Retained Sperm for a Decade?

[bcr229]

I have a 15 year old female whose last litter was laid in Feb, 2014. This morning she presented me with eggs and they look viable, so I had to fire up the incubator as I've been producing all boas the past few years. Fortunately it still works!

I'd heard of female retaining sperm for a year, but ten years?

[Armiyana]

It could be a partho clutch.

Hopefully she doesn't have genes like spider or champagne? Because that can be a problem.

[bcr229]

No she's a normal/classic.

[Bogertophis]

I've had a similar situation with snakes I've had since they were 1.5 years old. I can't say for sure they never bred before becoming mine but even if they did, that would be a frightfully long time to retain sperm, so I've assumed the eggs (some viable) were parthos. Either way, have fun!

[bcr229]

Looks like a partho clutch. A few eggs went bad, one classic female pipped and came out of the egg yesterday, and I cut the remaining three good eggs last night. Another neonate is pipping today.

[Bogertophis]

Fingers crossed for them...pretty special!

[bcr229]

Just those two survived, the last two were kinked and stillborn.

I had forgotten just how tiny and cute the babies are.

[Bogertophis]

Well keep us posted on the two survivors.

[bcr229]

They're eating and acting like typical babies. Time will tell if they survive.

[bcr229]

Update: we found one of the babies dead this morning. No idea why other than her history, as she had been eating weekly and acting like any other juvenile ball python, no signs of illness, and the last time we brought in a new snake was January, 2023. She was in a rack with 8 other snakes who are fine, and there are 35 other snakes in that room that are fine.

This is why survivors of partho clutches or litters should always be disclosed to buyers, and the babies sent to pet homes rather than breeder homes.