38 days in [maternal incubation]

Since there are so few images to be found of ball pythons left to maternally incubate their clutches, I'm tossing some pics of mine doing just that. She's 38 days in and the eggs are still looking good. She wasn't thrilled with it but I did candle them last night. I got to see babies fluttering around inside and I absolutely love that. The pics are lousy and I apologize for that. I'll have to get some extra hands to help me next time.

She's housed in a 40 breeder tank with a 30qt sterilite tub lined with moss as a lay box.

Next year I may just put the eggs in an incubator and let mom get back on track with feeding but I figured this was my year for firsts and I let her do her thing. I'm very pleased with the way things are going right now. I've only seen her leave the eggs once and that was just for a stretch and drink of water. She seems to be an excellent mother and this is her first clutch.


http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4058/cimg3627.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8107/cimg3631f.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7624/cimg3637a.jpg

your right not to many people do that hope it all works out!!! What was she paired with?

She's a pastel sibling from 8BallPythons and the male is a normal I inadvertently adopted from someone that left him in my care but never reclaimed him several years ago when I worked in a pet store. I'm hoping to work with a pair of het pieds next year but I expect all normals from these eggs.

Natural and very cool!
Does she get nippy when you intrude on her? I'm not sure how territorial mothers can be on a clutch.

She was not at all happy with the penlight in her tub. She struck at it once and then stared it down while I got a couple pics. I've since left her alone and won't bother her again unless I have to. ;)

That is very cool! What are you doing for heat and humidity?

I've got an inch or two of moss lining the tub that's serving as her laybox. I was misting it at least once a week in the beginning but things seem to be stable in there now. I've got a hygrometer in the laybox with her that's reading around 70% but she stays tightly coiled around the eggs most of the time, so I imagine the humidity is even higher beneath her. Her laybox is sitting above the heat mat for the cage and a dinky little strip thermometer in there reads 80-90 through the course of the day. :)

Now that is cool as heck.:taz:

Very cool and Good Luck!

Very good. I have never really seen this done. I was told its always best to leave the eggs in the incubator. Cant wait to see what happens. Hey if its done in the wild, why not in captivity?

Thank you! I am very interested in this. I, too, wonder why snakes cannot maternally incubate their eggs in captivity.

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Originally Posted by TheOtherLeadingBrand

Thank you! I am very interested in this. I, too, wonder why snakes cannot maternally incubate their eggs in captivity.

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Originally Posted by xXxFluffyEmoxXx

Very good. I have never really seen this done. I was told its always best to leave the eggs in the incubator. Cant wait to see what happens. Hey if its done in the wild, why not in captivity?

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They can and will incubate their eggs successfully in captivity. If you keep the humidity up and the temps good, they'll do just fine.

I did it last year with my only clutch - I didn't want to set up an incubator for only one clutch, so I let her do it. Everything worked out OK - and the OP looks like his eggs are doing great as well!

I think one of the reasons people use incubators is that way they can be in complete control over everything as well as start getting the female back up to size again for the next year.

This is very intriguing; looking forward to seeing them hatch.

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

They can and will incubate their eggs successfully in captivity. If you keep the humidity up and the temps good, they'll do just fine.

I did it last year with my only clutch - I didn't want to set up an incubator for only one clutch, so I let her do it. Everything worked out OK - and the OP looks like his eggs are doing great as well!

I think one of the reasons people use incubators is that way they can be in complete control over everything as well as start getting the female back up to size again for the next year.

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Everone I spoke to about maternal incubation said that very little was needed if you were already housing your adults properly. The female regulates the humidity on her own but I gave her a humidity hide/laybox and kept the moss moistened to better our odds.

