Clumped clutches

[Feebo]

Hey guys and girls... :)

I`ve got a Carpet python ready to lay soon and I`ve been wondering whether to attempt to seperate the eggs. My first Corn clutch was all stuck together and it`s just not ideal is it. I thought I`d see what a few of you think as far as that`s concerned. If you wouldn`t attempt to seperate the clutch, how would you place it in the egg box? The eggs at the bottom of the clump actually under the vermiculite? Or would you just place the clump on the vermiculite, make sure it`s supported as a whole and that`s that? I look forward to hearing some different thoughts on this.... ;D Cheers....

[Will0W783]

I think most breeders separate the clutches and place 3-5 eggs in each cup in the incubator. That's what I intend to do when my Stimson's lay.

[Feebo]

What cup is that Willow? Hopefully I`ll catch them soon enough that they`ll still be able to be seperated, I`d much rather be dealing with individual eggs really... It`s going to be fun persuading her off her clutch lol

[marvelfreak]

I read were if you remove them with in a few hours after being layed it's not that hard. While the snake is to wore out to put up much a fight.

[Feebo]

yeah that`s the trick! With these guys you need to try and avoid touching thier skin too, the second you actually touch them no matter how lightly, that`s it, BANG!!! lol The thing is, even if you go for a swift and decisive pick up or something, she could pull eggs over or break them fighting you. A very tricky operation that i`m not looking forward to doing with my Blood pythons! Not a bit.

[Bree]

A couple of things--

Mommy Removal
I've found in moving the Mom off the clutch the best thing you can do is cover her head...generally I use a hand towel or double papertowel, then get her from behind the head and the tail as well. Then lift off.

Separating eggs
If you are careful you can separate the eggs without too much difficulty. Just no rough housing with them or juggling! I generally set them up in one container (if the clutch is small enough) and have them separated.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4580021997_1f88a71477.jpg

In any event good luck!

Bree

[Feebo]

Not a bad idea that, cheers. I might even make a wee hood for her lol She`s taking her sweet time, I wish she`d hurry up! lol

[shaunyboy]

now now feebs you just cant rush good old mother nature.all the breeders i know do it one of 2 ways mate.i'm about to state the obvious but half them split the eggs by hand the other half leave them in the clump on one of them plastic grates you see in egg pic's on here.personally if it wasnt going to strees the eggs too much i'd seperate them.i suppose it will depend on just how much they have fused with each other.i know of one breeder who just gets in there and cuts them away from each other,leaving what he calls sun roofs.personally i think the guys a little gung ho about it.but to his credit he has an amazing collection and has bred loads of different species of snake.he is successfull enough to have a trade table at all the british shows and most of the european shows.i'd judge every clump on its own merrit.leaving the ones that were really badly fused together,the ones i could get free with ease id put seperately.all the best when the time comes mate.its going to be a very busy season for you.re your bloods i wouldnt fancy that job much either mate.

while i remember theres a guy called inkyjoe on another forum successfully got a coastal jaguar carpet to lock with a female blood python.he's now got eggs,at least 5 of them look viable.it will be very interesting to say what happens with this hybridisation.as far as i know its never been done.

please i am only informing the forum of something i find very intruiging,i do not want to get into an is it right or is it wrong hybrid arguement.

cheers shaun

[Feebo]

Huh... Yeah I don`t think I`ll be trrying that lol You know what I could do though? Cross my Blood pythons with my parrot! A talking pissed off snake bird thing! LOL
Well, it`s been 30 days since her shed, if that was the lre lay shed she should have laid or be about to lay. As usual I`m doubting myself, usually something happenes when I`ve started doing that ! lol I checked her this morning and she looked like she might be in labour, not certain but she was definitely looking a little more than fidgetty so fingers crossed......

[Feebo]

Yep!!!! I was right!! She`s laying up there right now!! :) Nice :)

[Will0W783]

COngrats Feebs! My Stimson laid yesterday, on Mothers' day! When I took them away they weren't clumped at all. There were only 5 good ones and 1 that I think is dead but I'm giving it a chance anyway in its own separate cup. I put them in little deli soup cups (actually soup cups from Chinese take-out) with holes punched in the sides.

[HerpAm85]

Hi, can i ask what is probably a stupid question, but why do the eggs get separated from the mother to incubate? Will the mother not do it naturally?

[Will0W783]

Yes a lot of times the mother will incubate naturally, but in captivity we can't always provide the mother with ideal conditions in which to incubate her eggs herself. With an artificial incubator we can much more tightly control the temperature, humidity and oxygen flow so that we know the eggs have the best possible chance of hatching. Maternal incubation is a valid and often used method, but it tends to have either great success or complete and utter failure while incubators give the herper a bit more leeway.

[Feebo]

Yeah that and if you let the mother do it, she won`t eat again until they hatch and we`d much rather get her eating again as soon as possible. I coule see six eggs earlier, hopefully there`s loads more than that! lol It`s her first clutch mind you so it could well be a small one. We`ll see at 7pm :) That`s three quarters of an hour from this posting. I`ll get a photo or two aswell......

[Will0W783]

Yeah, that too.,...pregnancy is a strain on the female snake since they dont' have room for eggs and food in those long, cylindrical bodies. I am going to try to get my gal back onto food asap. She looks so much skinnier having laid the eggs, but she still doesn't look bad. I've seen some females that just look practically skeletal once they lay.

[Feebo]

Yeah one of my Corns was like that.... Well, it`s ten! Not too bad for a first clutch but we`ll see what the hatch rate is like. One end of each egg is proper cone shaped lol She wasn`t best pleased with me but with a little distraction and a decisive swoop I got her off ! lol She`s strong as a bloody ox that girl is! I wasn`t able to seperate them unfortunatly, I got two off the main clump, together, but that`s it. Hopefully that won`t now present me with additional issues. I`m trying not to think about mould. Well that`s me worried for the next few months! Nice. Fingers crossed :)

[Lankyrob]

Fingers crossed here too mate!! Hope all goes well!

[marvelfreak]

Got my fingers cross for you to. Here's hope you have a 100% hatch rate. Best of luck and keep us posted on how mom doing and how it take to get her eating again.

[Feebo]

Cheers guys :) I`m defrosting a small rat for her at the moment... :D I don`t suppose it`ll ever get any easier than this, I`ll just be slightly on edge until they hatch now! lol As usual though, I just have to tell myself that even getting one single live neonate is a result....

[Will0W783]

We want pictures, Feebs!!!!!

[Feebo]

LOL Here she is coiling her cargo...
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/magicmantis004.jpg
And here are the eggs, which look good and stable this morning....
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/magicmantis006.jpg
I`m incubating at high eighties and hope to see the little guys in sixty days :)

[shaunyboy]

congratulations mate.i hope all goes well for you.
all the best shaun

[Feebo]

Thanks dude! I`m really pleased things are going as planned, given a good few years of breeding under my belt I hope to maybe start coming up with some really special stuff :) But for now, I`ll just get a load of breeding under my belt and study genetics....