# My first clutch of eggs!



## Herpetology (Dec 25, 2019)

34 days after prelay I was worrying she was going to do a phantom on me








20good eggs ZERO SLUGS

Don’t ask about the laybox, she wanted nothing to do with sphagnum, I gave her lightly damp newspaper instead, and she went straight underneath and almost never left for about a week

I don’t think She could have been more calm to remove from eggs , she was just like “oh.. well ok..”

MERRY CHRISTMAS


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## mrkos (Dec 25, 2019)

Nice looking clutch


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## Herpetology (Dec 27, 2019)

Day 3: eggs are going well


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 27, 2019)

Best of luck with them.


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## Herpetology (Dec 27, 2019)

Flaviemys purvisi said:


> Best of luck with them.


Thanks boss man, waiting for her to lay was just the beginning of the stress levels! Now I have to wait 60 days, build a rack, setup tubs etc


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 27, 2019)

The wait is a killer... I've got a clutch of eggs that was at day 60 yesterday...due to hatch any time now... literally checking them twice a day... at least you've got projects to distract you now and keep you busy whilethe eggs are cooking... all my hatchy setups are ready lol.


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## Herpetology (Dec 27, 2019)

Flaviemys purvisi said:


> The wait is a killer... I've got a clutch of eggs that was at day 60 yesterday...due to hatch any time now... literally checking them twice a day... at least you've got projects to distract you now and keep you busy whilethe eggs are cooking... all my hatchy setups are ready lol.


Unfortunately I can’t tell if my humidity is fine, it’s 1:1 weight ratio Verm:water, I have slight condensation on the side about an inch or 2 above the substrate and that’s it


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 27, 2019)

If you were describing turtle eggs in that setup, I'd tell you it's absolutely perfect, that's just how you want it but for python eggs I can't say.


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## dragonlover1 (Dec 28, 2019)

Herptology said:


> Thanks boss man, waiting for her to lay was just the beginning of the stress levels! Now I have to wait 60 days, build a rack, setup tubs etc


that's the fun part, after they hatch the stress starts
[doublepost=1577504175,1577504033][/doublepost]


Herptology said:


> Unfortunately I can’t tell if my humidity is fine, it’s 1:1 weight ratio Verm:water, I have slight condensation on the side about an inch or 2 above the substrate and that’s it


Have you done the air exchange? I'm not sure about pythons but with dragons you need to open the container weekly to let out the carbon dioxide and let in fresh oxygen. I assume it's the same?


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## Herpetology (Dec 28, 2019)

dragonlover1 said:


> that's the fun part, after they hatch the stress starts
> [doublepost=1577504175,1577504033][/doublepost]
> Have you done the air exchange? I'm not sure about pythons but with dragons you need to open the container weekly to let out the carbon dioxide and let in fresh oxygen. I assume it's the same?



Honestly I have no idea, I got friends who have been breeding for decades saying to set and forget, as long as humidity is 99+% and temps stable at 30.5-31 and vermiculite is 1:1, then the condensation doesn’t matter and you just leave them for 6weeks before u start opening them, aslong as they don’t go black from bad vermiculite or something they’ll be fine

Then I got others telling me there should be a light buildup of condensation on lid, and to open the tub every few days etc

So I’m just sticking with the advice I’ve gone with so far, hope for the best, and then try again next year if it all goes wrong haha

Mind you.. I worried about her not laying and look at that clutch! I’m probably just worrying again for no reason

Although my tub may be a bit big and I could have definitely used a smaller one, but I wasn’t sure how big the eggs would be... they’re huge btw


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## Harrison_Asensio (Dec 28, 2019)

niceeeeee wish i could have some like that


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## Southernserpent (Dec 28, 2019)

I have never placed the eggs on the vermiculite so I can't comment on the water ratio their. I have always suspended the eggs over what ever substrate im using.
I wouldnt be worried about the condensation to much as long as it isn't dripping on the eggs and the eggs arnt touching the sides of the tub.
The bigger the better with the tub size in my opinion as long as you can keep the humidity up. If the eggs are plump then it's a good sign that the humidity is OK although they will get dimpling the closer they get to hatching.
I personally open up the tubs regularly I think this is more important the closer they get to hatching. But if you have some breather holes this may not be necessary.


