Immaculate Conception.... I think ! HELP !

So I've had two Ball Pythons now for about 4 and a half years... was told they were both Female.
I keep them in separate Tanks, but about a month or so ago...I had them in one Tank for about 2 days... they were coiled up together.. but thought nothing of it.

My one hadn't eaten since Feb (a little over 4 mos), and spent most her time in her little hut.
To my surprise on Saturday... I went in to check on her water and noticed she was out but saw 4 Eggs in her Hut.
Dont' know how long they have been there, but was shocked. Not sure if she just produced some Slugs on her own, or if the other one is actually a male and they mated.

Regardless I have 4 eggs and she constantly sits on them... so wondering if they are actually good or not. I would imagine she would abandon them if they were no good....

Any suggestions... or help to let me know how to figure out if there are babies in there ... or if I should remove them.

Candle the eggs if they are viable make sure your enclosure is properly setup for maternal incubation or build an incubator out of styrofoam.

The question is are they viable and salvageable, many unexpected eggs do not get the environment needed and collapse in a matter of days making it often impossible to save them.

If they candle as potentially good, I'd assume they're good until proven otherwise, whether or not you let her incubate them is up to you.
That's a mighty suspicious coincidence of timing...I think one of your BPs is a male- :rofl:

But you never know...many un-bred female snakes never produce infertile eggs, but my 2 12-year old female Florida rat snakes
double-clutch every year, & some of the eggs even candle as good, even though neither has ever mated. I toss the obvious slugs
(yellowish inside & out, mis-shaped, etc) but right now I'm incubating some from each of them that appear viable, just in case.

Some usually just take longer to go bad, but I wouldn't want to miss out if they're good. While I don't intentionally breed any snakes
now, one or a few would be amazing. But these girls have first clutches of 18-27 eggs, so you can see why I don't let them near any
males...:O

It’s easy to accidentally ID a male as a female. You have a mating pair.

They need it very humid, and around 88 temperature were she is sitting. The hardest thing about maternal incubation is keeping the humidity high. Do not let the enclosure get dry, keep it misted, moist coco fiber and sphagnum moss, only minor ventilation... etc.

Don’t get the enclosure too hot or too cold.
Good luck!

Ok so I Candled them and they all seem to have nice looking healthy Veins ! Which to me... confirms that "Athena" is actually a Male !!! She must be a He !
At this point She seems to really like incubating them herself. Am I ok to let her continue to incubate? I have her tank at a steady 88-90 degrees. I've seen lots of video's where people slit or cut the eggs... is that necessary, or will they hatch themselves when ready?
:snake:

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Originally Posted by MonteyPython

Ok so I Candled them and they all seem to have nice looking healthy Veins ! Which to me... confirms that "Athena" is actually a Male !!! She must be a He !
At this point She seems to really like incubating them herself. Am I ok to let her continue to incubate? I have her tank at a steady 88-90 degrees. I've seen lots of video's where people slit or cut the eggs... is that necessary, or will they hatch themselves when ready?
:snake:

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They will pip on their own when ready, do not attempt to cut eggs.

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Originally Posted by MonteyPython

Ok so I Candled them and they all seem to have nice looking healthy Veins ! Which to me... confirms that "Athena" is actually a Male !!! She must be a He !
At this point She seems to really like incubating them herself. Am I ok to let her continue to incubate? I have her tank at a steady 88-90 degrees. I've seen lots of video's where people slit or cut the eggs... is that necessary, or will they hatch themselves when ready?
:snake:

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Have you noticed...there is actually a "he" in middle of "Athena", lol...

Pay attention to the eggs having enough humidity...if you see them getting "crumpled-looking", getting depressions, they're too dry (especially early on).

I think you are correct... I think one of my Snakes is indeed a Male, as I just candled the eggs and they were very Orange and veiny ! So I think they are good.
I feel that since she has been doing such a good job and wants to constantly coil around and sit on them...I will let her continue to incubate them herself naturally.
I just don't know how long they have been there... so don't know what stage that are at or how much longer it will take for them to hatch.
ALSO... do I need to cut them at any point... or will they naturally be able to break out of the eggs themselves ???

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Originally Posted by Deborah

They will pip on their own when ready, do not attempt to cut eggs.

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I second this!
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When is the last time you looked in & there were no eggs? Maybe a week??? It's not too critical to know the exact lay date, it's nice,
but they don't always hatch at a precise # of days. FYI, baby snakes (those from eggs, not live-born) have an "egg tooth" on the end
of their little snoots...they use it to slash their way out of the egg...sometimes just one slit, but most of my snakes have been real
enthusiastic "slashers". :rofl:

#nocuttingclub
#pippingrocksband

They will cut themselves out exactly when they feel like doing it!

