Surprise! (children's python laid eggs, please help)

Howieb · 05-12-11, 02:51 PM

Please excuse my ignorance.

I have had a children's python for 10 years. It was from my kids' school, when the science teacher was trying to unload some excess critters and my son wanted a snake. It was easy, low maintenance and entertaining.

The snake hasn't been very active lately. It has been lying on its back, which it never did before. It has not been eating. Frankly, I thought it was dying.

All of a sudden, it has laid eggs. I can't imagine that they have been fertilized, this snake has no social life (in other words, it lives alone. No contact with other snakes).

Should I just get them out and toss them?

Thanks.

infernalis · 05-12-11, 03:11 PM

They would be infertile eggs... toss them.

RandyRhoads · 05-12-11, 03:37 PM

What kind of snake is this? I don't know if laying on it's back is normal if it's about to lay eggs but I might check on a few things to see if your snake is ok...

infernalis · 05-12-11, 03:43 PM

[quote=RandyRhoads;609196]What kind of snake is this? ..[/quote]

Quote:

Children's pythons come from the North of Australia. The name is not derived from any relationship to children, but in honor of John George Children, who was a curator of the zoological collection at the British Museum in the 19th Century.

...................

stephanbakir · 05-12-11, 04:58 PM

Snakes often lay on their backs when they are about to lay, they also wrap themselves around water dishes. Totally normal.

Howieb · 05-12-11, 05:30 PM

No chance of immaculate conception, eh? I wonder why she did this after all that time. 10 years. She isn't going to be happy when I reach in there to take the eggs. She is sort of ornery at baseline.

Thanks for the information about why they are called "Children's" pythons. I thought it was because they were smaller than most species of python.

infernalis · 05-12-11, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howieb

No chance of immaculate conception, eh? I wonder why she did this after all that time. 10 years. She isn't going to be happy when I reach in there to take the eggs. She is sort of ornery at baseline.

Thanks for the information about why they are called "Children's" pythons. I thought it was because they were smaller than most species of python.

No problem, even if I was picking on RandyRhodes for asking what kind of snake it was, when the title said "Children's Python" after I specifically modified the post to include the bracketed text.

blindfireak40 · 05-13-11, 08:15 AM

DON'T THROW THEM AWAY YET!!!!

Pythons have recently been documented as "Parthenogenic", meaning they can reproduce without male involvement.

Other Parthenogenic Species

before you toss them, can we see pictures and have a description of the eggs?

serpentshideawa · 05-13-11, 09:20 AM

Dums are able to do that in some cases to theres a pet shop a couple towns from me that has a dum thats parthenogenic

RandyRhoads · 05-13-11, 02:11 PM

Haha I thought this guy was just calling it that because it was involved with lots of children. I feel dumb.

infernalis · 05-13-11, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Haha I thought this guy was just calling it that because it was involved with lots of children. I feel dumb.

Don't feel dumb, you just learned something new that's all. It's a good thing.