Questions at the heart of the matter...

[muddoc]

1. No.

2. Over 1 million years of evolution telling them that procreation is the only way for species survival.

3. There is no definitve answer, but I have experienced 10 degrees with no ill effects. (Speaking of no definitive answers, there really is no answer to any of your questions "definitively", as many people do things differently, successfully.)

3a. Typically what causes the issues is the rise of the swing, not the drop in the swing. The rise actually cooks the embryo. Drops are more easily tolerated, as long as the eggs are heated up relatively soon (relative, because there is no definitive answer).

4. Very little. I cover my egg boxes with Saran wrap, and incubate in a 4x7 foot room that does not get very much venting (only from opening the door). I have let clutches incubate until day 55 without ever opening the box.

5. There really is no link to the animal and how many eggs she will lay, outside of her historical record. Sometimes big girls lay fewer eggs, but they are very large eggs. This is a crap shoot at best when guessing how many she will lay (unless you counted while palpating).

6. The only real disadvantage is that you will have to wait at least 60 more days to get some weight back on your female. As long as the eggs hatch, the the end will have justified the means.

7. They cannot raise their body temperature. Also, from reading thet I have done and talking to people that have tried it, Balls do not vibrate their eggs to raise temperature like some of the other Python species do.

8. To the public, there is no Homozygous Spider. They are all Heterozygous, hence the reason that non Spiders are produced in clutches that one parent was a Spider.

9. Most humans love to collect stuff, and always want what they don't have. Since there are so many mutations, one cannot have them all, hence the reason to get more. Always trying to get the checklist complete.

10. Does it matter.