I had intended to just incubate these eggs when they were laid because I already had a clutch of jungle carpet pythons in the incubator and nearing their hatch date when these came. It would just be an easy rotation. In the end, I just sympathized too much with the mom and didn't want to take her eggs from her. A few weeks before I had watched a friend's video of her snake after its eggs had been removed and I just felt so sad because the poor thing was looking for her eggs. Blame the mom in me. ;) I told myself that I'd see how it went for a week or two and if the eggs started looking poorly I would move them to the incubator. One of the eggs has a crease over its top but it's fine otherwise. It candled fine and the baby is very active inside. The rest look the same as they did when they were laid and the female stays coiled around them all the time. I can't wait until they hatch. I'm looking forward to seeing the babies, but I'm just anxious to get some food into their mom. :)

that is very kewl. wonder how fast she'll bounce back after this and would she be ready in time for the next season?

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Originally Posted by Quiet Tempest

Everone I spoke to about maternal incubation said that very little was needed if you were already housing your adults properly. The female regulates the humidity on her own but I gave her a humidity hide/laybox and kept the moss moistened to better our odds.

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She can't create water, so if its too dry then they can start to shrivel. I thought the same thing, and just kept her set-up as normal (which she'd always thrived in - good sheds, etc). But after about a week the eggs started shriveling like they were, too dry. So I swapped out the bedding that she wasn't on with cypress mulch and would spray that a couple of times a week to keep the humidity up. The eggs plumped back up and all hatched.

I think you did the right thing by adding the moist moss.

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

that is very kewl. wonder how fast she'll bounce back after this and would she be ready in time for the next season?

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My girl bounced back VERY fast actually. I fed her normally and within a couple of months she was pretty close to being at her pre lay weight. She was definitely ready for the next season.

My camera disappeared a few days ago and I was worried that I would miss getting decent pics of my eggs hatching. Thankfully I found my camera and within an hour of finding it, I realized my eggs were hatching!! :D I've also come to the realization that I can't count. I could have sworn there were 4 eggs under her but she's uncoiled enough for me to see each one and there are five. :O

So far, I've got two heads peaking out. I'll get more pics when I'm able. ;)



http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2708/cimg3705.jpg

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/1820/cimg3702.jpg

That is great, Im really happy that the maternal incubation worked out for you. I hope you get some stunning babys! :D

thats awesome

I had to drop my van off at the shop this morning *sigh* but I got more pics when I got home. :)


http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/8936/cimg3716.jpg

... and when she left her eggs for a drink, I saw this

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2254/cimg3727.jpg

Congratulations!!

Nothing is more incredible to me than successful maternal incubation, nature at its finest :D

awesome!!!!! I'm glad it all went well. cant wait to see pics of all the babies out of the eggs. congrats.

Awesome! How many days of maternal incubation is that?

Grats!! I bet you are stoked.

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Originally Posted by Danounet

Awesome! How many days of maternal incubation is that?

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They started pipping on Day 53 :)

Wow I didn't know that was such a viable method of incubation. I've only got milk snakes right now but I may pick up a ball dinker project. I think I'll just do this since it would be my only ball clutch. Very cool thanks for sharing that:gj:

Very nice!! I'm glad to see that worked out for you.

Very nice! Thanks for this thread. It's very useful. Congrats on those cuties!

VERY cool! Congrats!!! :gj: :gj: :gj:

Awesome! :gj::gj::gj:

Congrats!

I have to admit, I am stunned by how many people "thought maternal incubation couldnt be done". :confused: LOL, oh... people. :rolleyes:

Congrats on the clutch, and a really cool glimpse into maternal incubation! :gj:

Thanks so much, guys! :) I'll get more pics when they decide to come out of their eggs.

Here is another example of a 100% hatch rate and a female that ate well and produced again the next year.

http://snakemorphs.home.comcast.net/...tch2003Med.jpg

Mom checking out one of the babies.
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9868/cimg3742.jpg

First one out (I believe it's a little girl)
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7439/cimg3761.jpg

Waiting on the last two
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3419/cimg3763.jpg

The three that have already left their eggs
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4497/cimg3764.jpg

Congrats, :)

Really digging the golden cheerios down their backs. :gj:


dr del

Very cool/interesting. Congratulations.

kool... i really like the last pic !

:banana:

That seems like it would be so cool. :salute:

Congrats on some nice looking babies!

