Parthenogenesis?? I Hope So!!

I just got this from another posting:



Here is some literature on maternal incubation, hope it helps.

Maternal Incubation

Should the eggs be incubated artificially or maternally? Most keepers incubate eggs in an incubator, but only, I think, because they are unfamiliar with the female snake’s capability for incubation.

If the eggs are to be left with the female, the temperature in the cage should be maintained in the low to mid-80s, with around 80-percent relative humidity.

Those unfamiliar with maternal incubation are often reluctant to completely turn over the responsibility for the eggs to the female. There is a temptation to turn the entire cage into a big incubator by raising the temperature and humidity above the proper levels in order to "cover their bets."

The female, however, only has the ability to raise the temperature of the eggs. She can’t lower it. If the ambient temperature is already set at 90 degrees, then she no longer has any control over temperature. The female can either conserve or release the moisture generated by egg incubation. Likewise, if the ambient humidity is already at 100 percent, then the female python has no influence over that either.

If a female snake is to incubate her own eggs, give her an environment in which she has some control. Remember that female pythons are perfectly suited to incubate their own eggs!

For species that do not generate their own heat during incubation (e.g., spotteds, balls and carpets) I provide basking areas. In most cases the heat source for the enclosure will be warmer than the average cage temperature, and this can serve as a place for the female to warm herself.

As ambient temperatures approach ideal incubation temperatures, females leave their eggs less often to bask and in some cases won’t leave them at all. Females can be very shy when basking and often return immediately to their eggs if they sense any activity near their enclosures.

In the last few days of incubation females loosen their coils and expose the eggs. As this happens, the temperature of the eggs drops to almost the ambient temperature. It’s important to monitor the humidity in the cage during this time.

The female remains loosely coiled around her clutch as the baby snakes begin to poke their heads through the slits they’ve cut in their eggs. In the wild, the newly hatched snakes would disperse quickly from the nest. In a captive situation this is not possible, of course. I have lost some babies at this point, as they can be accidentally crushed by the female. It’s a good idea to remove the hatchling snakes as they appear, if possible.

Remember, wild snakes do not incubate their eggs in a controlled environment. It’s warmer during the day than it is at night. Sunny days are warmer than cloudy ones. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it rains at night. The extra bedroom where you keep your snakes is stable by comparison. Monitor the temperature and the humidity, try not to interfere too much, and your female will be successfull.

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That eased my mind a bit.....All is good & well, except for that "WINDOW" egg. I just snapped a new pic of it when she moved & it looks kinda funky, I may have to remove it, but I will post a pic in a few minutes & see what you all think. All the rest look wonderful.

Thanks
~Shari

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Who knows..maybe some of the hatchlings might be pastels :D .

Oh...and :welcome: .

In my maternal incubation experience (only one time), I checked on the eggs about twice a day and usually had to mist twice a day. Near the end of the incubation period, two of the eggs seemed almost completely flat, but all of the eggs did hatch healthy babies. What's good is the female should be able to tighten or loosen her coils to help control humidity levels within her coils.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sharilynn

I found someone who is helping me to pass this on to a couple Universities to hopefully be interested enough to want to do some genetic testing & publish their findings...

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Hi,

I was wondering if you had heard any more about additional interest in your clutch? Hopefully there will be enough interest out there to at least confirm if this was parthenogenesis. Although the first indication would be that all of the offspring are females if the mechanism is the same as the Burmese.

OK...Here's the funky egg.... soory if its a bit big :P

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...2/funkyegg.jpg

I am just learning photoshop & all that goes with it....sorry!!

~Shari :oops:

My first clutch is doing that, except the window turned blue, the white of the egg turned beige, and it started smelling. I think it's dead, lol.


This is for Mendel... do you know if the offspring for that Burmese are also reproducing through parthenogenesis?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bait4snake

This is for Mendel... do you know if the offspring for that Burmese are also reproducing through parthenogenesis?

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So your asking if the offspring produced by parthenogenesis have temselves reproduced by sexual or asexual reproduction? I'm not sure if they have reproduced at all.......but it is a very interesting question.

If you really want to know, you can contact the correspondence author, TVM Groot, on the paper. His or her e-mail is listed in the paper as the author questions should be directed towards.

Hope that helps....perhaps I'll try shooting Dr. Groot an e-mail a bit latter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdeus

Hi,

I was wondering if you had heard any more about additional interest in your clutch? Hopefully there will be enough interest out there to at least confirm if this was parthenogenesis. Although the first indication would be that all of the offspring are females if the mechanism is the same as the Burmese.

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I haven't heard anything yet....I need to find more people to contact that may be interested...know anyone??


I did find the person that gave me the snake & he said the person that used to own it did NOT have any males around her, so that definetly rules out sperm retention.

~Shari

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sharilynn

I haven't heard anything yet....I need to find more people to contact that may be interested...know anyone??

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You can try emailing Dr. Groot from article that MB mentioned in the post before yours. Although he's in Amsterdam, he may be able to direct you to someone in the U.S. that would be interested.