Good Mommy!

Will0W783 · 02-04-11, 12:46 PM

My gravid female Stimson's python, Maude, laid her clutch of eggs on January 21, 2011. I am allowing her to maternally incubate this clutch, as the last time I used my incubator I had a 0% hatch rate.
That female had had some troubles during pregnancy though- she was rather fat to begin with, and she had a respiratory infection that I treated with 5 doses of Amikacin about 20 days into the pregnancy. The eggs appeared weak and poorly calcified.

However, this female has had a textbook pregnancy- nice full ovulation, pre-lay shed and eggs 21 days later. I haven't gotten a full count, but there appear to be at least 10 pearly whites. There was also one slug that she kicked out of her coils and I removed.

The top egg has a suspicious spot on it as of Monday, but doesn't appear to be getting any worse. I nudge her head aside every other day to take a look. She's set up in her nest box in an 83F cage with a large water bowl to provide humidity. The eggs should be due to hatch between March 4 and March 7. I am just hoping some of them hatch, as I am new at breeding and I know there's a bit of a "learning curve" for us keepers. But I figure millions of years of evolution must be able to provide mommy with better skills than me, an incubator, and hours of research can. *crosses fingers *

Here's my little girl in various stages of laying, then her nice tight beehive coil, and finally the suspicious top egg.

infernalis · 02-04-11, 01:00 PM

Nice! Good luck.

Will0W783 · 02-04-11, 01:12 PM

Thanks Wayne. I'm really hoping at least a few of them hatch this time around. I think it's a really neat experience to watch her sitting on them, as nature intended. I always wanted to see a reptile care for it's babies, so this is a cool experience. Plus, I'll hopefully end up with little ones.

derekcm87 · 02-04-11, 01:13 PM

Congrats! I wish you all the luck and I can't wait to see the babies!

Jay · 02-04-11, 01:26 PM

my carpets currently maternally incubating right now aswell!
my incubator is full lol

NennaMeerkat · 02-04-11, 02:19 PM

That has to be the most adorable thing I have seen. That mom looks quite happy with her eggs. Hope she is as happy when they hatch.

Ch^4 · 02-04-11, 03:48 PM

CONGRATS!!! I wish you the best of luck, and hope that you have 10 beautiful, healthy babies in March.

I've been trying to gather as much info as possible for my breeding project (ETA: 2 years), but I'd love your opinion on maternal incubation VS. mechanical incubation Kim...I'm directing this question at you because you are a keeper and somewhat new to breeding. I've been keeping for over 15 years and would like to breed in a couple years, but would love hearing first hand experience from a "new" breeder. (And I don't want to steal your thread

). PM works too...again so I don't steal this wonderful thread!

percey39 · 02-05-11, 08:47 PM

Congratulations. I wish you the best of luck with your babies!!!

presspirate · 02-06-11, 01:19 AM

That's awesome Kim, I've often wondered why more keepers do not allow the mothers to incubate the eggs. As long as the temp and humidity requirements are met and you check on them once or several times a day, nature should take it's course right? Best of luck to you and the momma. I will be anxious to see how this turns out.

shaunyboy · 02-06-11, 09:43 AM

i'm chuffed for you pal

i wish you all the ssuccess in the world with this clutch kimberley

its much appreciated you sharing the event with us all i'm really excited for you and hope you will hear the sounds of little swishing tails before long

cheers shaun

marvelfreak · 02-06-11, 07:49 PM

Congrats and best of luck.

Will0W783 · 02-07-11, 10:08 AM

Quote:

but I'd love your opinion on maternal incubation VS. mechanical incubation Kim

Well, let's see how the eggs do and what kind of hatch rate I get. If none of the eggs hatch, then I can't say I would do it again, but if I get a decent % of them to hatch, it's definitely less work on my part than the incubator was. I am not a technologically-adept person, so in my case I was constantly terrified of the incubator failing...also if power goes out the incubator cannot keep the eggs as protected as a mother's coils could.
Some female pythons, Antaresia species included, can actually raise their body temperature a few degrees by shivering while coiling their eggs. It isn't a major difference for the large adult python, but can make or break the eggs. If power were to go out or a bulb to fail, the mother can work to keep the eggs' temps up a bit until you can fix the issue. (I wouldn't let it go, but would fix as soon as noticed, but the mother can still help more than an incubator would).
I also think it's absolutely fascinating to watch Maude on her eggs. She will nose them and sniff them with her tongue a couple of times a day. I have stopped my nighttime heat drop in the room, so the room stays a constant 88-90F and her cage is sitting about 85. The eggs need an incubation temp of 87-88, so it should be perfect. Antaresia are Australian desert snakes, so I don't have to add really extra humidity. Momma will urinate on the eggs if she senses them getting too dry, and I mist the cage walls once every other day to keep the ambient humidity up.

Most keepers use a mechanical incubator because they feel it is more exact and will provide a better hatch rate...mine completely screwed up last time, but that's more a fault of mine than the machine. I have since learned a few better techniques to use with my particular incubator setup. I have the machine running in case something happens with Maude, but she's doing well so far. And it's really cool to see a natural even like her incubating her eggs. She's got them all lifted up off of the ground and completely surrounded by her coils. I just hope I am able to make this type of incubation work. I will keep updates.

I think one egg is bad, but it doesn't smell. It has a funny yellowish-green spot about half the size of a dime on the top of it. It hasn't gotten any worse in two weeks, but I still would be surprised if that one hatched. Hopefully the others are still ok though.

bci/boa75 · 02-07-11, 12:06 PM

lovely snake you have . think she will just do fine with her eggs all the best

Reptile_Reptile · 02-08-11, 07:29 AM

what do you have planned for the neonates?

Will0W783 · 02-08-11, 09:47 AM

Once the babies are here, they will be allowed to have a few sheds and get some good meals in them, then they will be offered for sale. My eventual goal is to have breeding projects sustain the keeping costs of my collection, and allow me to learn how to create more of these beautiful creatures.