Hatchling Care

What do you do when you have waited two long months for baby snakes, and all of a sudden they are actually there???

Heads are poking out of shells, but you are not sure what to do after they come out!

Well, here's what I do.

1) Wait until they hatch out. This seems like an obvious thing, but honestly, don't freak out until they are actually out of the egg.

2) Rinse the babies off individually, as when they hatch out, they tend to be covered in goo. You don't need soap, just water.

3) Set up the tubs. I like to put each clutch in together until they all shed, for record taking purposes as well as a space saving technique. The tubs should be lined with paper towels lightly misted with water to make the humidity nice and comfortable for the new little ones. I put my babies in hatchling tubs, which equate to shoebox size.

4) Wait until they shed. This will take from 5-14 days, depending on the baby. Some shed faster than others, but if they DO NOT shed, this can indicate a problem with the baby itself. I tend to wait a few weeks, and if it hasn't shed, that's when the baby goes on "danger watch".

5) Feeding: After they shed, split them all up, sex them if you haven't already (some people sex babies out of the egg...I know I do), and put them in individual tubs. Give them a day or two to acclimate to being alone, and then attempt to give them food. Some people start with rat crawlers, some people start with mouse hoppers. I try the rats first, and if they do not take in a few feedings, I switch to mouse hoppers. Mouse hoppers are candy to babies, and they usually do the trick, but I prefer my babies on rats primarily, so I tend to avoid the use of them unless necessary. If that doesn't work even with the mouse hoppers, try giving the babies less space... Put some crumpled paper towels in the tub with the babies to give them the sensation of being able to hide. Leave them be for 3-5 days, and try again with a mouse hopper.

Force-feeding is something I do not enjoy doing, nor do I think should be a resource unless absolutely necessary. Final resort, so to speak. If the baby is not eating after a couple of months out of the egg, I would suggest considering force-feeding. This is a very stressful process for the snake, so take that with a grain of salt. Take the back of the head of the baby, open up the jaws slightly, and gently force the DEAD small food item (mouse pink, usually) into the jaws to the point where the baby cannot push it out. Put it back in the tub and wait to see if the baby attempts to swallow it or not. Be very careful, because as I said, this is traumatic for the snake, and can be unsuccessful.

6) Problems... With hatchlings, there are plenty of problems that can arise. Hard bellies, deformation, attached umbilicus. If you do see these problems, do a search on them to see what other people have done. These are all very specific and exhaustive topics, so I'm not going to go into them individually, but realize that yes, they can happen, and yes, you should be prepared.

7) ENJOY THEM! Hold them if you want, love them if you want, but know that this is the snake's infant period, and they can be touchy (aka stressed out). I would suggest not playing with them often, as this can set back the feeding and growth of your snake for a bit if they get too stressed.

Congratulations, you have successfully produced Ball Python babies.

This is why heather, you rock!

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This is brilliant, Heather! Thank you!! I stickied it! :D

Thank you Heather, this will be a popular sticky for those just beginning to breed :gj:

THANK YOU!!!! Great Job!

Great sticky! :gj: I'm surprised this hadn't been written up before.

You are the best.

Great sticky indeed!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

You are the best.

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X2:gj:

Thank you for sharing such great info i am waiting for my first clutch to be laid (hopefully any day now) and this info is invaluable to some one like me once again thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

What do you do when you have waited two long months for baby snakes, and all of a sudden they are actually there???

Heads are poking out of shells, but you are not sure what to do after they come out!

Well, here's what I do.

1) Wait until they hatch out. This seems like an obvious thing, but honestly, don't freak out until they are actually out of the egg.

2) Rinse the babies off individually, as when they hatch out, they tend to be covered in goo. You don't need soap, just water.

3) Set up the tubs. I like to put each clutch in together until they all shed, for record taking purposes as well as a space saving technique. The tubs should be lined with paper towels lightly misted with water to make the humidity nice and comfortable for the new little ones. I put my babies in hatchling tubs, which equate to shoebox size.

4) Wait until they shed. This will take from 5-14 days, depending on the baby. Some shed faster than others, but if they DO NOT shed, this can indicate a problem with the baby itself. I tend to wait a few weeks, and if it hasn't shed, that's when the baby goes on "danger watch".

