Question about Eggs

[Bogertophis]

I am just worried about them potentially becoming egg-bound. But is it common for them to lay non viable eggs every year or on a regular schedule, or do they usually not even get "gravid" if they haven't been bred?

Many years ago I "lost" (died prematurely) a young king snake (under 2 years old) to egg-binding. She had never mated, I got her as a hatchling, & the issue was not readily apparent either, until it was too late. Even surgery is risky, it's not something many vets do often, especially on such small snakes, so I understand your desire to avoid this.

As I explained about my large Florida rat snakes, they do "automatic shipments" every year, late spring/early summer (each does a double clutch, the second one about 2 months after the first one); I always assumed the eggs were non-viable since I KNOW they haven't mated but every year, some eggs were obvious slugs (yellowish in color, often smaller or mis-shaped, sometimes moist/slimy/soft...) while quite a few eggs appeared* viable (white, full-size, firm & correctly shaped). *I know what good snake eggs look like, I've bred enough snakes over the years, various kinds. When I candled the eggs that looked viable, they also candled as healthy, live eggs...that's why I decided to incubate them "just for the heck of it" last summer. Despite all the signs of viability, I was amazed when I walked by the eggs last summer & the first tiny snake was in the process of hatching out, looking back at me.

But...this ^ ^ ^ is not typical. All I can say is sometimes it happens...no way to predict, much less prevent, other than buying only male pet snakes when you don't intend to breed snakes. And that usually makes breeders happy, as they'd rather keep extra females for breeding, or have less trouble selling females for those wanting to pair up the pets they already have. That's why some breeders will only sell snakes as pairs...so they don't get stuck with un-paired males. (females often sell out faster)

My Florida rat snakes just seem to think they're chickens... -they've been doing these eggs for years now, they're determined to cover the planet with their offspring even if it means being solo parents, lol.