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## mrkos (Dec 28, 2019)

I set my diamond eggs with equal water /vermiculite and lost an egg straight away I brought the ratio down at least ten percent and they have been firing ever since I have holes in my container so every 10 days I weigh and top up a little bit I reckon 100 percent humidity isn’t necessary as they would not get it naturally any way


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## dragonlover1 (Dec 28, 2019)

I guess it depends on whether you have holes in your lids or not. I use the no holes method so I have to air out every week. Some people use holes in the lid and don't have to lift lids. My reason is I control the moisture and don't have to worry about eggs drying out.
Everyone has their own methods


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 28, 2019)

I personally just do 2 small holes made with a soldering iron in 2 corners of the lids of all my incubation containers.


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## Herpetology (Dec 29, 2019)

Southernserpent said:


> I have never placed the eggs on the vermiculite so I can't comment on the water ratio their. I have always suspended the eggs over what ever substrate im using.
> I wouldnt be worried about the condensation to much as long as it isn't dripping on the eggs and the eggs arnt touching the sides of the tub.
> The bigger the better with the tub size in my opinion as long as you can keep the humidity up. If the eggs are plump then it's a good sign that the humidity is OK although they will get dimpling the closer they get to hatching.
> I personally open up the tubs regularly I think this is more important the closer they get to hatching. But if you have some breather holes this may not be necessary.


So do you use a sloppy medium mix?


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## Southernserpent (Dec 29, 2019)

I now use water crystals like you put in pot plants . But the wet vermiculite can work. I just like that I can sterilise everything the eggs come into contact with because I'm paranoid about losing eggs.


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## Herpetology (Jan 4, 2020)

Day 9

Chucked a cover of clingwrap esque material to keep humidity up to 100% as I have gone for the egg crate method


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## dragonlover1 (Jan 4, 2020)

let us know how you go


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## Yellowtail (Jan 4, 2020)

I keep it simple over water with no medium.
Baby bottle sterilisers $16 from Kmart are easily modified and will hold clutches of up to 25 carpet eggs, sterilise everything with boiling water.
I make a couple of holes in the cover and 2 in the base just above the water level, cover the holes with tape which can be pulled back to allow CO2 to escape at bottom and apart from a couple of wipes to remove excess condensation late in the period I do nothing else.


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## Herpetology (Jan 4, 2020)

dragonlover1 said:


> let us know how you go



I’ll try make a weekly update! 



Yellowtail said:


> I keep it simple over water with no medium.
> Baby bottle sterilisers $16 from Kmart are easily modified and will hold clutches of up to 25 carpet eggs, sterilise everything with boiling water.
> I make a couple of holes in the cover and 2 in the base just above the water level, cover the holes with tape which can be pulled back to allow CO2 to escape at bottom and apart from a couple of wipes to remove excess condensation late in the period I do nothing else.
> 
> ...



That’s awesome, maybe I’ll try that method aswell next year!
I was just using this method as I know it’s a 100% foolproof way

Although I was using a smaller 9L tub and the clutch was slightly too big so I had to swap to my back up 15L tub (luckily I had it prepared and ready to go) and just chucked a bunch of water into the vermiculite and egg crates on top


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## dragonlover1 (Jan 4, 2020)

this info is great , I have been breeding dragons for ages but pythons will be a new experience


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## Benno87 (Jan 4, 2020)

Yellowtail said:


> I keep it simple over water with no medium.
> Baby bottle sterilisers $16 from Kmart are easily modified and will hold clutches of up to 25 carpet eggs, sterilise everything with boiling water.
> I make a couple of holes in the cover and 2 in the base just above the water level, cover the holes with tape which can be pulled back to allow CO2 to escape at bottom and apart from a couple of wipes to remove excess condensation late in the period I do nothing else.
> 
> ...