5) Feeding: After they shed, split them all up, sex them if you haven't already (some people sex babies out of the egg...I know I do), and put them in individual tubs. Give them a day or two to acclimate to being alone, and then attempt to give them food. Some people start with rat crawlers, some people start with mouse hoppers. I try the rats first, and if they do not take in a few feedings, I switch to mouse hoppers. Mouse hoppers are candy to babies, and they usually do the trick, but I prefer my babies on rats primarily, so I tend to avoid the use of them unless necessary. If that doesn't work even with the mouse hoppers, try giving the babies less space... Put some crumpled paper towels in the tub with the babies to give them the sensation of being able to hide. Leave them be for 3-5 days, and try again with a mouse hopper.

Force-feeding is something I do not enjoy doing, nor do I think should be a resource unless absolutely necessary. Final resort, so to speak. If the baby is not eating after a couple of months out of the egg, I would suggest considering force-feeding. This is a very stressful process for the snake, so take that with a grain of salt. Take the back of the head of the baby, open up the jaws slightly, and gently force the DEAD small food item (mouse pink, usually) into the jaws to the point where the baby cannot push it out. Put it back in the tub and wait to see if the baby attempts to swallow it or not. Be very careful, because as I said, this is traumatic for the snake, and can be unsuccessful.

6) Problems... With hatchlings, there are plenty of problems that can arise. Hard bellies, deformation, attached umbilicus. If you do see these problems, do a search on them to see what other people have done. These are all very specific and exhaustive topics, so I'm not going to go into them individually, but realize that yes, they can happen, and yes, you should be prepared.

7) ENJOY THEM! Hold them if you want, love them if you want, but know that this is the snake's infant period, and they can be touchy (aka stressed out). I would suggest not playing with them often, as this can set back the feeding and growth of your snake for a bit if they get too stressed.

Congratulations, you have successfully produced Ball Python babies.

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This was a great idea and after seeing this i asked on a local forum why we do not have the same

Would you mind if i copied and pasted this ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike10205

This was a great idea and after seeing this i asked on a local forum why we do not have the same

Would you mind if i copied and pasted this ?

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As long as the credit is linked back to either this site or to me, I don't mind at all.

Great Post, Should add in unless i over looked it was. Assist feeding before force feeding on babies that are picky. Ive had great success on Assist feeding babies that wont take live on their own

Does everyone rinse babies off? I didn't think it would be completely necessary because I imagine in the wild they don't get rinsed off. But I would love to know the benefits of rinsing off the babies as my clutch is going to hatch any time now (day 60). Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reno-cg

Does everyone rinse babies off? I didn't think it would be completely necessary because I imagine in the wild they don't get rinsed off. But I would love to know the benefits of rinsing off the babies as my clutch is going to hatch any time now (day 60). Thanks

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I rinse them cause they are gooey and sticky and covered in vermiculite, or dried up and looking like gross.

Other than that, yeah, they don't necessarily need to be rinsed.

Thanks Heather!

Another quick question: Should I keep the babies at the same temps as my other bp's? I keep hot spots at 90 degrees, and ambient temps at roughly 82 or so. This is what I am doing now because of the summer so it's easier this way. In the winter months I drop the temps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

What do you do when you have waited two long months for baby snakes, and all of a sudden they are actually there???

Heads are poking out of shells, but you are not sure what to do after they come out!

Well, here's what I do.

1) Wait until they hatch out. This seems like an obvious thing, but honestly, don't freak out until they are actually out of the egg.

2) Rinse the babies off individually, as when they hatch out, they tend to be covered in goo. You don't need soap, just water.

3) Set up the tubs. I like to put each clutch in together until they all shed, for record taking purposes as well as a space saving technique. The tubs should be lined with paper towels lightly misted with water to make the humidity nice and comfortable for the new little ones. I put my babies in hatchling tubs, which equate to shoebox size.

4) Wait until they shed. This will take from 5-14 days, depending on the baby. Some shed faster than others, but if they DO NOT shed, this can indicate a problem with the baby itself. I tend to wait a few weeks, and if it hasn't shed, that's when the baby goes on "danger watch".

