38 days in [maternal incubation]

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

Thank you! I am very interested in this. I, too, wonder why snakes cannot maternally incubate their eggs in captivity.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Thank you! I am very interested in this. I, too, wonder why snakes cannot maternally incubate their eggs in captivity.

Very good. I have never really seen this done. I was told its always best to leave the eggs in the incubator. Cant wait to see what happens. Hey if its done in the wild, why not in captivity?

They can and will incubate their eggs successfully in captivity. If you keep the humidity up and the temps good, they'll do just fine.

I did it last year with my only clutch - I didn't want to set up an incubator for only one clutch, so I let her do it. Everything worked out OK - and the OP looks like his eggs are doing great as well!

I think one of the reasons people use incubators is that way they can be in complete control over everything as well as start getting the female back up to size again for the next year.

[adrenalinejunkie]

This is very intriguing; looking forward to seeing them hatch.

[Quiet Tempest]

They can and will incubate their eggs successfully in captivity. If you keep the humidity up and the temps good, they'll do just fine.

I did it last year with my only clutch - I didn't want to set up an incubator for only one clutch, so I let her do it. Everything worked out OK - and the OP looks like his eggs are doing great as well!

I think one of the reasons people use incubators is that way they can be in complete control over everything as well as start getting the female back up to size again for the next year.

Everone I spoke to about maternal incubation said that very little was needed if you were already housing your adults properly. The female regulates the humidity on her own but I gave her a humidity hide/laybox and kept the moss moistened to better our odds.

I had intended to just incubate these eggs when they were laid because I already had a clutch of jungle carpet pythons in the incubator and nearing their hatch date when these came. It would just be an easy rotation. In the end, I just sympathized too much with the mom and didn't want to take her eggs from her. A few weeks before I had watched a friend's video of her snake after its eggs had been removed and I just felt so sad because the poor thing was looking for her eggs. Blame the mom in me. I told myself that I'd see how it went for a week or two and if the eggs started looking poorly I would move them to the incubator. One of the eggs has a crease over its top but it's fine otherwise. It candled fine and the baby is very active inside. The rest look the same as they did when they were laid and the female stays coiled around them all the time. I can't wait until they hatch. I'm looking forward to seeing the babies, but I'm just anxious to get some food into their mom.

[Ladydragon]

that is very kewl. wonder how fast she'll bounce back after this and would she be ready in time for the next season?

[Blue Apple Herps]

Everone I spoke to about maternal incubation said that very little was needed if you were already housing your adults properly. The female regulates the humidity on her own but I gave her a humidity hide/laybox and kept the moss moistened to better our odds.

She can't create water, so if its too dry then they can start to shrivel. I thought the same thing, and just kept her set-up as normal (which she'd always thrived in - good sheds, etc). But after about a week the eggs started shriveling like they were, too dry. So I swapped out the bedding that she wasn't on with cypress mulch and would spray that a couple of times a week to keep the humidity up. The eggs plumped back up and all hatched.

I think you did the right thing by adding the moist moss.

[Blue Apple Herps]

that is very kewl. wonder how fast she'll bounce back after this and would she be ready in time for the next season?

My girl bounced back VERY fast actually. I fed her normally and within a couple of months she was pretty close to being at her pre lay weight. She was definitely ready for the next season.

[Quiet Tempest]

My camera disappeared a few days ago and I was worried that I would miss getting decent pics of my eggs hatching. Thankfully I found my camera and within an hour of finding it, I realized my eggs were hatching!! I've also come to the realization that I can't count. I could have sworn there were 4 eggs under her but she's uncoiled enough for me to see each one and there are five.

So far, I've got two heads peaking out. I'll get more pics when I'm able.

[joshn6805]

That is great, Im really happy that the maternal incubation worked out for you. I hope you get some stunning babys!

[luna13]

thats awesome