Quote Originally Posted by 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
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.