why separate the mother?

I'm just curious why the standard procedure is to take the eggs from the mother and put them in an incubator. Is the "natural" course of action just less practical for some reason?

The eggs have a better chance at survival in a controlled incubator. Also, the mother will typically not eat if she has eggs with her. So that is 2 months of food she could eat to get back up to size for the next breeding season.

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

The eggs have a better chance at survival in a controlled incubator. Also, the mother will typically not eat if she has eggs with her. So that is 2 months of food she could eat to get back up to size for the next breeding season.

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What he said :D

I've seen tons of pictures of angry mothers who warn anything near the cage but Im wondering if they keep that temperment once the eggs have been removed?

Are they still defensive after the eggs have been transferred?

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Originally Posted by thehoofbite

I've seen tons of pictures of angry mothers who warn anything near the cage but Im wondering if they keep that temperment once the eggs have been removed?

Are they still defensive after the eggs have been transferred?

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Once you remove them from the eggs and clean them up they normaly cool the temper down.

I am going to go with artificial, incubator incubation. I feel this way because I want my females to be able to recoup the weight that they will lose, and get a better jumpstart for next year's breeding season. I want them to get a break :)

Some people allow the mother to incubate the eggs if the right conditions can be met and maintained for the duration required to hatch and do so successfully. Most of us don't because it's easier to incubate them in a reliable incubator, we can't meet the conditions required and then there's that other element.....to not lose sleep over the whole process!

I have done both.

Interstingly enough, the maternal incubation worked better for me last year than my incubator!

I had a heat wave pass thru and the incubator went into the 100s. The eggs didn't make it, but the mother on her eggs knew what to do.

But, the mother has returned to her original size and not much more.. so taking the eggs away does have its advantages if you are looking to bulk your females up.

There's nothing wrong with maternal incubation... but it's not as easy as it seems. For you or mom. You're still responsible for providing the correct conditions for incubation... whether in an incubator or in moms enclosure. For those that want to try maternal incubation... learn what she needs to do the job right. It's not as simple as it sounds. Below is a great article by Bob Clark on the subject of maternal incubation. It's primarily about Burms, but he does compare the differences between Burm and Ball maternal incubation.
http://www.bobclark.com/a03_06.asp

Hope this helps

Saw an amazing show on tv the other day that had some information about snake's and maternal incubation in the wild. They tracked a female snake using thermal imagery as she spent time both wrapped on her eggs and then leaving to bask. According to their calculations she allowed herself to get so warm it was almost to the point of being dangerous to her own health, then quickly returned to transfer this heat to her clutch of eggs. You could watch as she cooled down gradually, then repeated the process. Very interesting stuff!

While I haven't bred snakes (and don't plan to currently), the best argument for me is also a good argument for feeding f/t or p/k. Yes, while in the wild, females incubate the eggs on their own...but when you breed in captivity, they aren't in the wild and they don't have control over their environment. You are the one resposible, so you need to provide the best possible environment for your charges.

Heather, thanks for sharing your experience, however, that maternal incubation was better - very interesting. =)

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Originally Posted by AllStar

There's nothing wrong with maternal incubation... but it's not as easy as it seems. For you or mom. You're still responsible for providing the correct conditions for incubation... whether in an incubator or in moms enclosure. For those that want to try maternal incubation... learn what she needs to do the job right. It's not as simple as it sounds. Below is a great article by Bob Clark on the subject of maternal incubation. It's primarily about Burms, but he does compare the differences between Burm and Ball maternal incubation.
http://www.bobclark.com/a03_06.asp

Hope this helps

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Cool stuff! Reading this I can really see some advantages to maternal incubation. Like the post about the eggs dying the in the incubator, I can really see that there can be an even greater degree of safety for the eggs. All that watch-dog activity must be some serious work for the mother so I can see the disadvantage there.

I think that maternal incubation in the proper cage, with the right temps and a top-of-the-line thermostat, would beat the pants off of an unreliable incubator. Along the same line, a cage with improper humidity and temperature in it, used for maternal incubation, would lose out in my book to a correctly-maintained incubator.

It worked well for me the one time I tried it but it's unnerving for the keeper not to have direct control. I'm toying with trying it this year again but I think not as the gravid female had a mouth infection when I got her back from a breeding loan and even though it looks fine now I'd rather not risk what might be extra stress for her.

http://homevtour.home.comcast.net/im...tch2003Med.JPG

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Originally Posted by RandyRemington

It worked well for me the one time I tried it but it's unnerving for the keeper not to have direct control. I'm toying with trying it this year again but I think not as the gravid female had a mouth infection when I got her back from a breeding loan and even though it looks fine now I'd rather not risk what might be extra stress for her.

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any notes on the setup you used?

http://homevtour.home.comcast.net/m9...nvpib_2003.htm