I'm new without a clue about snake eggs, help!

[beastmistress]

I will give a synopsis of what is going on: we have two female balls Wilson and Del(or so the vet said) that share a tank. Yesterday, when my husband went to feed Del we were in for quite a surprise! Wilson, and Del for that matter were both wrapped around a clutch of eggs! So, here are my questions, with a female ball lay eggs without the influence of a male? We have a male but they are in seperate tanks and he is not mature so I know he didn't do anything. If snakes aren't like chickens and lay eggs just for the heck of it, I need to assume that the vet was wrong? Next question, we weren't planning for this until next year so we are completely unprepared. What temps and humidity should the tank be at? We have not candled the eggs yet b/c we aren't sure at the snakes reaction to us digging around in there. But we don't want to leave unfertile eggs in there, especially since Wilson has been declining food for four months and Del for almost one. Any advise would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Lyndsey

[Shaun J]

Well, maybe one of them is a male and was sexed incorrectly.

You should know what the tank's humidity and temps should be at when you bought the snakes.

Temps- 92-94 on the warm side 82-84 on the cool side. Humidity should be 50-60%.

Seperate the snakes as soon as possible. Snakes are solitary, and not social and get stressed from being together.

That is probably why they don't eat anymore, they are stressed.

Check the caresheet about Ball Pythons in the caresheet section.

Welcome to the forums.

[Wild Bill]

I will give a synopsis of what is going on: we have two female balls Wilson and Del(or so the vet said) that share a tank. Yesterday, when my husband went to feed Del we were in for quite a surprise! Wilson, and Del for that matter were both wrapped around a clutch of eggs! So, here are my questions, with a female ball lay eggs without the influence of a male? We have a male but they are in seperate tanks and he is not mature so I know he didn't do anything. If snakes aren't like chickens and lay eggs just for the heck of it, I need to assume that the vet was wrong? Next question, we weren't planning for this until next year so we are completely unprepared. What temps and humidity should the tank be at? We have not candled the eggs yet b/c we aren't sure at the snakes reaction to us digging around in there. But we don't want to leave unfertile eggs in there, especially since Wilson has been declining food for four months and Del for almost one. Any advise would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Lyndsey

Well I wouild say one of your "females" is a male. Ball Pythons will not lay eggs without the copulation from a male. The female will be quite defensive of her eggs, but you can usually remove her by placing a towel over her and gently unwrap her from her eggs. Females will try to keep the eggs at the right temperature by coiling around them. Your temps should be kept at the level in the post above. Anymore most breeders remove the eggs from the female to try to get them back on feed as soon as possible. But you would need an incubator to place them in. In the future it is best to keep one snake per cage to reduce stress and competetion for warm hides. Eggs should be incubated at 87-89 degrees and kept in high humidity.

[beastmistress]

Thanks for the temps and humidity. Any advise on how to raise the humidity? I know to raise you have to enlarge your water's surface area (thanks to hatching chickens), but with their large soak box I would think the humidity would be higher. Tank temps are 85-90 degrees during the day with humidity around 55-60%. The evenings we drop the temps to 75-78 degrees with a humidity of 40-45%. Wilson has always been a finiky eater, her sharing a tank is not why. I mentioned them not eating b/c I thought it would help to have that info to make an evaluation and b/c I do not want to 'wait and see' being I know they won't eat with eggs in the tank and I don't want them to go without food for their motherly instints. Del is not as bad as Wilson, she goes through stages where she's constantly hungry then doesn't feed. I'm not sure I agree with the solitary thing b/c these snakes cuddle and actually look for each other when they are seperated. They are both curled around the eggs.

Lyndsey

[Shaun J]

Snakes don't cuddle. I can promise you that snakes don't cuddle. They are fighting for the same spot. Put them in seperate enclosures, and I bet they might eat.

[Wild Bill]

I will try to address these one at a time.

Thanks for the temps and humidity. Any advise on how to raise the humidity? I know to raise you have to enlarge your water's surface area (thanks to hatching chickens), but with their large soak box I would think the humidity would be higher. Tank temps are 85-90 degrees during the day with humidity around 55-60%. The evenings we drop the temps to 75-78 degrees with a humidity of 40-45%.

First, it is really hard to control humidity in a large cage. Your daytime temps are fine, but there is really no need for a night time drop. Night time drops are really not needed. If it is getting that low at night that could very well cause you to lose the eggs.

Wilson has always been a finiky eater, her sharing a tank is not why. I mentioned them not eating b/c I thought it would help to have that info to make an evaluation and b/c I do not want to 'wait and see' being I know they won't eat with eggs in the tank and I don't want them to go without food for their motherly instints. Del is not as bad as Wilson, she goes through stages where she's constantly hungry then doesn't feed. I'm not sure I agree with the solitary thing b/c these snakes cuddle and actually look for each other when they are seperated. They are both curled around the eggs.

Lyndsey

Keeping multiple snakes in a cage is a very real reason for them to not feed regularly. I have seen people with snake thet were kept together because they "enjoyed" each others compnay have problems feeding. When they seperated them and gave them the proper setup they became regular eaters. If your snakes have had problemswith being regular eaters you need to take out the eggs and incubate them, seperate them into different cages (setup per the caresheet) and get them eating. Those eggs won't hatch for 60 days from being laid, to long for them to go without food if they are not good eaters. What you call "cuddling" is competetion for the heat.

[beastmistress]

I describe it as cuddle b/c I am female, sorry. But isn't it possible a snake might want companionship? If not, why hasn't Wilson (who is 4.5 feet) killed Del (who is only 2-3 feet?) after six months of living together? They do not share a tank when they eat if that is a concern you have. They are both removed and fed in a separate tank. If they're not eating b/c they are sharing a tank, why wasn't Wilson eating regularly when she was alone? After two vet check up and a clean bill of health each time I would say she is only suffering from what EVERY ball python owner knows--ball pythons are known for being grouchie eaters-going months at a time. I appreciate the advise on temps, I am only new to eggs since we have never had eggs in all this time, not raising pythons. We currently have four, two we rescued and have brought back from certain death. Del was so under weight when we got her I could see every rib and her spine.

Lyndsey

[Shaun J]

Trust us, I'm pretty sure EVERYONE here would say that keeping them together is a very bad thing, with more consequences than rewards.

What thermometer are you using.

BTW- I hope you don't think we are trying to be rude or whatnot, we are just concerned and letting you know the consequences of keeping them together. They won't kill eachother, but Snakes don't need companion snakes unless breeding.

[Wild Bill]

I describe it as cuddle b/c I am female, sorry. But isn't it possible a snake might want companionship? If not, why hasn't Wilson (who is 4.5 feet) killed Del (who is only 2-3 feet?) after six months of living together? They do not share a tank when they eat if that is a concern you have. They are both removed and fed in a separate tank. If they're not eating b/c they are sharing a tank, why wasn't Wilson eating regularly when she was alone? After two vet check up and a clean bill of health each time I would say she is only suffering from what EVERY ball python owner knows--ball pythons are known for being grouchie eaters-going months at a time. I appreciate the advise on temps, I am only new to eggs since we have never had eggs in all this time, not raising pythons. We currently have four, two we rescued and have brought back from certain death. Del was so under weight when we got her I could see every rib and her spine.

Lyndsey

It could very well be that she doesn't feel comforatable in the setup you have her in when she was alone. Ball pythons are very picky and need their setup to be just right for them to be "comfortable". The only times my females refuse food is during breeding/ egg laying. I have over 50 snakes that are healthy regular eaters. Here is a link to a caresheet.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

[Shaun J]

BTW, don't forget pics when they hatch!! We LOVE pics!!