mins now...

[Karen]

I love how you can see the osteoderms. Hopefully you have better luck next year without any sad trombone.

[jasjmm27]

Awesome, I love how well the "shingles" on the shingles show up! Amazing how dense those rugose scales are!

[Emz3]

Excellent to see the x-rays! Sorry she's running on empty this year! ...but the x-rays are beautiful!

[Bowdoin55]

I'm sorry to hear that your girl isn't gravid this season, but I am absolutely fascinated by these images nonetheless! Like everyone here, I'm grateful for your willingness to share them and to keep us up-to-date on your breeding project.

Two years ago at this time, I would have taken hostages in my underwear on national TV for a single shingleback. I am now fortunate enough to have a small breeding group of healthy, supposedly proven animals... the most important ingredient in breeding.

You show great perspective! I am currently in the "hostage-taking" stage myself, and profoundly jealous that you have shingles, gravid or otherwise.

Cheers, and best of luck with next season. I'd love to hear more about your plans to alter their temperament/lighting regimes.

David

[Jeff]

Great pictures! Sorry to not see babies, but I'm sure you will get some before too long. I'm pretty sure my girl took the year off too. Hopefully at this time next year will will both be posting baby pictures.

[Lea]

They are great X-rays! It's good to see the shadow of the heart so clearly in the second picture. It's so high up in skinks, compared too the position in a person, for example.

[Richard.C]

the weight loss could have been slugs,another year to harmonise,its worth the wait if they do drop,hopefully mine do something this season,thanks for sharing

[scaredofbees]

A member of this forum emailed me with some interesting info. Seems as though he did a similar thing, got his skink x-rayed and nothing showed up. A week later she had 2 babies. I'm not necessarily holding out hope, but it's interesting to note that apparently the calcification of their bones is quite poor or happens much later than I suspected.

[Linnea]

i wrote that too

it takes a while for the bones to.....become bone.

[Bowdoin55]

Interesting...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you then, just in case. Thanks for sharing that information, too, scaredofbees; North American shingleback keepers seem to be a fairly secretive subset of the hobby, so I am eager to gobble up any information on breeding trials, second-hand or otherwise.

Good luck,

David

[LarissaLurid]

Very interesting, I love x-rays. Thanks for sharing :]

[Richard.C]

they are born soft boned,so that member could be right,come to think of it,i thought x ray isnt always reliable in picking up babies,but have seen examples where some juvies were detectable,so who knows

[BruinsEv]

Let's hope that's the case! Good luck!

[scaredofbees]

You're right, Linnea you did. I just didn't think it took so long for the bones to calcify. I know for dogs and cats, you can see them in an x-ray about a month before they're born. Based on when I think copulation took place and gestation for shinglebacks, I'd placed her due date sometime around now, or possibly a few weeks from now.

There is a great image of an x-ray of a gravid female on the other forum and you can actually see the baby inside.. mostly just it's skull and spine. This x-ray, however, was taken after she'd already delivered two offspring, so they must not be able to show up until they're just about done cooking.

Who knows though, really. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if she just laid a Cadbury Egg.

[anchietae]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if she just laid a Cadbury Egg.

I'm laughing because I'm afraid I'm in the same situation.

[Bowdoin55]

I can think of a number of less delicious contingencies!

[anchietae]

I can think of a number of less delicious contingencies!

[Richard.C]

dont give up hope just yet guys,well until that cadbury eggs produced,lol