Keep your fingers crossed!!

I found these the other day. I've been so nervous, since this is Emma's first clutch and I'm trying not to get too excited. (which is an impossiblilty but I'm trying!!) Anyway, here they are!! Hopefully I'll have two little cresties in another month or so. :D :clap:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/Emmaeggs.jpg

nice! have you candled them yet?

Very cool!

No. How sad am I? I'm too freaked to do much more than check on them about a hundred times a day. :oops: I figured I'm supposed to keep them until they're beyond moldy, and I've got this horrible fear I'll somehow drop them or turn them. *sigh* Too much risk :psychotic LOL!! :giggle:

you don't have to pick them up or touch them at all to candle them. just use a mini maglite or similar flashlight and hold it right over the the eggs in a dark room. they should appear either yellow or pink and depending on how long ago they were laid you may be able to see some veining.

Duh! :imslow: Oh.... gotta run!! BRB!! :D

Ok, well I didn't see any veining but they did seem to be pinkish. I think I need a brighter flashlight, but it definitely had a pinkish hue!! :clap:

That's so exciting, Christie! Good luck with 'em!!!

pink is good. :) when were they layed? it takes a few weeks at least to really see any veining.

yippppppeeee babies!!!

Oh congrats Christie! Hope all goes well....please keep us updated (and have that cam handy at all times LOL!)

She laid them April 20th. :rolleyes: I kept thinking they'd go bad, but they seem to be getting a bit bigger. Of course my scale only weighs at 5g intervals, so I didn't even bother weighing them.

If I'm lucky enough to have babies, there will definitely be a TON of pics!!!

:D :clap: :banana:

Nice Christie!! I cant wait to see what comes out of there!

aaaw yeah, if they are still pink at this point and seem to be growing then most likely they are good and you have babies in those eggs! :gj:

YIPPEE!!! :banana: :clap: COOL!!!!!

How long till they would hatch Emily or till Christie can tell for sure she has viable baby cresties in there?

I believe it's around 60 days as a minimum. Depending on the incubation temperatures. So as early as the end of next month!!! Ack, there goes my plan on being calm and rational about them. :psychotic

oh christie, they'll be fine. :)

length of incubation is dependent upon the incubation temperature. last summer my temps ranged from 78-82 degrees and all the babies hatched at 58-60 days. this winter and spring the temps were in the 75-78 range and it took 1-2 weeks longer for babies to hatch. if your temps are consistent throughout incubation you can predict within a few days when eggs will hatch, otherwise you have to give them some leeway.

pretty soon here you should be able to see veining and/or actual shadowy forms in the eggs. as they get farther along you can make out areas where there is something solid, the largest dark area being the baby's head. :P

I just got another two today!! Whoopie! :clap: Hopefully I'll get at least some of them to hatch.

:clap: :banana: :carrot: :pinkele: :sunny:

Something weird is going on now, my big mama layed 2 eggs on April 22 and now I found 2 more eggs today. If they hatch on the same day then something is really weird.

They won't hatch on the same day. It's normal for them to lay 2 eggs every 3-4 weeks. I'm not sure offhand how many clutches is ususal though.

lol, i read greenmonkey's post that way at first too, but i think he meant it was weird that his gecko laid 2 clutches on almost the same dates as yours. :)

:doh: Sheesh. I'm going back to bed today!! lol. That would make MUCH more sense. :rolleyes: I think the sun has fried my brain, or possibly the cold water. (went swimming for the first time this year - brrrrrr)

Yes emily you got what I meant. Good luck Christie, do you have any pics of the parents. Im sure they'll be great looking neonates.

Here they are. (not the best pic, and they are not fired up) I'm hoping for some babies with nice dalmation spots!! What about your two?

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...mmaandToby.jpg

They look like a very good match. I bought the female gravid so I never knew what the male looked like.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...Picture030.jpg
That was when I just brought here home. She looked a lot better last night. She looked like an red tiger. Hopefully either of us can produce something as nice as Emily does. A sidenote when I looked at the eggs layed in April I didn't think they've grown. Well next to the fresh eggs you can definately tell that they have. Only bad thing is in one of the fresh eggs theres a dimple on the end of the egg. Hopefully everything works out.

