Female with eggs

[Ginevive]

Yea, that's the right term.
I saw a few people on Kingsnake did it, and they were professional breeders.

[Adam_Wysocki]

and they were professional breeders.

That's a stretch.

Small timers aside, not one of the breeders producing ball pythons in significant numbers use maternal incubation.

-adam

[frankykeno]

I can't imagine most major breeders would bother with maternal incubation as I'm sure it's a less controlled environment for the eggs and especially if they were from pricey morphs you wouldn't want to chance anything. I was more asking about home/small breeders and just wondering if there was any issues to consider for both the wellbeing of the eggs and the female snake.



~~Jo~~

[Adam_Wysocki]

I can't imagine most major breeders would bother with maternal incubation as I'm sure it's a less controlled environment for the eggs and especially if they were from pricey morphs you wouldn't want to chance anything. I was more asking about home/small breeders and just wondering if there was any issues to consider for both the wellbeing of the eggs and the female snake.

I think that you answered your own question ... forget about any money involved for a second, if the people with the most experience in the world choose to use incubators for the best possible outcome when breeding ball pythons, why would a "home/small breeder" want any less chance of success? I know when I was just starting out, those normals that I hatched to me were just as valuable as any high dollar morph out there ... they were (and still are to this day) my babies!!!

Experiments with maternal incubation aside, why would anyone (big breeder or home breeder) put their animals through the stress of breeding and egg laying and not want to maximize their chances for succesfully hatching eggs?

Just some food for thought.

-adam

[frankykeno]

I see your point Adam but is it really that stressful for a female snake to do what is in essence her natural function of reproduction? I'm not disagreeing with anyone here I'm just trying to sort this out in my mind.


~~Jo~~

[Adam_Wysocki]

I see your point Adam but is it really that stressful for a female snake to do what is in essence her natural function of reproduction? I'm not disagreeing with anyone here I'm just trying to sort this out in my mind.

There is nothing "natural" about being housed in a tank/cage/rack ... captivity is stressful on ball pythons ... ball pythons do not get mouth rot, URI, scale rot with the frequency they do in captivity in the wild. These diseases are due to improper conditions coupled with the natural stress of being a wild animal in a cage .... add on to that being bred probably many many times more frequently than they are in the wild and then losing 1/3 of their entire body weight to the eggs and I'd say that yes, it is "that stressful".

I think that if you're going to keep these animals in captivity that you have a duty to go above and beyond when it comes to providing for their comfort and attempting to reduce stress .... letting a girl sit on eggs for 60 days when she could be eating and properly thermoregulating doesn't seem like you are "helping" mom with a good life even if it is her "natural function".


Just my opinion and opinions are like ... well, you know .... every bodys got one.

-adam

[jglass38]

It sure is nice to see that there a breeders out there like Adam that put an extraordinary amount of effort into insuring that their animals get the best care possible. There are so many people out there just to make a buck and do just the minimum to keep their stock healthy.

[alexrls]

is it really that stressful for a female snake to do what is in essence her natural function of reproduction?
~~Jo~~

LOL ask any mom if raising her baby isnt stressful just cause she knows how

[The Cannibal Monkey]

Haha wow this is an interesting conversation...I had always thought that snakes left their eggs as soon as they laid them, is that incorrect, or only true for certain species? I'm probably making a pretty big generalization =P