Egg Questions

[candyraver69]

So Zen laid her eggs last night, 16. I was not expecting it, she was the one I wasn't even sure was gravid (I am not an expert by any means!) None look like "slugs" but they are a little softish to the touch. With the sudden changes in climate here this week, her habitat humidity got a bit damper than I would have liked. I drilled more holes today to try and drop it a bit, and moved the eggs to an incubator.

There are certainly veins in the eggs, so they are fertile, but I don't know if I killed them by letting them get too damp :( How firm are they suppose to be, like chicken eggs that I eat? The best way I could describe the firmness is when I press gently there is some give like if I were to press on a ripe orange. Does that sound okay or are they most likely dead?

[KD35WIN.AS.ONE]

They are suppose to be soft to the touch, kind of leathery feel is what is most common described. Im almost certain there just fine.

[stephanbakir]

There really is nothing wrong with maternal incubation, to be honest half our clutches get maternally incubated. (keep in mind that while some snakes can physically increase their temperature by full body twitching/controlled muscle contractions the average snake will require a heat source close to her nesting area to go back and forth from, They also control the humidity of the eggs themselves)

If your eggs get too wet make sure they don't get mouldy, and if they get too dry mist them until the proper level of humidity is acquired.
If you told us what type of snake Zen was we could assist you better.

[RandyRhoads]

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If you told us what type of snake Zen was we could assist you better.

I was thinking the same thing. Never heard of the Zen species.

[stephanbakir]

I was thinking the same thing. Never heard of the Zen species.

Pretty sure the snake is named Zen

Edit, I cant be 100% sure Zen is a snake either, could be a lizard.

[RandyRhoads]

Pretty sure the snake is named Zen

Edit, I cant be 100% sure Zen is a snake either, could be a lizard.

I was joking, I know that was the name not species. Good point. Is it even a snake?

[candyraver69]

LOL yes I guess I should have specified! Zen is a corn snake. I've got them sitting at 80 degrees F in perlite and peat moss, damp but not wet. I'll keep an eye on the incubator carefully to make sure I don't get water droplets raining on them from the top.

Glad they are suppose to be slightly soft, they may just be fine :)

[Lankyrob]

Fingers crossed - keep us up to date!!!

[candyraver69]

Jezabel is in the middle of laying right now :) Her eggs look a lot longer. The look on her face is creepy. I was worried she died or something, her mouth was hanging open and she was so still, but I gently touched her and she moved a bit so I am leaving her alone now. I will keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get eggbound or anything though. She's laid one a few minutes ago.

Snake reproduction is so different from anything I've experienced. Really neat to catch her laying. As if the mating wasn't interesting enough. Snakes are so neat.

Thanks for your help guys! I'll be sure to post tons of pipping and baby pics in 2 months :)

[stephanbakir]

Posting pics of her laying would be cool aswell:P
Good luck!

[candyraver69]

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/226299_10150178637755488_549355487_7053773_2436441 _n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/229034_10150178637790488_549355487_7053774_5278360 _n.jpg

[candyraver69]

I wonder how quickly the egg pockets form. The egg to the far right fell off the top when she laid the most recent one, I hope it doesn't drown from being turned.

Also, is it common for the to not use the lay box? Maybe she likes the temp on this end of the habitat better? I just used an empty tupperware with a hole cut and damp peat.

[stephanbakir]

Also, is it common for the to not use the lay box? Maybe she likes the temp on this end of the habitat better? I just used an empty tupperware with a hole cut and damp peat.
Its not out of the ordinary, regarding air pockets i duno.

[candyraver69]

She is at 15 and still going. Apparently humans aren't the only ones with labor half of a day.

[candyraver69]

She laid the last one and my count was wrong. 17 total, there was one hiding. :)

Now Nymph should be laying hers any day now. She is the biggest of the three. Gotta get on it and send clutch registrations in soon now to ACR and get my website going completely so I can sell some.

[stephanbakir]

Get em in the incubator! Gogo

[sassy_snake_lady]

Congrats on the eggs.

What are the pairing? Wat are you hoping to produce?

[candyraver69]

Congrats on the eggs.

What are the pairing? Wat are you hoping to produce?

One clutch (Nymph- opal x Rohan- phantom) will be all normals, %100 het for charcoal, hypo, lavender, and amel.

The next (Jezabel- normal het amel het carmel het bloodred x Oxide amel het carmel het bloodred) will be normals, bloodreds, carmels, chance for amel, combos of those, and %100 het for amel and bloodred if they aren't showing it already.

Last clutch (Zen- amel het bloodred het carmel x Iron- bloodred het amel) will be bloodreds, amels, normals, combos of those %100 het for bloodred and amel if they aren't showing it already.

May get some unexpected surprises, a few %66 and %50 hets in there that I didn't mention since they aren't proven.

Nymph still hasn't laid, I'm kinda surprised. She just shed, which is weird. I could swear she already shed once since mating, but maybe I'm confused and she wasn't gravid yet the last time she shed. It's possibly I'm a goof ball and she isn't even gravid. I have to check my notes on IHerp and compare dates. She sure looks huge to not be gravid. I'm keeping a close eye to make sure she doesn't get eggbound.

[mykee]

WOW, and I thought ball python morph genetics were confusing...

[stephanbakir]

Sounds like its going be fun, good luck with the odds.

[Shmoges]

Can you post teh father too? Good luck, I incubated mine at 80F too. They hatched at almost 90 days so maybe it was a bit too cool.

[candyraver69]

Can you post teh father too? Good luck, I incubated mine at 80F too. They hatched at almost 90 days so maybe it was a bit too cool.

the 6 I bred this year are on this thread: http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/elaphe-guttata-guttata/85902-first-meal-since-i-got-them.html

The top one, Oxide, is the dad of the eggs in the pic in this thread. Then from him down is Jezabel (mom in the pic with eggs), Zen (paired with Iron, 16 eggs), Nymph (paired with Rohan), Iron, and Rohan.