5) Feeding: After they shed, split them all up, sex them if you haven't already (some people sex babies out of the egg...I know I do), and put them in individual tubs. Give them a day or two to acclimate to being alone, and then attempt to give them food. Some people start with rat crawlers, some people start with mouse hoppers. I try the rats first, and if they do not take in a few feedings, I switch to mouse hoppers. Mouse hoppers are candy to babies, and they usually do the trick, but I prefer my babies on rats primarily, so I tend to avoid the use of them unless necessary. If that doesn't work even with the mouse hoppers, try giving the babies less space... Put some crumpled paper towels in the tub with the babies to give them the sensation of being able to hide. Leave them be for 3-5 days, and try again with a mouse hopper.

Force-feeding is something I do not enjoy doing, nor do I think should be a resource unless absolutely necessary. Final resort, so to speak. If the baby is not eating after a couple of months out of the egg, I would suggest considering force-feeding. This is a very stressful process for the snake, so take that with a grain of salt. Take the back of the head of the baby, open up the jaws slightly, and gently force the DEAD small food item (mouse pink, usually) into the jaws to the point where the baby cannot push it out. Put it back in the tub and wait to see if the baby attempts to swallow it or not. Be very careful, because as I said, this is traumatic for the snake, and can be unsuccessful.

6) Problems... With hatchlings, there are plenty of problems that can arise. Hard bellies, deformation, attached umbilicus. If you do see these problems, do a search on them to see what other people have done. These are all very specific and exhaustive topics, so I'm not going to go into them individually, but realize that yes, they can happen, and yes, you should be prepared.

7) ENJOY THEM! Hold them if you want, love them if you want, but know that this is the snake's infant period, and they can be touchy (aka stressed out). I would suggest not playing with them often, as this can set back the feeding and growth of your snake for a bit if they get too stressed.

Congratulations, you have successfully produced Ball Python babies.

---

Hello.

Once the babies hatch, should I put them into a tub with a hot spot, or just leave them in the incubator until they shed? I've heard of some people putting the babies back into the incubator until they shed, but my incubator is set to 89.0 and I'm not sure if that's too hot or not.

Thanks in advance!

This is exactly what I needed to read, thank you! We unexpectedly got a clutch of eggs (our first) from a pair of possible het. pieds a couple months back, and yesterday they started to pip, So i definately needed this! I had no idea what to expect (especially with possibly problems that arise in the babies, other than umbilical chord problems). We are VERY VERY happy to see two of the eggs have beautiful baby piebalds in them, so hopefully with this little but of knowledge I can do what it takes to make sure they're okay!

great care sheet! I remember the first baby coming out of teh egg and i was like ummm oh crap now what haha..

What is a hard belly?

Thanks for the write up, needed to read this as we are planning to breed for the first time this year. A couple of questions: " Wait until they shed. This will take from 5-14 days, depending on the baby. Some shed faster than others, but if they DO NOT shed, this can indicate a problem with the baby itself. I tend to wait a few weeks, and if it hasn't shed, that's when the baby goes on "danger watch"." What do you mean by this? Do you have any good links to what to do for some of the different complications that can arise as I'd like to read up on them so I'm prepared

Thank you it is a very good information...
like it..

thank you... the best ive ever read...:taz:

This is awesome and very relieving, thanks! :)

I think "danger watch" means that they start keeping a closer eye on the hatchling. If it doesn't shed, then it's not developing properly...something is probably wrong with it (maybe internal deformities?) and it may not survive.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

What do you do when you have waited two long months for baby snakes, and all of a sudden they are actually there???

Heads are poking out of shells, but you are not sure what to do after they come out!

Well, here's what I do.

1) Wait until they hatch out. This seems like an obvious thing, but honestly, don't freak out until they are actually out of the egg.

2) Rinse the babies off individually, as when they hatch out, they tend to be covered in goo. You don't need soap, just water.

