Female with eggs

Just got to thinking (always scarey when I do this LOL). Everything I read online talks about removal of the eggs from a female BP but what does happen if you don't? I can't find much on the natural process the female and her eggs go through so I'm just curious if anyone's ever just let "nature take it's course" and what happens?

Does the female stay wrapped around her eggs the whole time? Would she therefore not eat at all during this time? Is there an effect on the eggs as far as how many hatch out perfectly if mom raises them rather than in an incubator?

I know bigger breeders probably couldn't leave it to mom to raise these valuable babies, just wondering if any smaller "home breeders" had done it.

Thanks,


~~Jo~~

It worked fine the one time I've tried it. She didn't loose any of the eggs, the babies where all normal, and she ate very well after the extra 2 months on the eggs without food and produced eggs again the next year.

Oh forgot to ask....is there a commom term used for that....I think I read somewhere "maternal incubation"...is this the correct and common term for letting the female keep her eggs to hatch?


~~Joanna~~

Yea, that's the right term. :)
I saw a few people on Kingsnake did it, and they were professional breeders.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

and they were professional breeders.

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That's a stretch.

Small timers aside, not one of the breeders producing ball pythons in significant numbers use maternal incubation.

-adam

I can't imagine most major breeders would bother with maternal incubation as I'm sure it's a less controlled environment for the eggs and especially if they were from pricey morphs you wouldn't want to chance anything. I was more asking about home/small breeders and just wondering if there was any issues to consider for both the wellbeing of the eggs and the female snake.



~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I can't imagine most major breeders would bother with maternal incubation as I'm sure it's a less controlled environment for the eggs and especially if they were from pricey morphs you wouldn't want to chance anything. I was more asking about home/small breeders and just wondering if there was any issues to consider for both the wellbeing of the eggs and the female snake.

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I think that you answered your own question ... forget about any money involved for a second, if the people with the most experience in the world choose to use incubators for the best possible outcome when breeding ball pythons, why would a "home/small breeder" want any less chance of success? I know when I was just starting out, those normals that I hatched to me were just as valuable as any high dollar morph out there ... they were (and still are to this day) my babies!!!

Experiments with maternal incubation aside, why would anyone (big breeder or home breeder) put their animals through the stress of breeding and egg laying and not want to maximize their chances for succesfully hatching eggs?

Just some food for thought.

-adam

I see your point Adam but is it really that stressful for a female snake to do what is in essence her natural function of reproduction? I'm not disagreeing with anyone here I'm just trying to sort this out in my mind.


~~Jo~~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I see your point Adam but is it really that stressful for a female snake to do what is in essence her natural function of reproduction? I'm not disagreeing with anyone here I'm just trying to sort this out in my mind.

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There is nothing "natural" about being housed in a tank/cage/rack ... captivity is stressful on ball pythons ... ball pythons do not get mouth rot, URI, scale rot with the frequency they do in captivity in the wild. These diseases are due to improper conditions coupled with the natural stress of being a wild animal in a cage .... add on to that being bred probably many many times more frequently than they are in the wild and then losing 1/3 of their entire body weight to the eggs and I'd say that yes, it is "that stressful".

I think that if you're going to keep these animals in captivity that you have a duty to go above and beyond when it comes to providing for their comfort and attempting to reduce stress .... letting a girl sit on eggs for 60 days when she could be eating and properly thermoregulating doesn't seem like you are "helping" mom with a good life even if it is her "natural function".


Just my opinion and opinions are like ... well, you know .... every bodys got one.

-adam

It sure is nice to see that there a breeders out there like Adam that put an extraordinary amount of effort into insuring that their animals get the best care possible. There are so many people out there just to make a buck and do just the minimum to keep their stock healthy.