Allowing females to brood

[JABA]

Has anyone here allowed their female ball pythons to brood their eggs until hatching? I am very curious in the more "natural" science in any aspect, especially reproduction.
What would be the ideal conditions (temps/humidity/substrate type) inside the tubs for brooding females?
Thanks

[DemmBalls]

There are a few people on this forum that do this. Do a quick search and you should find something.

[Quiet Tempest]

There are several of us who have maternally incubated our clutches. Do a search for "maternal incubation" and you should find several of the threads.

[Domepiece]

From what I've read and heard others say on here, you will more likely have a higher hatch rate if you use an incubator with the right medium.

[anatess]

From what I've read and heard others say on here, you will more likely have a higher hatch rate if you use an incubator with the right medium.

I can't agree with this based on experiences of those that have attempted it on this site.

[Domepiece]

I can't agree with this based on experiences of those that have attempted it on this site.

All I meant was that I think it would be hard to maintain the right conditions. They of course can brood them themselves as snakes have for millions of years and they do it well or they wouldnt be here.If you have the option to incubate why wouldnt you? On the other hand, you could filet a fish with a machete but it doesnt make it the best way to do it or a good idea. You would probably get more meat off the bones with a filet knife. Catch my drift.

[anatess]

All I meant was that I think it would be hard to maintain the right conditions. They of course can brood them themselves as snakes have for millions of years and they do it well or they wouldnt be here.If you have the option to incubate why wouldnt you? On the other hand, you could filet a fish with a machete but it doesnt make it the best way to do it or a good idea. You would probably get more meat off the bones with a filet knife. Catch my drift.

No, it's not hard to maintain the right conditions. It's the same conditions you've been maintaining your snake in for all its life. If you have a hard time maintaining the regular 80/90 heat and the regular humidity (like when you're using a display glass tank), then yes, this would be hard for you. But, if your snake is living in stable conditions, then it's not any harder to let them brood it themselves.

Now, those of us who attempted maternal incubation have different reasons for doing so. I, myself, went the maternal incubation route because I trusted the snake to know the proper conditions of the eggs more than me. I didn't trust that I could properly get an incubator going (too wet, too dry, too hot, not hot enough, etc. etc.). With maternal incubation, the snake does all that work for you. All you have to do is maintain the snake like you've always maintained it before.

And, about the fish analogy - for me, using an incubator would be like using the machete...

But the reality of the thing is - the debate on maternal incubation versus artificial incubation is the exact same debate as feeding frozen or live. One is not better than the other in a general sense. One is only better than the other when taking into consideration your individual situation. For some, maternal incubation is the way to go, for others, artificial incubation is it.

[Domepiece]

No, it's not hard to maintain the right conditions. It's the same conditions you've been maintaining your snake in for all its life. If you have a hard time maintaining the regular 80/90 heat and the regular humidity (like when you're using a display glass tank), then yes, this would be hard for you. But, if your snake is living in stable conditions, then it's not any harder to let them brood it themselves.

Now, those of us who attempted maternal incubation have different reasons for doing so. I, myself, went the maternal incubation route because I trusted the snake to know the proper conditions of the eggs more than me. I didn't trust that I could properly get an incubator going (too wet, too dry, too hot, not hot enough, etc. etc.). With maternal incubation, the snake does all that work for you. All you have to do is maintain the snake like you've always maintained it before.

And, about the fish analogy - for me, using an incubator would be like using the machete...

But the reality of the thing is - the debate on maternal incubation versus artificial incubation is the exact same debate as feeding frozen or live. One is not better than the other in a general sense. One is only better than the other when taking into consideration your individual situation. For some, maternal incubation is the way to go, for others, artificial incubation is it.

Oh, ok then. No need to get defensive. Cage temps/humidity can fluctuate can they not? and what if she lays them on the hot spot and they get too hot? All Im saying is what I have heard others say on this forum and off. Oh and also the sooner you get her off the eggs and get her and her cage cleaned, the sooner you can get her back to feeding and up to wieght. And no its not that hard to keep the right conditions for your snake but I think eggs are a little more sensitive to conditions than full grown snakes.

[Domepiece]

No, it's not hard to maintain the right conditions. It's the same conditions you've been maintaining your snake in for all its life. If you have a hard time maintaining the regular 80/90 heat and the regular humidity (like when you're using a display glass tank), then yes, this would be hard for you. But, if your snake is living in stable conditions, then it's not any harder to let them brood it themselves.

Now, those of us who attempted maternal incubation have different reasons for doing so. I, myself, went the maternal incubation route because I trusted the snake to know the proper conditions of the eggs more than me. I didn't trust that I could properly get an incubator going (too wet, too dry, too hot, not hot enough, etc. etc.). With maternal incubation, the snake does all that work for you. All you have to do is maintain the snake like you've always maintained it before.

And, about the fish analogy - for me, using an incubator would be like using the machete...

But the reality of the thing is - the debate on maternal incubation versus artificial incubation is the exact same debate as feeding frozen or live. One is not better than the other in a general sense. One is only better than the other when taking into consideration your individual situation. For some, maternal incubation is the way to go, for others, artificial incubation is it.

I forgot to mention as well that I have a rack system with tubs and a thermostat not a glass cage thankyou. I have 18 ball pythons and 2 BCI's I dont think I have the room for 20 glass aquariums. Just thought I'd mention that since it sounds like your calling my proper care for snakes into question.

[anatess]

Oh, ok then. No need to get defensive. Cage temps/humidity can fluctuate can they not? and what if she lays them on the hot spot and they get too hot? All Im saying is what I have heard others say on this forum and off. Oh and also the sooner you get her off the eggs and get her and her cage cleaned, the sooner you can get her back to feeding and up to wieght. And no its not that hard to keep the right conditions for your snake but I think eggs are a little more sensitive to conditions than full grown snakes.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound defensive or anything. I was just stating facts according to my experience. Trying to give you a "first hand" account of maternal incubation to hopefully dispel any pre-conceived notions that you have about it.

And yes, the enclosure can fluctuate - that's exactly my point - the mother snake can adjust the environment within her coils to provide the optimum conditions for the eggs even when the enclosure fluctuates - to a certain extent, of course... I mean, if the power cuts out and you lose your heat and it's 60 degrees in the room, the mother can't do anything much about that. Or if the thermostat breaks and the temperature spikes to 120, the mother can't do anything much about that either (but that's the same risk with artificial incubation). Therefore, the egg can survive at less than optimum condition overall (within reason) because the mother makes the proper adjustments within her coils. You lose this flexibility with artificial incubation - because, technically, you are the mother, so it is completely up to you to provide the optimum condition for the eggs - therefore, the eggs are completely sensitive to the conditions you put them in.

I maternally incubated for 60 days and the mother snake continued to eat every 10 days the entire time. Quiet Tempest's snake did the same.

I forgot to mention as well that I have a rack system with tubs and a thermostat not a glass cage thankyou. I have 18 ball pythons and 2 BCI's I dont think I have the room for 20 glass aquariums. Just thought I'd mention that since it sounds like your calling my proper care for snakes into question.

No, I didn't at any time call your proper care for snakes into question. If you read the post again, you will notice that I mentioned glass tanks only to refer to maternal incubation as "harder to maintain". Because, generally, glass tanks are harder to maintain with or without eggs.

I have my snakes in decked out glass tanks (see my avatar). When the snake laid eggs, I moved her and the eggs into a plastic tub to avoid having to mist/add moss/etc. etc. to counter fluctuations in humidity.