Surprise Surprise(help fsat please)

[Derrick]

2 quick questions

1)Can/should I put coensnake eggs in a ziplock tuperware with some moist paper towel until I can get some perlite/vermiculite tomorrow?

2)should there be holes in the container?

3) how soon should I feed my female afterwards

Now the story. Shortly after I joined this site I seperated my corns but a while ago I stuck them back together while I fixed the males cage(3-4 days) today I came home to find 13 great looking eggs in in the females enclosure. I kinda figured something was up as she haddent eaten in a month but I think I was in denial. Feel free to volenteer any info you think I might need.

thx

hehe I cant wait to call my daughter tomorrow and let her know.

[jparker1167]

congrats thats a real good surprise, sorry i can't help you with your ? hope every thing works out

[Tim_Cranwill]

Do you have an incubator?

If you are going to keep the eggs in a tupperwear with paper towels, I would make sure the paper towels aren't "wet". Just barely damp. When eggs get wet, they will drown but you don't want them too dry either. Don't put too many holes in the container , maybe one at each end and keep the container on the warmer end of the cage while you get things set up.

Good luck... at least corn eggs are tough.

[dave68]

yeah you can use moist, but not wet paper towel,some people used to use them all the time, but it's much easier to maintain the humidity with vermiculite. you will need to put a couple of holes in the lid of your container,but not too many. there you go and in sixty days or so you should have a bunch of baby corns.as for your third question feed her now she's probably really hungry.

[Derrick]

well I went up and runou out the papet towels until I could ring them no more and poked 1/2 a doz holes in the lid with the tip of a pen. I also ordered the corn snake manual 5min ago and I checked them all with a light and they all seem to be veiny(fertile?). Just threw a coupple of rats in some hot water for the girl.

Now that the initial excitement/shock has passed I feel like such a butt for letting this happen. But I didnt think a few days would do any harm especially as I haddednt cooled them and had no intentions of ever breeding them.

Tim
No I dont have an incubator as I had no intention of doing any breeding this early in my herp obession. My herp room is kept between 80-82 F though

Well I'll give them a go. the worst that can happen now is that they are duds and I'll be able to right this off as a lesson learned.

I decided only to feed her one rat fuzzy instead of 2 she was on large rat hoppers before this. I cant belive how much smaller she is after laying but she ate the ray and took a big drink

[Derrick]

not that its going to make any difference now but what is the importance of making sure the eggs are incubated in the same orientation that they are layed. Iff it is critical with corns is there a way to tell what way they go afterwards?

[jjnnbns]

Ive read that you should mark them with a marker or something so that you know which end goes up when you incubate them

[Stockwell]

NO don't put marker on them.. It will soak through. Some guys mark them with a pencil but it isn't necessary at such an early stage when the embryo isn't developed yet.
Derrick corn eggs are easy... I hatched my first, which were also a surprise in 1979.
I hatched them on a moist sponge in one of my mothers bread pans.. There's probably a million ways to hatch eggs and moist paper towel is fine temporarily.. If it's too dry the eggs will develope dimples and cave in a bit.. That doesn't kill them however.. It just means its too dry.
Properly set up eggs will swell a bit in the first few weeks
Don't worry about marking the eggs, as you will get some vermiculite and set them up properly in a couple days. Long term thats the best way as paper towel will dry out too fast
With the vermiculite simply add water while mixing and test it by squeezing a clump with your hand.
You should be able to squeeze it into a snow ball without water pouring out. It should make your hand moist, hold its shape but not drip when you squeeze. Add water or vermiculite until you get it correct. Make sure the mixture isn't too hot or cold before you rest the eggs on it. Don't bury the eggs, simply rest them on top. You can make a little indent in the vermiculite with your finger for single eggs to keep them from rolling
You don't need an incubator for corn eggs.
Just set them up like described and leave them in the room in the 80's.. Corns and most colubrids will hatch at temps from 78 to 90F . Try to keep it in that range and you'll have babies in a couple months.
I recommend you get yourself a rubbermaid shoebox and set them up in there and you should use about 2 inches of vermiculite.. Using too little will mean it will dry out too fast.
No more than a couple small 1/8 inch holes should be put in the box.
good luck

[jjnnbns]

Roy-
If the eggs are further along, how long before they need to be marked? Would a wax marker (like a crayon) such as the ones used for lumber and construction be fine?

[BoidKeeper]

They don't ever need to be marked in my opinion. I've never marked mine.
Trevor

[Derrick]

well I went up and looked at them this morning and whether or not its important to have them right side up doesnt matter cause they were all rigt side up. There was a little bit of newspaper stuck to the bottom of each egg.

thx for all the help guys

[gonesnakee]

Usually people that need to mark eggs are the ones that are continually messing with them. Leave em alone is the best advice & don't mess with them if you don't have too. I never mark my eggs & other than checking them & adding humidity if & when required I don't even touch them until its hatch time & then I may help some pip only if I think they need it. Good Luck Mark

[nicola_boulton]

great advice guys, dam i love how helpul this site is!!!