Maternally Incubating Clutch #2

Clutch #2 is down. Dewshine (normal) x Dragon (mojave)

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She wants nothing at all to do with me and the camera. lol Can you tell? :rolleyes:

She laid 6 eggs total. Her first year she gave me 5 then 4 last year. I'm glad to see the number has increased! :D Now that I've gotten a few pics, I'm going to leave this mom alone so she can settle in with her new clutch. I'll see about getting some candling pics and video in a week or so.


I'll be maternally incubating these eggs as well. These will be due to hatch around July 2nd.


Oh and here's a pic of the dad:

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haha what a young daddy. startin em young ;)


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The pic makes him look a lot smaller than he is. ;) He's an '09 and until this year he ate anything/everything put in front of him. For the past day or two, he's crammed himself in his water bowl. Silly snake.

Congrats on the eggs, and thanks for helping me decide to go the maternal route! :D

Thanks and congrats on your clutch as well!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quiet Tempest

The pic makes him look a lot smaller than he is. ;) He's an '09 and until this year he ate anything/everything put in front of him. For the past day or two, he's crammed himself in his water bowl. Silly snake.

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he sure is a looker though. cute little water bowl snake haha


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I didn't forget the request to keep track of temperature in a maternally incubated clutch. I just placed a probe into the egg pile of this clutch (all the while under the mother's glares of disapproval). I'll try to keep tabs on the temperature and any fluctuation from here on out with this clutch.

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I'll get a reading from it later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Nice daddy! Mom really doesn't look too happy with you. ;)

She has been really, really testy with this clutch. lol It may take a little longer to coax her into letting me get pics of candling her eggs.

Just updating with temp

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I got some pics of the clutch tonight. I had to remove the mom temporarily because A) she has chosen an awkward way of wrapping the eggs and the bottom two were more exposed than I was comfortable with and B) I wanted a chance to candle each egg and see that all had veins and were doing well. She had knocked the thermostat probe out of her nest so I put that back in with the eggs while I was in there, too.


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This is one thread I will definitely be following. :) :gj:

I'm going to check this often :)

We're 23 days in. This female really doesn't want me messing with her nest this year so I'm not candling her eggs as frequently as I have in the past. In lieu of candling pics or video, I'll just share some feeding pics.



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Oh and I've checked on the thermometer every other day or so and it's been at a constant 87-88F.

It's cool that she will eat while she's on her clutch!

I wonder how many of them would eat while on their clutch if it was offerred? I've heard blah, blah, blah about how it's not good to let the girls incubate their own eggs, but it sounds like she's keeping those eggs well with minimal temp fluctuations.

As I'm going I'm going to eventually end up with more females than I want to raises clutches from in any given year. I think when the time comes I'm going to give at least some of mine a chance to incubate their eggs. Even if they do drop more weight than they would have and wind up skipping a breeding season, it's not the end of the world.

I'd say that most, if not all, females will eat while brooding eggs. They're opportunistic ambush predators, after all. It's not like they have to go hunting for all of their meals in the wild. Chances are very high that during the time they're tending their eggs, a few meals will stumble into their dens and fill their bellies. ;) In captivity, we increase the meal opportunities.

just checking in to see what kind of update you might have on this clutch.

That's awesome! I can't wait to see little heads pipping!

Not much new to report. I offered this mom a rat crawler yesterday but she wasn't interested. The eggs themselves still seem to be doing well. The bottom two she hasn't been coiling completely and have deflated a bit, but still have veins and movement. I got a pic of her and just one pic of candling the eggs (really didn't want to try her patience and get tagged).

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Wow! Awesome pix! Good luck!

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any update

Just realized I forgot to post one of the last pics I got of this mom eating. There aren't a lot of pics out there of brooding moms eating (that I could find anyway) and I think it definitely helps to dispel the rumors and spread of misinformation that a maternally incubating mom. ;)

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5997/img6216p.jpg

That was taken on the 6th. I don't know why I didn't include it here back then. She prefers live over fresh killed meals this time around, which adds a little bit of hassle to feeding but as long as I'm supervising I suppose it's fine. She never leaves the clutch. She just partially uncoils and waits for the rat to come within striking distance. After that, she just uses the extended part of her body to constrict while the rest of her is still hugging the eggs. I certainly admire her multitasking skills. lol



