Unexpected Clutch Help!

I bought a female a little over a month ago that is 1200g. I thought something was wrong with her so I took her to the vet and surprise, she has 4 eggs. I went to an exotic vet but she doesn't really specialize in snakes and she thinks that the eggs seem to big. I asked her to measure them with the ultra sound but she couldn't get the whole egg in view with her equipment.

So my main question is how big are BP eggs? I have seen pictures and watched videos and I don't think they are too big but the vet has me worried.

I wasn't really ready for a clutch yet. I was just focusing on taking care of all of my snakes the best I can and just enjoying them. I didn't have plan to breed till maybe next year but I guess that's not how it worked out.

Im already looking into an incubator but im wondering what else I need to do? Any help will be greatly appreciated

Your vet could be wrong. Especially if they are not familiar with reptiles. Besides there is very little you can do now. Can you post a picture of her? I'm sure she will probably be fine. Just get your incubator ready,as you mentioned in your post.

Yea I think she is wrong because she doesn't look that much bigger. Try to get a picture up tomorrow

I would not worry about them being too big, we had one where her eggs were as big as my entire hand.
What you need to be concerned with is an incubator. Once your female lays, those eggs will not last long without very high humidity and a tight temperature range. You should consider buying a commercially available incubator or repurposing an old mini fridge with a heating element and high quality thermostat. You should consider getting this ready as soon as possible. Do a youtube search and you will find several videos on how to set up the a tub with vermiculite to put the eggs in, and how to set up the incubator.

she laid and now I have them in an incubator patiently awaiting

I hope your incubator is going good! Pics? Keep us updated!

I would find a vet in the area who specializes in reptiles.

Wow, I am glad she laid and gave you some eggs! Congratulations! That female was a little underweight so I was a bit concerned at first. Ok. Good luck. :gj:

Yes I am very worried about her weight. I gave her a day off after I took her eggs away and I'm going to offer food today. Hopefully she takes it I can't Believe how deflated she looks. Makes me sad.

Should I offer food once a week of more often to try to get some weight on her? Any other tips?

I wasn't really ready for this but I'm doing what I can. My wife was laughing at me when I found the eggs because I was kinda freaking out lol.

I'll try to post some pictures before work tonight if I can figure it out

No pictures right now. I just woke up a little while ago and I have to feed a bunch of snakes and spot clean before I go to work tonight

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Originally Posted by Rock51

No pictures right now. I just woke up a little while ago and I have to feed a bunch of snakes and spot clean before I go to work tonight

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Make sure you wash her off good to eradicate the egg smell before you attempt to feed her. Also wash the enclosure as well. She still may not want to eat but as long as the egg smell is not there eventually she will. Good job and good luck.:gj:

In nature, they regularly go the full 60 days after laying eggs before eating again. So, while she looks deflated to you and you are worried, this is all natural. She would not have gone full term and laid fertile eggs if she was too small for it.

I have never heard of a small female laying fertile eggs and having complications or death related to her size. People say 1500+grams minimum, but have no scientific basis for this 'rule' and the longer you keep reptiles (or any animal) the more you realize that 'rules' are just suggestions that someone made and the internet decided to turn into gospel. This gospel proliferates with beginner animals and popular species more than others.

As mentioned, just rinse her off well with a drop of dish soap in a tub of luke warm water, clean the tub very well, and offer food a few days after laying. She will probably take the food and will regain the weight very quickly. They are extremely efficient at converting food to body weight when they need to!

GL with the eggs!

Next time you're curious, instead of ultrasound have the vet take an x-ray. It's how I knew how many eggs to wait for on a corn that I was afraid was egg-bound (fortunately she was not, but she did take 4 days to lay all the slugs). The eggs will be visible on a radiograph.

Once a week to feed is fine after she lays, we offer ours all they want but we are trying to get weight back up for the next years breeding. If she is a pet then just one appropriately sized rodent is great, and even some breeder girls won't take more then that.

thanks for all the comments everyone.

As soon as I moved the eggs I did a complete clean of the tub with hot water and dish soap.


I left her alone for a day and then the day after I offered a small rat, which she took very quickly. That made me very happy.


I bought her to breed in the future since she was 1200 and I was hoping that she would be ready next season. I guess I got lucky that she was gravid. The previous owner wasn't happy though. I am going to try to get some weight on her but I doubt I will breed her next season unless she packs on the weight very rapidly.

The vet did an xray first and that's how we found out she had 4 eggs. I asked for an ultrasound because the vet thought the eggs were too large ( she doesn't specialize in snakes but she is an exotic vet) and I thought she could measure them like they can measure a fetus in humans.

I really appreciate all the responses it helps tremendously

Little update.

The one I suspected was infertile started to go bad so I threw it out... was actually kind of sad.

The other 3 look great and im counting down the days.

Momma has no problem eating. She is a very vigorous eater actually but I can see why.

Just thought I would let everyone know what is going on

TY for the update! Looking forward to those mystery babies :gj:

The wait is killer.....