Maternal incubation

[Jeff_Favelle]

long as the female is in good shape going into it (and you wouldn’t be breeding her if she wasn’t, right?). Some females just refuse to resume feeding, or feed in such a desultory fashion, until around 60 days pass anyway, that it’s little additional hardship

This will be my NINTH season breeding Ball Pythons and I have never seen that. In fact, within a week of laying their eggs, I found those females Ball Pythons to be the best feeders ever. Ever single time. Not sure where you get your information, or if you are just making it up.

[eyespy]

jfmoore, in 2002 my friend who runs a herp and avian vet practice had 19 females brought in for nutritional workups after they ate their neonates because the owners were afraid they did it to make up for a lack of calcium, protein, what have you.

It does happen fairly often and no significant nutritional imbalances were picked up in most cases.

[jfmoore]

If this is “fairly common” for ball pythons, I would say that is EXTREMELY significant and should be broadcast far and wide. I’ve never seen anything in the literature about that. Did your friend ever publish anything about it, say in an ARAV publication?

Nineteen female ball pythons in a captive situation(s) were being allowed to do maternal incubation? Do you know any more of the circumstances? For instance, were these wild-caught animals in already debilitated condition? How many days were the neonates allowed to remain in with their mothers, or did the owner(s) try to removed them as soon as they left the eggs? Were the brooding females housed individually or communally?

I’ve always felt that the artifice of captivity can produce many anomalies, both in behavior and conditions, simply because the confines of the cage preclude escape (i.e., cannibalism; non-stop combat between males; explosion of mite populations). And cannibalism during feeding sessions due to carelessness of keepers is well-known. I’ve also seen live-bearers eat the infertile masses they have passed, but scrupulously leave the (moving) neonates alone. I don’t know what would have happened if I had left the mothers and young caged together for extended periods, however.

More information, please!

Joan

[eyespy]

You really don't get that kind of detail from owners most times, and when you do patient privacy laws in the state of Pennsylvania preclude publishing them except for educational purposes to licensed healthcare professionals, unfortunately.

Anyhow, 19 cases isn't a large enough sampling to be considered "publishable" by most journals. Cannibalism has been documented sporadically for many years, so it's not a groundbreaking enough case to override the statistical sampling standards.

[jfmoore]

Sorry, I was unclear. When I said, “I’ve never seen anything in the literature about that,” I meant about brooding ball pythons eating the resultant hatchlings, not about your friend’s specific case(s).