30 year old ball python laid eggs today!!!

Help! Precious laid eggs today and has never EVER been around a male. They are white and have probably been in there with her for at most a day. I put a light up to them and saw veins. Someone please tell me what's going on.

Parthenogenesis! A rare thing that will happen if a female is not able to breed in her lifetime, she can literally 'clone' herself and produce eggs. A lot of the time they don't develop very well and die in the late incubation stages :(

So what should I do,it seems like she still has a couple left to lay,she laid 7 already and I have them in an incubator (the best I could make) she's really old and once I did research I realized the last couple months were all signs,she looked huge and she shed awhile before she laid and I really want to do my best to see if I can hatch them.

I could really use some help and answers haha

At this point, if you've got the incubator at good temps (right around 88-90) and good humidity, it is just a waiting game for them to hatch :) Nothing else special you need to do

Congrats don't forget to weigh the eggs and post lots of pics xx


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Well I guess you have your replacement ball python when she nears her end of life LOL. Congrats! We are all trying so hard to get eggs and here you go and just get them as easy as falling over a log HA!

I've always wondered if the resulting snakes have the same behaviors(personalities?) as the mother since they're clones.

I hope to see some survivors. I'll be following [emoji1360][emoji216][emoji216][emoji216][emoji216][emoji216][emoji216]


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That's soooo cool. I'll be watching this too. I recently posted a link to studies done on parthenogenesis, I'll put it here if anyone is interested too.

http://www.snakegenomics.org/CastoeL...JLS%202014.pdf

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Originally Posted by sneksNferts

I've always wondered if the resulting snakes have the same behaviors(personalities?) as the mother since they're clones.

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I would hope so,precious has the best temperament,she was nervous when I look the eggs but them didn't even make any sort of fuss when I took them,she's the sweetest I've ever known

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Originally Posted by sneksNferts

I've always wondered if the resulting snakes have the same behaviors(personalities?) as the mother since they're clones.

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So here's the deal. This snake is 30 years old and has had a genetic bone deformity that became obvious at about a year old... that is why I have never even considered breeding her... as a matter of fact I wasn't even sure she was female till now. so my concern is that if we do get hatchling are they going to have the same genitic problem and we're gonna have 6 more handicap ball pythons? :confusd:

Oh by the way my daughter-in-law started this thread because she is caring for precious since i'm in the process of moving.

I would assume yes on that.

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Originally Posted by AllyM

So here's the deal. This snake is 30 years old and has had a genetic bone deformity that became obvious at about a year old... that is why I have never even considered breeding her... as a matter of fact I wasn't even sure she was female till now. so my concern is that if we do get hatchling are they going to have the same genitic problem and we're gonna have 6 more handicap ball pythons? :confusd:

Oh by the way my daughter-in-law started this thread because she is caring for precious since i'm in the process of moving.

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If possible can you post a picture of the animal and are you 100% sure it is a genetic problem?

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

If possible can you post a picture of the animal and are you 100% sure it is a genetic problem?

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I posted photo's in my gallery, not sure how to include them in the thread just yet. When she was a year old the vet said it was either a bone deformity or a parasite if a parasite should be dead shortly, 31 years later? I spoke with a herpetologist who said that it's a genetic problem that is more common than you would think in CB BPs. He did not examine her but immediately knew what I was talking about. My avatar is a picture of her probably about five years ago.

So she still has eggs in her. Not ever considering breeding her this is all new to us. How long could it be before this becomes a problem? Should we be rushing her to a vet since the other eggs were laid yesterday or the day befor?

If it's been more than 24 hours I'd go to a vet for a 30 year old virgin snake.

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Originally Posted by AllyM

I posted photo's in my gallery, not sure how to include them in the thread just yet. When she was a year old the vet said it was either a bone deformity or a parasite if a parasite should be dead shortly, 31 years later? I spoke with a herpetologist who said that it's a genetic problem that is more common than you would think in CB BPs. He did not examine her but immediately knew what I was talking about. My avatar is a picture of her probably about five years ago.

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Wow, I have never seen what looks like spinal kinking to me to that extreme in a normal. It's a lucky animal to have had a good home for so long. Maybe someone else could comment that is more familiar with kinking but stuff like that can be caused by incubation issues as well as being genetic. With the condition of her spine possible causing issues pushing the eggs out, I would get her to the vet if she cannot get the eggs out herself soon.

Spinal kinking in a wild type ball python is very likely caused by incubation issues, rather than genetic issues. If the eggs are incubated correctly and there are survivors, the survivors shouldn't have the same deformity.

Seconding: genetic kinking is usually linked to specific line of morphs (super black pastel, or super cinnamon). It can occur in any animal if they are not incubated correctly.

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Originally Posted by spazhime

Spinal kinking in a wild type ball python is very likely caused by incubation issues, rather than genetic issues. If the eggs are incubated correctly and there are survivors, the survivors shouldn't have the same deformity.

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I have three in a tub that is closed and very humid and a red light keeping then at high 80's. I'm going to grab better supplies after work. If they are still alive at this point (I have no way of telling other wise) I will put them in a better incubator. What are symptoms of a dead egg?

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Originally Posted by Auntiofprecious

I have three in a tub that is closed and very humid and a red light keeping then at high 80's. I'm going to grab better supplies after work. If they are still alive at this point (I have no way of telling other wise) I will put them in a better incubator. What are symptoms of a dead egg?

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The others I discarded. I felt they might have gotten too cold to survive.

You'll be able to tell when eggs die, they become very smelly and slimy very quickly because of the heat. I would do away with the red light and find another way of heating them, eggs should be in as dark an environment as possible. You can make a quick incubator out of a foam cooler that they sell at walmart, a heat pad or heat tape, and a thermostat. Make sure the air is humid but water doesn't touch the eggs. Here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...oler-incubator a good DIY :)

Please keep us updated! She's THIRTY years old!? Amazing.

It is more important that the temperature of the eggs stay constant than it is to keep them a 88-99 deg. You can incubate as low as 85 it just takes longer. Just be sure wherever you put them the temp is constant and humidity stays at or above 90.

If you do not already have an incubator you can make one quickly and inexpensively with an ice chest, tupperware, vermiculite and a fish tank heater. If you need instructions let me know and I will post them.

The eggs are just not viable. Vet visit and x-ray confirmed Auntiofprecious' diagnosis that there is still one egg left. The vet inserted a generous amount of lube and gave her oral calcium carbonate (man o man that pissed her off) and a vitamin injection to give her energy for pushing power since she hasn't eaten in a long time. She will be having warm water soaks and tummy rubs... hopefully within 24/48 hours last egg will be out.

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Originally Posted by cristacake

Please keep us updated! She's THIRTY years old!? Amazing.

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Update posted above... and she is actually 31, hatched in March of 1986. Thank you and everyone for your comments and support.. this site and the participants are great, glad we found it. :)