Congrats to you. Great post, I am limited on space and I wondered if anyone was using maternal incubation. I belive I will give it a try once I reach that point. Again Congrats, Way to GO!!!!!!!!:banana:

Never made sense why people doubted this to me. Congratulations. Im happy to see proof that its jus as good a method than incubation

Congrats!! They look Great.

I plan on doing this with my Ball, cause I dont have the money and the time to do an incubator. My wife's pregnant and the baby balls will be here about the same time my Baby's do. Be funny if its the same day! :D

So I plan on doing Maternal Incubation, but i have a few questions..

1. What was your set-up? I know you said you have a lay/hide box filled with moss and the humidity was 70% with a heat pad under that part of the tank. But where did you have the heat lamp?

2. Did you have this set-up before she layed and she knew to lay in the moss? or did you move them after she layed?

3. When did you feed her? did you do it right after layed?

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Originally Posted by pt377

Congrats!! They look Great.

I plan on doing this with my Ball, cause I dont have the money and the time to do an incubator. My wife's pregnant and the baby balls will be here about the same time my Baby's do. Be funny if its the same day! :D

So I plan on doing Maternal Incubation, but i have a few questions..

1. What was your set-up? I know you said you have a lay/hide box filled with moss and the humidity was 70% with a heat pad under that part of the tank. But where did you have the heat lamp?

2. Did you have this set-up before she layed and she knew to lay in the moss? or did you move them after she layed?

3. When did you feed her? did you do it right after layed?

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1. 40 gallon breeder tank. I use some Clingwrap on about 3/4 of the screen cover to keep humidity up in the tank because the room tends to stay a bit dry. The laybox is a Sterilite tub with a hole cut in the lid with just enough room for the female to enter/exit. I don't use a heat lamp over this tank.

2. I had originally put the laybox in the middle of the tank when she was going into blue for her pre-lay shed but after she shed she kept pushing it out of the way and/or trying to go under it to lay on the heatpad. Because of that, I just put the laybox directly over the heat for her and she stayed in there or just outside, laying inverted for most of the time. When she looked like she was obviously going to lay, she stayed coiled and buried under the moss the entire time. I figured this would be no different than with my corn snakes and they seek out a suitable place to lay when the time is right. I tried to provide that and she seemed content with what I gave her.

3. I fed her the day after all of the eggs had either pipped or hatched. She ate a small rat right away and when I put her back in the cage, she went straight back to the laybox to coil around the eggs left in there. Now that all 5 babies have left their eggs, I've removed all them from the tank and mom and put them each into a tub with damp paper towel, water dish, and a small hide.



When I have a chance or after they shed (which ever comes first), I'll get more pics of these guys/girls. I've just been busy lately and not had time to snap any new ones.

OMG....that pic of mom on her eggs with babies hatching has got to be the cutest pic ever!!! Thanks for sharing!!

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Originally Posted by Quiet Tempest

Everone I spoke to about maternal incubation said that very little was needed if you were already housing your adults properly. The female regulates the humidity on her own but I gave her a humidity hide/laybox and kept the moss moistened to better our odds.

I had intended to just incubate these eggs when they were laid because I already had a clutch of jungle carpet pythons in the incubator and nearing their hatch date when these came. It would just be an easy rotation. In the end, I just sympathized too much with the mom and didn't want to take her eggs from her. A few weeks before I had watched a friend's video of her snake after its eggs had been removed and I just felt so sad because the poor thing was looking for her eggs. Blame the mom in me. ;) I told myself that I'd see how it went for a week or two and if the eggs started looking poorly I would move them to the incubator. One of the eggs has a crease over its top but it's fine otherwise. It candled fine and the baby is very active inside. The rest look the same as they did when they were laid and the female stays coiled around them all the time. I can't wait until they hatch. I'm looking forward to seeing the babies, but I'm just anxious to get some food into their mom. :)

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:bow: So cool I can't wait to see pics of the natural birth I wonder if their personalities will be different since they are growing with their mothers heartbeat surrounding them. Yea for you I hear so much about live food this and hunting that but what about the maternal instincts :gj: very excited about this thank you for sharing.:banana:For the mamas :banana: