Need help, New to the breeding scene

[Strongwolf]

Hi everyone,
Tonight I was about to feed my snakes and what do I find? One of my female spotted pythons is wrapped up in a partial log sitting curled up around a pile of eggs. We didn't know she was gravid. She has left three of them unwrapped. What do I do now? What do we need to do to get ready for babies. We have an incubator but as I said, we are new to breeding.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

Warren.

 

[slide]

Can you show us some pics of the eggs especially the ones she cast aside. Casting aside eggs doesnt necessarily mean they are no good as I well know but it will be good to know if they are slugs (infertile).
You say you have an incubator, do you have an incubating tub as well so you can set up the incubator asap. The eggs she has coiled are in good hands for want of better words, but the others (if fertile) would be best to make it to an incubator as soon as you can if possible. If the others are not fertile you can take your time to set up the incubator properly.
If you are unaware of the process of candling you can use a small torch to illuminate the egg to check for veins that are found in fertile eggs. I use the torch on my iphone. In a dark room, place the torch against the egg shell, you should see some veins in the eggs. If you dont see veins first off, try again from a different part of the egg.

Hope this helps,
Good luck
Aaron

 

[Unclewo-wo]

And if you are still not sure about the candling set up a separate tub in the incubator like the first and put the 'cast aways ' in that if they start to go bad get rid of them

I have not been in this side of the herp world but have read up on it so I think you should do/ have done the same.

Things to look at are incubation temps and methods for your specific clutch. Hope I helped a little you are in the right place for information.

 

[slide]

Write down the lay date too. You should be able to work out the rough hatch date if the eggs are incubated at a stable temp

 

[Strongwolf]

These are the eggs and the snake in the log. I don't have a date for lay as we hadn't seen when she went in there to lay them. We are setting up the incubator now. We were told we should use vermiculite in the incubator as well.

Hopefully the photos work this time.

 

[slide]

Photos didnt work mate. Cant remember exactly how to do it but something about going to the advanced settings when sending the pics.

 

[Strongwolf]

Photos didnt work mate. Cant remember exactly how to do it but something about going to the advanced settings when sending the pics.

Fixed it. I think

 

[Pythons Rule]

hmm the orange one is dead, the one next to it I would remove it and place in the container, the other do the same ( I don't have high hopes for them though they are very squashed. but they aren't mouldy) I find that when an egg dies it will get mould. or no humidity with make the eggs go mummified. (has happened to me before) the one next to mum in the log looks perfect but you will need to remove that and put it in the container. use a over water method its so much more easier and quicker to set up, you get a high humidity and the eggs will have less chance of getting mould unless they are dead though. raise a tray above the water and you can ether place eggs direct on grid or put a layer of perlite under the eggs to help stop rolling.

maybe place some moist moss down around mum, and spray when it gets dry. make sure temps in enclosure are at a constant 28-30degrees mum will add excess heat if needed and she will pee on or around the mound to raise humidity (this will stain the outer eggs but wont kill them).

get the male out, and start setting up a hatchling rack just encase better to be ready then not ready.

the squashed eggs wait till they are warm sometimes they can take up to a week to form strong veins, and sometimes if caught early the eggs can pop back up but if there dying there's not much you can do.

good luck.

- - - Updated - - -

seeing as it was a few days ago you asked for help how did you go?

 

[Unclewo-wo]

Hi everyone,
Tonight I was about to feed my snakes and what do I find? One of my female spotted pythons is wrapped up in a partial log sitting curled up around a pile of eggs. We didn't know she was gravid. She has left three of them unwrapped. What do I do now? What do we need to do to get ready for babies. We have an incubator but as I said, we are new to breeding.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

Warren.

Hey wazza how did it all go p.s nice name mate