Quote Originally Posted by 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.
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