Morelia Nauta Eggs

[LTownsend]

This was a complete surprise on Thursday morning. I came in to find my largest CB female Tanimbar python sitting loosely around a clutch of sixteen eggs. Unfortunately only three of them were fertile. I suspected she might be gravid, but I didn't witness the ovulation, so I was waiting for a pre-lay shed, which never occurred, so I was shocked when I slid open the rubbermaid and found her with eggs before shedding. Even though I had paired her with two different males all winter, I only witnessed one successful copulation with an unrelated LTC male, which is probably why 13 of the eggs were slugs. As long as the three that are fertile go to term and hatch, it will be a success. Enjoy....Lance

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/507/1264CB_Morelia_Nauta_Eggs2-med.JPG

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1264CB_Morelia_Nauta_Fertile1-med.JPG

[Stockwell]

Wow! Congrats on those good 3 Lance, and at least she deposited all the slugs without complications. Hopefully fertility will increase next year.
Best of luck hatching those

[Clownfishie]

Best of luck with those eggs Lance! :) 3 is definitely better than nothing... and hopefully you hatch out some nice healthy babies from those eggs :)


Jen

[Oliverian]

Good luck with those three!
I only witnessed one successful copulation with an unrelated LTC male, which is probably why 13 of the eggs were slugs. Why would this cause slugs? Do they need to be mated with a related male? And what does LTC mean?

Lol sorry, I don't know much at all about these guys.
-TammyR

[gonesnakee]

Lance TOO COOL Good Luck with them!

For Tammy - LTC Long Term Captive meaning it was orginally a wildcaught (WC) specimen. An unrelated male is always better in the breeding of any animals. He was more refering to the fact that he only saw them copulate the one time & was getting at that she wasn't mated enough to fertilize the rest due to the fact that the ovulation was probably missed & there was maybe only one successful breeding. Mark I.

[LTownsend]

Thanks snakee.....that's exactly what I was referring to.....probably should have explained myself better.....too excited & in too much of a hurry :)

Hey Roy.....You were just here and saw her last week.....couldn't you have told me she was going to drop those on me this week...LOL.

Thanks for the kind words everyone....I'm glad I got the three I did.

[Stockwell]

Lance she didn't really look that knocked up to me.But I think you'll be announcing Chondro eggs soon.!!

[LTownsend]

Soon.....she's gearing up for her pre-lay shed and due to lay on the 12th of May.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/507/1264Lashes_Gravid_3-med.JPG

[Yasser]

Lance,
congrats on the tan clutch!
So far, high infertile ratios have plagued nearly all of the clutches laid by Tanimbar Pythons. Tracy Barker and Nick Mutton have always have problems with that. Actually Nick gets a clutch practically every year but they are largely infertile.
And for the record, all it takes is one successful copulation to get a fully fertile clutch. The low fertility is probably not due to the males used or the single breeding but moreso regular exposure to excessively warm temps.
And when was the last time she did shed?
And where'd the CB female come from? If she came from Corey Woods, then she was originally produced by Nick in one of his first breedings.
Again, congrats and keep plugging away at them. Eventually, this will get figured out.

-Yasser
Spitfire Reptiles (http://www.spitfirereptiles.com)

[LTownsend]

Thanks Yasser.....She did come from Corey Woods. I have 2.3 adult Tans in total, all aquired from Corey over the past couple of years; 1.1 CB, and 1.2 LTC. The last time she shed was back in January.....I'm still not sure why the low fertility rate, but it wouldn't have been due to excessively warm temps because she was still in the breeding rack with the heat being turned off at night (night-time temps 74-78 / daytime temps mid to high 80's) right up until the first week of March (after ovulation). I originally suspected it may have been due to the fact that she didn't have access to enough heat around the clock because she was still being cooled after ovulation; which I missed, but after talking to Corey about it in length the other day, he informed me that the cooler temps probably wouldn't have contributed to the low fertility rate, but that it would have likely just prolonged the actual number of days until the clutch was layed after ovulation; so it's down to either not enough access to a regular basking spot, or not enough successful copulations, even though one is enough to produce a 100% fertility rate. I do have another large LTC female that was consistantly bred more than this particular female that I'm hoping may still go for me this year who has been eating more aggressively lately, and she does have constant access to a regular basking spot now that the heat is back on 24/7, so if she does go, I may be able to rule out one or both of the remaining scenarios that likely plagued the other clutch pending the outcome of her fertility rate.....here's to hoping she ovulates :)

Lance

[Retic chic]

Originally posted by gonesnakee
He was more refering to the fact that he only saw them copulate the one time & was getting at that she wasn't mated enough to fertilize the rest due to the fact that the ovulation was probably missed & there was maybe only one successful breeding. Mark I.

In some animals, the first copulation results in the male being less fertile the first time breeding, due to the fact that sperm has died off and become infertile/immotile during the 'off' season. In subsequent copulations, they become more fertile due to the production of fresh reserves.

[Tim Schroeder]

Congrats Lance. Nauta eggs are surely a blessing. Good luck with the eggs, and your future nauta endeavors. I've been looking for a cb/h female for a while, and as you know they sure aren't very common. I hope you can get some more eggs over the next few years.

Tim

[gonesnakee]

Good Point Sheila, Mark

[Oliverian]

Well that explains a lot. Thanks everyone, and good luck with those!

-TammyR

[clifford]

Hi Lance,

Just wondering how those eggs turned out?

Opps...just found your other thread...congrats on the two babies, that's quite an accomplishment... I wish there were some cb babies avaliable this year...

Cliff