That’s a neat idea there mate thanks for sharing. Couple questions if you don’t mind? 
Roughly how much water sits in the bottom of the steriliser? Or do you just keep adding until you have the right humidity? 
And also what is the white mesh looking stuff the eggs are sitting on? 
Thanks again mate


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## Herpetology (Jan 4, 2020)

dragonlover1 said:


> this info is great , I have been breeding dragons for ages but pythons will be a new experience


I guess the one big thing I did was worry a lot she wasn’t going to lay... but now when I look back it was SO obvious she was going to lay..

Here’s some before and after laying eggs of her size..
Note the crazy colour differences haha


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## Yellowtail (Jan 4, 2020)

Benno87 said:


> That’s a neat idea there mate thanks for sharing. Couple questions if you don’t mind?
> Roughly how much water sits in the bottom of the steriliser? Or do you just keep adding until you have the right humidity?
> And also what is the white mesh looking stuff the eggs are sitting on?
> Thanks again mate


You just need enough water to provide the humidity, too little and it will slowly evaporate and need to be topped up. I use enough water to still leave a bit of space below the eggs to avoid getting the eggs wet when you move the container, never had to add any water. The sterilisers have hard plastic moulded shapes designed to support bottles so you need something soft for the eggs to rest on, the mesh came from a $2 store, not sure what it was intended for. There is a raised centre in the plastic base that you have to remove with a cutting disk or soldering iron.


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## Herpetology (Feb 5, 2020)

Here is day 30 (the candling) and day 37

Nice and healthy!


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## sudjoy (Feb 21, 2020)

nice can wait to see those little babies


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## Herpetology (Feb 21, 2020)

sudjoy said:


> nice can wait to see those little babies


Next week  hopefully wednesday at latest


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## Sugar (Feb 21, 2020)

Great thread mate,

I’ve also got a clutch of bredli due around the same time as you.
I chose to go with the maternal incubation method, I set up a lay box with damp sphagnum moss right after pre lay shed and she loved it, 
Getting so close to hatching day!

I noticed the sphagnum moss dries out quite a lot so I will probably go with vermiculite next year, I took some moss out and soaked it again and put it back into the tub.
but other then that the eggs look great still. 

Goodluck!
[doublepost=1582255237,1582254672][/doublepost]Update, I just had a look and I have 4 hatching as we speak


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## Herpetology (Feb 21, 2020)

Sugar said:


> Great thread mate,
> 
> I’ve also got a clutch of bredli due around the same time as you.
> I chose to go with the maternal incubation method, I set up a lay box with damp sphagnum moss right after pre lay shed and she loved it,
> ...


when did she lay? ) im super excited EEEEE

at time of this post, i just candled them and theyre very active in their egg!


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## Sugar (Feb 21, 2020)

Herptology said:


> when did she lay? ) im super excited EEEEE
> 
> at time of this post, i just candled them and theyre very active in their egg!




On the 28/29th of December in the night while I was asleep, 

I haven’t checked since I last posted but there were four little heads sticking out of their eggs,

Im in the process of setting up their tubs in the rack.
She only laid about 10 or 11 eggs, 
So I’m interested to see how many hatch via this MI method.


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## Herpetology (Feb 21, 2020)

Sugar said:


> On the 28/29th of December in the night while I was asleep,
> 
> I haven’t checked since I last posted but there were four little heads sticking out of their eggs,
> 
> ...


do u know what the average temp was? i'd guess 32~? would be about 55 days


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## Sugar (Feb 22, 2020)

Yeah 31.8, I think it peaked at 32.4 on hot days
[doublepost=1582360670,1582285449][/doublepost]10 out of 11 hatched perfectly the odd one was a slug from the get go, which Mumma snake pushed off to the side. 
Super happy with the results!


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