BP laid eggs without a male

[BBCC]

We have had our ball python for about a year and a half. A friend gave her to us. All of a sudden she laid eggs! Are they even fertilized if there is no male? Is there only one baby per egg? Please help! We were not prepared for this!

[rlditmars]

Can you post pics of the eggs and maybe we can tell if they look viable or if they are slugs. If you hold a small pen flashlight up to them in a darkened room, can you see viens? Each egg, if viable, typically produces a single baby, but on rare occasion twins do occur. If these are viable eggs you may want to set up an incubator as quick as possible. There are a number of DIY threads here where you can convert a simple cooler into an incubator.

There are a couple possibilities. First, had she ever been paired with a male before, even a couple years ago or more? If so she could have retained sperm and then fertilized now.

The other possibility is parthenogenesis. Some reptiles have the ability to produce viable eggs without the male factor. IN this instance they will all be copies of the mother as it is effectively cloning itself.

Best of luck

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My first question is was she an adult when she was given to you?

Second if she was, was she ever paired?

Now to know if they are fertile just candle them and you will know.

This is what you will be looking for Fertile (Top) vs Infertile (Bottom)

[owl307]

pictures would really help in this case, if you cant post pictures do your best to describe and candle them to help us out. previous responses are great

[Daigga]

I'm not 100% sure if it happens in BP's, but I know when I had a female iguana she became gravid and laid a whopping 32 eggs having never been in contact with any adult males at all. Here are some pictures (not mine, found via google) of what you need to look for.

This is a photo of good BP eggs vs. slugs.


This is what you might expect to see if you candled them

[BBCC]

How do I get her to move so I can take a pic? She doesn't look real happy about all of us even looking at her. We did get her as an adult so I really don't know if she was ever paired. From the pics y'all showed me though these are not slugs. Can they be white and pretty though but not be viable? This morning I could see four eggs and they looked very white. Almost like chicken eggs. Also when will they hatch? Thank all of u for your help!

[BBCC]

She has moved her head now so u can see one egg but I can't figure out how to add pics to this...

[BBCC]

Here's a few pics...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Can they be white and pretty though but not be viable?

Absolutely, you can have a perfect looking egg with no veins which means it is infertile.

[BBCC]

How do I get one then to see if there is veins?