Immaculate Conception.... I think ! HELP !

[MonteyPython]

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.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

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.

[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-

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...

[Godzilla78]

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!

[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?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

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?

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

[Bogertophis]

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?

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).

[MonteyPython]

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 ???

[Bogertophis]

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

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".

[Godzilla78]

#nocuttingclub
#pippingrocksband

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