Has a mother ever died from maternal incubation?

[piedplus]

I'm planning to try MI and so have been studying the subject. I agree with others here that they should eat & have no problems in most cases. I also read a study that compared MI to artificial incubation. The babies averaged higher weights and better coordination. That's why I want to try it. Of course I have an incubator set up just in case.

Generally accepted practices aren't always the best practices. When I was a kid, everyone knew that snakes had to eat live. No one questioned the fact. I ended giving up my snakes because I didn't like feeding live. I was thrilled to find out several years ago that frozen thawed can be fed. My how things have changed!

[Quiet Tempest]

Maternal is the only method I use with my balls and I've never had any health issues with my girls. Most people prefer artificial incubation because there is more direct control over conditions and for beginners the majority of information available is focused on various methods of artificial incubation. There are very few, if any, guidelines for maternal incubation available. There is, however, plenty of misinformation out there and that dissuades many keepers from ever trying it - the big one being "females on eggs will not eat". Many breeders want to keep their girls' weight gaining steadily so they can make use of her again the following season and they feel it's in their best interest to remove the eggs from the equation. Most of mine continue to feed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis while on eggs though a few are more sporadic (they can be just as sporadic without being on eggs). If I ever thought allowing my snakes to brood their clutches was a real health risk I wouldn't do it this way.

[meowmeowkazoo]

It's sort of like how people still believe that pine bedding is bad for snakes and rodents.

[KornSnake]

Maternal is the only method I use with my balls and I've never had any health issues with my girls. Most people prefer artificial incubation because there is more direct control over conditions and for beginners the majority of information available is focused on various methods of artificial incubation. There are very few, if any, guidelines for maternal incubation available. There is, however, plenty of misinformation out there and that dissuades many keepers from ever trying it - the big one being "females on eggs will not eat". Many breeders want to keep their girls' weight gaining steadily so they can make use of her again the following season and they feel it's in their best interest to remove the eggs from the equation. Most of mine continue to feed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis while on eggs though a few are more sporadic (they can be just as sporadic without being on eggs). If I ever thought allowing my snakes to brood their clutches was a real health risk I wouldn't do it this way.

I was waiting for you to chime in.