Maternal Instinct in BP's?

[KaaismyBaby]

This is a bit of a silly question, but one I've been wondering about. When a ball python's babies hatch, does she recognize them as her babies? Will she become defensive if you pick them up or touch them? Or does her maternal Instinct turn off once the babies hatch?

[Alicia]

Having only tried MI once (so far . . . I will do it again), my experience of Dahlia was this:
When her babies pipped, she opened her coils and readjusted herself, but didn't move. As they crawled out of the eggs, she herded them back onto the egg pile using the same rolling motion she used to pile the eggs in the first place . . . Sort of like she perceived them as eggs that weren't sticking to the pile. She also crawled off the pile for the first time but returned. Her feeding response started coming back online around now, and she resumed looking at me in the "upright and ready to eat" position. Once everyone was grouped together again, she continued to coil them until all but one viable egg had pipped. I then moved her to a V-70, where she ate the following evening.

And can't post without gratuitous pics



MI Day 64 - Sept 4 - Pipping 2



MI Day 64 - Sept 4 - Pipping 3cropped



MI Day 65 - Sept 5 - Pipping 5

[Mangiapane85]

That's cool to see maternal incubation shots like that. Great stuff!


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[redshepherd]

Wow, that's just adorable Alicia!! How long have you let the hatchlings stay with the mother after they've all come out?

[cletus]

Wow. This is not the answer I expected. Thanks for that!

[KaaismyBaby]

Very interesting and helpful, thanks! People often attribute parental care to mammals and birds only, but ball pythons are a great example of a reptile that cares for its eggs!

[Alicia]

Thanks, guys! It was a neat experience and I think less stressful on Dahlia than removing her eggs. Many if not most BPs settle right down if cleaned off placed in a fresh tub right after laying -- this particular female might be extra "broody."

How long have you let the hatchlings stay with the mother after they've all come out?

About a day I think, once she started crawling away from the clutch and stopped trying to roll babies back into the pile. I had actually wanted to wait until she was clearly coming out of mom-mode.

Her corralling the hatchlings was the only thing I didn't expect. If nothing else, I want to try MI with other females to see if they show the same behaviors. If I do, I'll post results