Maternal Incubation

Hey everyone,

I don't post often, but have been reading the site often. Next season (not this year, but next) will be my first breeding season and I want to gain all the information I can before hand.

I have been awe stuck by the thought of Maternal Incubation, I have read some sucess stories on the site as well as others and feel it might be route in which I want to try. I love the idea of letting the mom do what her natural instincts tell her to do :)

Now, Can anyone share:
- Pros/Cons
- Past experiances
- "things to know" about this
- anything related in general?

Thanks for your time!

It is possible to do, but I wouldn't suggest it in your first year.

Some people are successful at it however it is often easier to provide ideal temps and humidity in an incubator.

Additionally after seeing females after laying, I would rather get them back on feeding schedule ASAP rather than wait an additional 60 days before they start eating again.

Just a personal preference for me.

Last year was my first year breeding pythons. I artificially incubated jungle carpet python eggs and let my ball maternally incubate. I figured it was my first time and I wanted a taste of both methods and I can honestly say I preferred maternal incubation over artificial. I had issues with my incubator and had to tweak things in the beginning with my jungle carpet eggs. I wound up losing one egg from that clutch about halfway through incubation. I didn't have any problems at all with my ball's clutch and she regained her lost weight in no time at all after her eggs hatched.

>> Here's the thread I made last year when I let my ball maternally incubate. <<