I've used the "momma snake" method of incubation in the past with good results. The big caveat I'll mention is that you have to resist the temptation to really crank the heat under the clutch. I kept the heat under the nest box (an old small trash can with the sides cut down) a few degrees cooler than I would incubate them at. This allowed momma snake to adjust the temps somewhat by her own means. I provided her with a heat lamp at the far end of her cage--something I don't usually do. That let her bask for a short period if she wanted to and then transfer the heat to her eggs by covering them with her warmed up body. I only saw them do this a few times, but it was available. I also gave momma snake a big pan of water that she could soak in then transfer moisture to her eggs if she felt she needed to. I didn't see her do that but she might have when I wasn't looking.
A couple of my females who were f/t eaters accepted small f/t rodents left just outside the nest box while they were incubating and they wouldn't take them unless I left the room for the night. For me the food that they did the best with were prey items about 1/2 their usual size. One of my ratters wouldn't take a rat the whole time she was on her eggs but she would take a small adult mouse every several days.
I don't know if I would have the guts to ever do this again with a super duper multiple codom clutch. I'd probably chicken out and toss those eggs in an incubator where I could watch them like a hawk. But when I did it way back when with my plain old normal females all but one did a great job of incubating her clutch. One dummy dumped the eggs and paid no more attention to them at all, so I had to incubate them and most of the eggs still hatched out OK in my last minute jerryrigged beer cooler and flexwatt improvised incubator. It's hard to resist checking up on momma snake frequently and let me tell you that she doesn't appreciate your interest in her personal business. She isn't shy about letting you know it either.![]()







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