With parthenogenesis can a BEL create another bel, I know totally off topic don’t wanna hijack just popped in my head while reading this and thinking about that lol


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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

If they candle as potentially good, I'd assume they're good until proven otherwise, whether or not you let her incubate them is up to you.
That's a mighty suspicious coincidence of timing...I think one of your BPs is a male- :rofl:

But you never know...many un-bred female snakes never produce infertile eggs, but my 2 12-year old female Florida rat snakes
double-clutch every year, & some of the eggs even candle as good, even though neither has ever mated. I toss the obvious slugs
(yellowish inside & out, mis-shaped, etc) but right now I'm incubating some from each of them that appear viable, just in case.

Some usually just take longer to go bad, but I wouldn't want to miss out if they're good. While I don't intentionally breed any snakes
now, one or a few would be amazing. But these girls have first clutches of 18-27 eggs, so you can see why I don't let them near any
males...:O

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That is nuts. Best of luck with those eggs. Would like to know if any hatch out.

LOL.... Now that you pointed it out... Yes, there is a "HE" in Athena, lol ! I should have known ! Need to change his name to Zeus or Apollo !

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Originally Posted by Aerries

With parthenogenesis can a BEL create another bel, I know totally off topic don’t wanna hijack just popped in my head while reading this and thinking about that lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Parthenogenesis creates a clone of the mother, so I'd have to say "yup". Whatever the mom is, that's what you'd get. Just don't hold your breath, it's pretty rare.

I check on them every day... but she has been coiled up inside her Green Hut in her tank for a long time. I just didn't know she was wrapped around Eggs... so they could have been there for weeks..... I just happened to go in at the right time to see her out getting a drink from her water dish when I noticed the Eggs.
When she is in her hut and coiled around them... you can't even see the eggs, so I thought nothing of it when she was in there... that's where she spends most her time normally.

Seems to be doing well... I went and got a moisturizing Kit, and Pete moss in there and a spray bottle that I use now to make sure it is nice and Humid and about 88-90 degree's all the time. So far all seems to be going well.

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Originally Posted by MonteyPython

I check on them every day... but she has been coiled up inside her Green Hut in her tank for a long time. I just didn't know she was wrapped around Eggs... so they could have been there for weeks..... I just happened to go in at the right time to see her out getting a drink from her water dish when I noticed the Eggs.
When she is in her hut and coiled around them... you can't even see the eggs, so I thought nothing of it when she was in there... that's where she spends most her time normally.

Seems to be doing well... I went and got a moisturizing Kit, and Pete moss in there and a spray bottle that I use now to make sure it is nice and Humid and about 88-90 degree's all the time. So far all seems to be going well.

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I can understand why you didn't see the eggs right away...but now you know, when snakes cozy up together, & especially if they ask for a smoke afterwards, to assume
they were fooling around, LOL! :D Snakes can be pretty subtle about mating.

Really need some expertise advice.
One of my four eggs had turned a dark brown.... I am guessing this means the baby inside has expired and I fear that it will contaminate or risk the integrity of the other three. I wanted to remove it, however all four Eggs are stuck together, I can't get them apart and dont want to be too forceful in fear of tearing the shell on one that is alive. Any recommendations on how I should proceed ????/

At this point, you'll have to leave them together...you'll tear the good ones apart by removing the bad one if it's securely stuck together. That's why when I did
breed snakes, I always separated all eggs laid (carefully! there is a technique to it) so the bad ones can easily be removed. You're too late, so you'll have to wait
it out. It is still possible for good eggs to hatch while stuck together with rotten neighbors, as long as the bad one(s) don't become infested with flies/larvae.
Mold doesn't usually affect good eggs, but insects are another matter. Hope it doesn't stink too bad?

I have a small clutch of 4 eggs that are really stuck together. They look to be almost in a Pipping stage as they are pretty collapsed and wrinkled.
My Female is fertilizing them herself, and is constantly wrapped around them.
I noticed one of them are now a dark color and I think the contents rotting...
I am afraid it will harm the other three if I don't separate it, however I can't get them apart and afraid to tear the good eggs in doing so.
Any suggestions or recommendations ???

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Originally Posted by MonteyPython

My Female is fertilizing them herself, and is constantly wrapped around them.

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That is quite the trick!

As been stated previously: Leave them alone--especially if the female is incubating them (she is keeping their temps stable with her coils).

But will the one that I assume is dead going to effect the others ??

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Originally Posted by MonteyPython

But will the one that I assume is dead going to effect the others ??

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I already answered you, see post 18. Leave them alone.

Leave them alone!!
The more you screw with them, the more you agitate everyone in that enclosure.
You will cause the babies to move around more than needed and that can turn into tied umbilical cords.
Humidity and temps are all you need to worry about.
If they make it, great.
If they dont...... it sucks but you learned something new.