Sorry this first post is a bit lengthy, but I've had my female Royal since 1999 (5yrs) and she has never been with any other snake since then. In 2005, she surprised us on our return from holiday with a mound of eggs! She warmed herself up near the ceramic trough, then move down to the eggs. She 'huffed' when I opened the viv, an aggressive sound she never made before, so I waited until I thought her incubation period was nearly complete. Then one day I opened up the tank, she slid off the eggs without a noise and sadly, I found all the eggs contained a fully formed 8" stillborn snake - we were gutted!!

She hasn't eaten much since Feb this year, and I was beginning to think she was nearing the end when, at the end of June, I opened the viv to find her on a mound of eggs for the second time! One yellowed egg had been discarded to back of the viv, but the others under the ridge tile looked a lovely ivory colour.

Having lost the opportunity last time by perhaps, leaving it too late before intervening with a scalpel (in case of no egg tooth), I'm keen to ensure that, if viable, we can get at least one live hatchling this time round! Her second shed was 22 June & I saw the eggs for the first time on 28 June. Her viv temp is 29-30'C & I've put in a damp cloth every other day on a raised shelf & sprayed the cork bark log to raise humidity. Any thoughts about if/when I should remove or open one or more of the eggs to avoid repetition of the loss of another & possibly final clutch of eggs from my 24 yr old Royal? (I have a good incubator I could use if necessary).