Blood breeding information source?

[MikeyP]

I was wondering if anyone had a good thread or a good source to use in regards to blood breeding. The questions I have involve

1) estimation of time to expect eggs to be laid after copulation

2) proper set up in the cage for egg laying

3) incubator temps / humidity for blood eggs / appropriate substrate for incubator

4) time of incubation of eggs before hatching

Those are just some of the questions I am looking for, I have read a lot of different material online but was wondering if someone could point me to a source they have successfully used for clutches of their own.

If someone with experience could chime in I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Kara]

1. Don't judge by copulations on this. Female bloods are champs at sperm retention, and can ovulate many months after initially being bred. What you want to keep an eye on is when the female ovulates. It'll be obvious & will look like she ate a football (or even bigger), but lasts around 12-18 hours. You may still see some lumpiness within that same 24 hr span, but not the giant, obvious swelling. Be observant & keep good notes so you don't miss it.

She'll go blue not long after ovulation, so keep an eye out for the post ovulation shed. Once you have a solid POS date, you're looking at 30-40 days till eggs. Gravid females are very dependent on basking temps during this time, so when you have a confirmed ovulation, you'll want to offer a hot spot around 87-88 degrees for your female to access. Low basking temps can cause a delay in ovoposition.

Here's what blood python ovulation looks like:


2. We give our females nest boxes lined with barely-damp sphagnum moss or shredded paper, depending on that snake's preference. The laying surface should be dry, and not located directly over the heat source. We'll mist around the edges of the nest box very lightly from time to time, but not so much to make the moss or paper truly wet.

3. 89 degrees (F), 98% humidity, very coarse grade vermiculite in deep egg boxes.

4. Using the aforementioned setup, approximately 56-60 days.

Here are 2 of the kiddos that resulted from the ovulation in the above video...total clutch was 15 w/a 100% hatch rate:




Hope this helps!

[MikeyP]

Thanks so much for the info! It helps a lot, any other helpful tips are also appreciated!!!!

[Kara]

LOL...probably the biggest piece of advice I could give during breeding season, is haunt your snakes. Don't drive them crazy fiddling & pestering them all the time, but be very aware of what's going on and what they're up to. Take copious notes. No need to touch & poke around, just open cage enough to peek, take notes, and move on.

[slackerz]

if there is multiple thanks icon for kara,i'll click it..

[bruster]

do you leave them together the whole season?

[Kara]

Nope. We keep a close eye on their activity (again with that note taking), and separate/reintroduce pairs as necessary throughout the season.

[slackerz]

this part is hard for me..because everytime i put them together,they like to pee a lot and then LOCK..im quite worried if i leave them 3 days in that condition..but i need to,because one lock takes almost one day..and then lock again...after 3 days,usually they stay separately..then i took them to different tubs and start to clean the breeding tubs..