maternal incubation

tonyb · 09-25-05, 09:03 AM

whats peoples reccomendations on maternal incubation? im seriously considering it but i cant seem to find much information about it. i suppose the biggest question is, at what stage do you put the temps up. as soon as she lays her eggs? or at some stage before laying? also the substrate, do you still use the wet vermiculite or do you just use her normal substrate and increase the overall humidity? any help would be appreciated.

darkbloodwyvern · 09-26-05, 04:41 PM

i have talked to several people about it, but haven't breed any pythons myself. it sounds like you don't have to do any substrated because the female will clear it out of the way when she lays. Once she has her clutch it pretty much stays in one spot. As for temp, i hear about 88 degrees was what the mother managed to keep the temp at and the clutch hatched fine. i would assume you would have a hot spot already set up in the cage once you know she is gravid, but i'm not sure about that.
increasing the humidity is probably necessary if you don't have any substrate, but it seems like the mom can keep the eggs a little closer to their ideal range.
I want to let my breeders incubate their own eggs if they are healthy enough to do it. I have been advised to have a small incubator ready in case the female starts looking too weak to incubate them until hatching so that you can transfer the clutch into the incubator if need be. i am still collecting information, so i'll try to post more later if i find anything. i would post on kingsnake.com if you don't get any other replies soon, there seem to be a ton of experienced breeders there. good luck!

malaysianbloods · 09-26-05, 04:49 PM

I found that the reason that people normally don't let the mother maternally incubate is because after already being off of food for a few months dew to breeding, most people want to start fatting there females up for the next breeding season and the two months of incubation can be valuble time seeing how some don't even start eating right away after laying there eggs. Just my two cents
Hope this helps