Oh what a pretty girl!! She is absolutely gorgeous!! She also looks HUGE!! :O Have you candled your eggs? I need to go get a small mag light. My el cheapo flashlight works ok, but I want to see if it's any better with a stronger light. ;) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you too!

It would be awesome to hatch out something as cute as Emily's!! Of course then I'd have to keep it. :oops:

I tried to candle them but I don't have a good enough flashlight. I didn't think they were growing till, I saw them next to the new eggs. Im guessing they will hatch on July 19.

you both are too kind. :) it doesn't matter what pattern/color/morph you hatch--it's guaranteed to be cute!

christie, the mini mag lites are the ONLY way to go for candling crested eggs. you can see much more if you use one of those instead of a normal flashlight.

greenmonkey, the dimple may well resolve itself after being placed in your incubator and absorbing some moisture, so i wouldn't worry about it too much.

I have a dumb question, and I'm just going to ask, cause I'm a bit lazy tonight. How many clutches is normal before they're done? I guess I'm asking when will she stop laying?

I think that they can hold sperm for 3 months so I would guess 3 clutches.

it can be anywhere from 3 to 5 clutches (or sometimes more) after you separate her from the male--it all depends on the female. i have one female that has been laying eggs for a solid year now, even though i separated her from her mate well over 6 months ago--she just won't stop! generally i leave pairs together for 3-4 months after the first clutch is layed and then separate the females so they can finish laying and have a break before i pair them up again.

some people leave males and females together year round, and provide a significant temperature drop during the winter months to get the females to stop laying. if you choose this method you have to make extra sure that your females are getting enough nutrients, especially calcium, so that they don't crash, and also watch that the males don't get to thin as they tend to cut back on food intake when breeding.

That's what I was looking for! Thanks so much. :hug:

And I was just thinking about that calcium issue. I have some calcium supplement in addition to the CGD. Should I add that into the CGD, or can you just put the powder in a small dish like other lizards? I do dust crickets with it, although I don't offer crickets too often (just a treat).

just put some of the calcium in a dish for the female to eat from as she feels necessary. unless you notice that her eggs are starting to look rough and unevenly textured don't add it to her cgd or you may overdose her with calcium which can actually be more dangerous that not getting enough calcium. if her eggs do start to look rough instead of smooth check her calcium sacks. if they look depleted add a very small amount of calcium to her cgd every few feedings until they look normal again and her eggs are nice and smooth.

fyi: this is what slightly undercalcified eggs look like:

http://mlededee.com/herps/cresties/u...cifiedeggs.jpg

mom has had a little extra calcium added to her diet and has been asked nicely to please think about taking a break from the egg laying for a while. :)

I've not tried to look at the calcium sacks. How do you do that? They're so wiggly. :rolleyes:

Fortunately, the eggs all look very smooth and normal. I think I'll put a bit of calcium in, just in case. Or can she OD herself?

it's a little tricky to get them to open their mouth the first time, but you just have to hold them firmly in one hand and with the other open their mouth so that you can see inside. many times if you tap on their nose they will open their mouth--you may have to stick a finger in there to keep it open or you can use a small plastic spatula similar to what a lot of people use with their snakes. i got a little gecko sized spatula to try out because some of my geckos get rather fierce with my fingers when i'm messing around in their mouths. :P honestly though, it's not something you need to do very often and since she just started laying as long as she is the proper weight and eats well she should be fine for now.

cresteds can overdose on calcium if you mix it in the cgd because they can't control how much they are getting. just put some in a little dish and she can eat it when she feels that she needs it. i only mix it in with the cgd for females if i notice that their calcium sacks are getting depleted toward the end of the season or if their eggs look undercalcified, and i only add it until their sacks and eggs look normal again.

Awesome!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! :worship:

Im justing updating this thread a bit. One of the first eggs had a dent in the side off it. There also looked to be maybe some mold around the dented one but it was really small. The other is plumping out so it looks good. Hopefully I can save the dented one.