3) Set up the tubs. I like to put each clutch in together until they all shed, for record taking purposes as well as a space saving technique. The tubs should be lined with paper towels lightly misted with water to make the humidity nice and comfortable for the new little ones. I put my babies in hatchling tubs, which equate to shoebox size.

4) Wait until they shed. This will take from 5-14 days, depending on the baby. Some shed faster than others, but if they DO NOT shed, this can indicate a problem with the baby itself. I tend to wait a few weeks, and if it hasn't shed, that's when the baby goes on "danger watch".

5) Feeding: After they shed, split them all up, sex them if you haven't already (some people sex babies out of the egg...I know I do), and put them in individual tubs. Give them a day or two to acclimate to being alone, and then attempt to give them food. Some people start with rat crawlers, some people start with mouse hoppers. I try the rats first, and if they do not take in a few feedings, I switch to mouse hoppers. Mouse hoppers are candy to babies, and they usually do the trick, but I prefer my babies on rats primarily, so I tend to avoid the use of them unless necessary. If that doesn't work even with the mouse hoppers, try giving the babies less space... Put some crumpled paper towels in the tub with the babies to give them the sensation of being able to hide. Leave them be for 3-5 days, and try again with a mouse hopper.

Force-feeding is something I do not enjoy doing, nor do I think should be a resource unless absolutely necessary. Final resort, so to speak. If the baby is not eating after a couple of months out of the egg, I would suggest considering force-feeding. This is a very stressful process for the snake, so take that with a grain of salt. Take the back of the head of the baby, open up the jaws slightly, and gently force the DEAD small food item (mouse pink, usually) into the jaws to the point where the baby cannot push it out. Put it back in the tub and wait to see if the baby attempts to swallow it or not. Be very careful, because as I said, this is traumatic for the snake, and can be unsuccessful.

6) Problems... With hatchlings, there are plenty of problems that can arise. Hard bellies, deformation, attached umbilicus. If you do see these problems, do a search on them to see what other people have done. These are all very specific and exhaustive topics, so I'm not going to go into them individually, but realize that yes, they can happen, and yes, you should be prepared.

7) ENJOY THEM! Hold them if you want, love them if you want, but know that this is the snake's infant period, and they can be touchy (aka stressed out). I would suggest not playing with them often, as this can set back the feeding and growth of your snake for a bit if they get too stressed.

Congratulations, you have successfully produced Ball Python babies.

---

k


Great read. As I now come to realize, I was sold a hatchling banana ball python at a reptile show in White Plains on September 11th of this year. I was told it was due to shed but to date it hasn't wanted to eat or shed. I've done all I could do for the animal. Kept it moist, humidity, shoebox. All to no avail. I've had to,force feed it on 3 occasions and its gained and lost weight in the month that I've had it. All my other Bp's have grown well except for this one banana. He is still hasn't had its first shed as his shiny coat is still on him. Any advise you can give me? I've reached out to the seller from the show and he's offered to exchange it. I'd hate to 'give up' on him but don't know what else I could do. Currently at 76 grams but got him at 73 grams at purchase. He's in a hatchling rack with a herpstat thermostat running. Any help/advise would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by EddieMac

k


Great read. As I now come to realize, I was sold a hatchling banana ball python at a reptile show in White Plains on September 11th of this year. I was told it was due to shed but to date it hasn't wanted to eat or shed. I've done all I could do for the animal. Kept it moist, humidity, shoebox. All to no avail. I've had to,force feed it on 3 occasions and its gained and lost weight in the month that I've had it. All my other Bp's have grown well except for this one banana. He is still hasn't had its first shed as his shiny coat is still on him. Any advise you can give me? I've reached out to the seller from the show and he's offered to exchange it. I'd hate to 'give up' on him but don't know what else I could do. Currently at 76 grams but got him at 73 grams at purchase. He's in a hatchling rack with a herpstat thermostat running. Any help/advise would be appreciated.

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This is an old thread and the person you are asking your question to has not participated in well over a year, creating a new thread would bring you a lot more answers.

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Great post, I'd like to add point 1a - under no circumstance "help" the hatchling out of its egg. It's not stuck or trapped if it sits in its egg for a day or so, it's merely absorbing the last of its egg yolk. Helping it out may well kill it.