Here they come!

[Will0W783]

So, my first Stimson's python egg pipped today. Unfortunately, the little one fell out of the egg completely, as it was on the edge of the top of the clutch and Momma split when he cut through. This was at 3pm. He's breathing on his own, still attached to the yolk sack though. He was lashing his tail about and wrapped it around my finger! He's definitely a boy, as he everted his hemipenes when he was tail waving.
Hopefully he pulls through the night- I know it's rough on them when they come out of the egg too quickly, but he's hanging on.
There are also two other eggs that I pipped. They have babies in them moving about, so it's just a matter of time.

For those who didn't see my thread about the Stimsons' python breeding, this was my second breeding attempt. I used maternal incubation and had a total of 9 eggs, with 3 good ones surviving at end. Not a great turn-out: I am not thinking I will use maternal incubation next time, but it's all a learning process.

I want to thank everyone that offered me advice and encouragement, especially Julian and Aaron_S for their help with a maggot infestation I had on a few bad eggs, and Julian's continuing advice. Thank you guys, and I' crossing my fingers that all 3 little wormies make it out for me!

[mld]

Beautiful, I just love these little guys! I'm crossing my fingers, toes, eyes, and legs for a successful hatch of all of them.
I also like the Antharesia perthensis. Good Luck!

[Will0W783]

Thanks Michele. We'll see how it goes. I know several people were interested in seeing how the maternal incubation turned out. And while it was very easy, it didn't give a great success rate. I think next clutch of anything I produce, I will use the water box (little bit of water with plastic egg crate in a box in the incubator) to keep the humidity up without drowning the eggs. Antaresia like it drier than a lot of other python species, which can make it tricky to get the incubation conditions just right.

[Jay]

Hey Willow, can you offer me any tips on maternal incubation Thanks in advance

[Will0W783]

Well, it's pretty straightforward, Jay. The toughest thing is making sure mom's cage temps are right for the eggs. It's better to have it a degree or two lower and then the eggs will take longer to hatch, than to overheat it and rot them out. Mom should make a nice tight beehive-shaped coil, that lifts the eggs up off of the substrate. She should lay them in the nest box. I just kept the cage at 85-86 degrees, checked on mom twice a day and nudged her head to the side so I could see the top few eggs. A few eggs going bad did not appear to spoil the rest of the clutch- the 3 good eggs were not right next to each other. I was not really thrilled with the maternal incubation. I will probably try it again someday, but I want to perfect the incubator method as well.

[Damion930]

That is awesome willow best of luck

[infernalis]

Awesome.. Best of luck with this.

[Hillsberry]

Omg how awesome is that!!! Congrates Kim! Best of luck!

[Will0W783]

I don't think the little one made it through the night. I had him on warm moist paper towel, 87 degrees. He was alive and squirming when I went to bed. I left him there- I'll see if there's a glimmer of hope when I get home tonight, but I think he's gone. Poor little bugger. :(

[Sapphyr]

Aww he's so cute~ I hope he's doing well... Keep us posted!

[whoaxmary]

Thanks for keeping us all so updateing with everything going on with this incubation Willow.
Wish you the best of luck with that little one, as well as the other two of corse.
We'll all be waiting to hear how they all do.

[blindfireak40]

Any news, Kimberly?

[Will0W783]

Well the first little one died. :(
The other two are still in their eggs. No changes there...they are still alive in those eggs, and hopefully continue to be so. I'm so discouraged right now and feel horrible for the little one. I'm having a problem with these tiny danged flies this year- I have no idea how they got into my room. I have fly paper up all over, but they've gotten into the eggs and I'm terrified that they will kill the babies. I can't just pull them out of the eggs though, because that will probably kill them too.
ANyone else ever have a problem with flies? These are almost like fruit flies, but apparently aren't because they are in the snake room where there is no fruit.

[blindfireak40]

Awww that sucks, Kim :(. Best of luck with the other two...keep us posted!

[mld]

Sorry to hear that the first one didn't make it!

The flies may be Fungal Gnats, they tend to be around where there is moist substrate.

[Will0W783]

Are fungal gnats going to kill the babies?

[Reptile_Reptile]

GL i hope you get two neonates out of this :) keep your chin up

[derekcm87]

Sorry about the first one but congratulations on the others!

[mld]

Gnats will usually lay their eggs in the substrate, I can't see them harming the babies. House flies would be more of a problem with laying their eggs on decaying flesh.

[Will0W783]

Well wahtever these are they are the size of gnats but they laid their eggs in the snake eggs. I keep using tweezers to pick the maggots out, but it's nasty. The babies are still moving in the eggs and they don't stink so they must still be alive. I wish they'd just come out already. This is nervewracking and very discouraging.

[mld]

Well wahtever these are they are the size of gnats but they laid their eggs in the snake eggs. I keep using tweezers to pick the maggots out, but it's nasty. The babies are still moving in the eggs and they don't stink so they must still be alive. I wish they'd just come out already. This is nervewracking and very discouraging.

Do you have a picture of the maggots on the eggs? Weird!

[Ch^4]

Sorry to hear about the first little one :(

Best of luck to you Kim on the next two. Keep us posted!

[Will0W783]

Sadly, the other two didn't make it either. They were found dead last night. I noticed that the eggs had begun to smell potent, so I checked and they were deceased. Poor little buggers....I feel terrible. I guess I'm getting pretty good at learning what NOT to do. Next time, eggs go into the incubator. I think that allowing the mother to keep the eggs in a large room and well ventilated cage allowed the gnats that seem to be plaguing my house this year access and once they got in they were next to impossible to completely eradicate and they probably killed the babies or at least made it harder for them.

[mld]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that the other 2 didn't make it!:(

I would give the enclosure a good cleaning and replace with fresh substrate.

[Ch^4]

Our condolences Kim. :( You will get it next time.

[Jenn_06]

im so sorry they did not make it. better luck next time.

[whoaxmary]

Very sorry to hear. :(
Atleast you were able to learn from all of it, and able to share it with all of us here so we could learn from it as well.
You're luck can only get better, keep your head up, you did everything you were able to.

[Will0W783]

I hope so...it was heartbreaking to see the little snakes dead in their eggs, fully formed. I know things happen, I just feel badly because they were little lives and wherever those gnats came from, I feel like I should have been able to prevent...they just got everywhere. I sterilized the mother's cage with bleach and put in all fresh bedding. The hatchling rack also got sterilized and dried out. I have no-pest strips and fly paper around the room so hopefully it kills the rest of the little ba$tards.