Leave eggs with mother or incubate seperately?

[Libitina]

I have been wondering...do most people let the eggs stay with the mother or take them out and put them in a seperate incubation tub? what are the pros/cons of both? How do you get them away from the mother? Does she get pissed off and try to strike or anything?
Thanks!

[blackcrystal22]

It's something done by many breeders who try it to see how it goes.

But it could be risky.. and some breeders prefer to have their eggs regulated perfectly in their own incubation systems.

[casperca]

I have been wondering...do most people let the eggs stay with the mother or take them out and put them in a seperate incubation tub? what are the pros/cons of both? How do you get them away from the mother? Does she get pissed off and try to strike or anything?
Thanks!

I'm sure you will find that the vast majority of people on here take the eggs away from the mother and incubate them syntheticaly in an incubator. Temps and humidity can be controlled much more easily yeilding higher hatch rates.

How did I get them away from the mom? Carefully. I held them behind the head and slowly unwound them from around the piles of eggs. I didn't get struck at by either of my females but they certainly let me know how they felt by hissing.

[SPJ]

You can control the temps and humidity easier by moving the eggs to an incubator and you can get the mother back on feed faster if she is not brooding.

[rabernet]

For me, the choice is easy - artificial incubataion. Once you've seen a mom after she's laid eggs and how emaciated she looks, it's hard to convince ME to let her incubate her egss, knowing that she will not take a meal while she's incubating.

For her health (cleaning her and feeding her a few days later) and the extra control of temps and humidity, artificial incubation is a no-brainer for me.

Females are acting on instinct and some will hiss and strike to protect their eggs, but once you have them off the eggs, they're fine. All three of my moms this year came off the eggs without any hissing or striking.

It's something done by many breeders who try it to see how it goes.

Crystal, are you saying many breeders maternally incubate? My experience talking to other breeders is that very few ever choose maternal incubation.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Artificial for me, and this is part of it



After losing so much wait I want my females to start eating again as soon as possible!

[JeffFlanagan]

I use an incubator so, as others say, my girls go right back on feed rather than waiting an extra two months. I've also seen maternally incubated eggs shrivel and die due to a drop in humidity in my snake room. They stay nice and humid in Rubbermaid containers.

I drop a pillowcase on the mother, then unwrap her from the tail forward, and move her to a new bin to try to help her forget about the eggs.

[Tosha_Mc]

I have done both and have had greater success with maternal incubation than with artificial -- contrary to popular belief it's not all that hard -- if you don't have control issues you should give it a try.

A female that is properly sized when bred should have no problems incubating her eggs -- yes she looks like hell after the eggs are laid -- because she is supposed to -- they are designed to stretch to fit the eggs inside of them as well as be able to cover them all up when they come out -- much easier to do if they aren't all roundish.

Taking them is easy unwrap carefully!

[blackcrystal22]

For me, the choice is easy - artificial incubataion. Once you've seen a mom after she's laid eggs and how emaciated she looks, it's hard to convince ME to let her incubate her egss, knowing that she will not take a meal while she's incubating.

For her health (cleaning her and feeding her a few days later) and the extra control of temps and humidity, artificial incubation is a no-brainer for me.

Females are acting on instinct and some will hiss and strike to protect their eggs, but once you have them off the eggs, they're fine. All three of my moms this year came off the eggs without any hissing or striking.



Crystal, are you saying many breeders maternally incubate? My experience talking to other breeders is that very few ever choose maternal incubation.

Well what I'm saying from that sentence is that often times breeders will try it once and I have heard to to be successful, but usually a one time thing for them. At least that's what I have heard, but many won't try it at all for the same reason you don't.
It's much easier on the female.

[Libitina]

I have done both and have had greater success with maternal incubation than with artificial -- contrary to popular belief it's not all that hard -- if you don't have control issues you should give it a try.

A female that is properly sized when bred should have no problems incubating her eggs -- yes she looks like hell after the eggs are laid -- because she is supposed to -- they are designed to stretch to fit the eggs inside of them as well as be able to cover them all up when they come out -- much easier to do if they aren't all roundish.

Taking them is easy unwrap carefully!

How do you get your temps/humidity right? What are the temps/humidity supposed to be while incubating w/ and w/o the mother?
Thanks for input!