As for current updates. There really isn't much to say. She's still very much not on board with allowing me to get new candling pics or video and I don't want to stress her out by taking her off the clutch. I don't know what the deal is with her this year. I'll be giving her next season off so she doesn't have to concern herself with this all over again. Maybe she'll go back to being a laid back mom after a vacation. ;)

Too cool :)

We're up to day 58 now and the eggs have been sweating a bit. Hoping to see what's in there in the near future. :)

She just won't let me candle her eggs, even after offering her a rat. lol So, in lieu of candling pics, here are more feeding pics. And a "Try it, I dare ya." pic. :rolleyes:

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One of the uppermost eggs has discolored a bit in the places that were already wrinkled. I think it's a result of getting dripped on and the water just lingered in the crevice. Other than that, it still looks fine and the last time I was able to candle it, I could see the baby moving in there. Just have to wait now to see what sort of baby will come out of there. :)

When I had my normal girls, I used maternal incubation all except for one time. I didn't keep snakes for many years and until recently I figured that maternal incubation had gone the way of the 45 RPM records, and I'm glad to see that it's still done.

I thought that my one snake was weird for eating while she was on her clutch. (giving me the stink eye everytime I picked up the lid on her cage)

I'm thinking about letting my het pied try in a couple of years. She's 9 months old and a little under two pounds, so I figure that she'll be a good size by then. And then I won't have to pull the eggs out from under a snake that is unpleasant on a good day...a very good day. :)

I love it!!!!!

Oh I can't wait till they start pipping while they are with momma! Why is it taking so long!!! :P

Day 59 :D

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I had a corn clutch that just started pipping earlier today so I thought maybe the ball clutch would be, too (since they were due around the same time). When I opened her tub, I saw a tiny head peeking out but as soon as I slid her out the head disappeared back into its egg. I'll check back in with her later to see if there are any better photo ops. ;)

Sooo Frigging CUUUUTEEEEE !!!!!! But I believe I'll stay wiyh Incubator for now :P

Just got back home for the night and checked in on her. Still just one pipped egg so far but at least I could see it's head this time. :) The rest of the clutch look like squished marshmallows. lol Wish they'd hurry up and join their sibling.

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Oh man i can't wait to see all the little heads poking out and to see mama with a big smile on her face!!! (finally) lol.

I am curious to see her demeaner towards you once they are all out of the eggs and crawling about or if she will be cool with you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cdavidson9

Oh man i can't wait to see all the little heads poking out and to see mama with a big smile on her face!!! (finally) lol.

I am curious to see her demeaner towards you once they are all out of the eggs and crawling about or if she will be cool with you?

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The first year, she was sweet as could be from day one to day 53 when that clutch hatched. Then with her second clutch she was in blue when the eggs began pipping and she struck at me on at least one occasion and hissed every time I'd open the tub. That was last year. This year, she's just been super defensive the entire time and wants nothing to do with me. I'm giving her next year off to both recuperate and to get back to the sweet snake I had a few years ago. lol

The female who laid prior to the above female was hissy in the beginning but became relaxed over time with me checking in to candle eggs, refresh her water or feed her. No trouble whatsoever from her even when the eggs began hatching I was checking in more frequently and removing empty egg shells.

I have one other snake on eggs right now and she's been perfectly calm so far. She's an albino and this is her first year. Hopefully her temperament won't change. After her, I'm expecting one more clutch from a het pied and she has been through this before. She brooded eggs last year and didn't seem to mind me being around her clutch at all.

I suppose this girl has just had enough and is overdue a vacation. ;) She's certainly earned it.

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Good news and bad news... and more bad news.

The good news is that all of the eggs have hatched and the hatchlings are going into their shed cycle. I'll get some pics of them after they shed.

The bad news is that out of the clutch of 5, only one mojave... and it's a male.

And more bad news.. The very last egg to hatch is a severely kinked baby. :( It's kinked at its mid-section and I really doubt it has very good chances at survival. It will most likely have to be euthanized. I hate that.

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congrats on the hatclhings, to bad about the kinked one though

Congrats on the healthy babies. Bummer about the odds though. He is a cutey! :D

Sorry about the kinked one :(, congrats on the other healthy babies :)

First of all, so sorry about the kinked baby :( On a brighter note, these are some of the cutest, sweetest pics I have ever seen of babies! Them with Momma is adorable! I love that bps stay with their eggs :) congrats on the successful maternal incubation!