Need Help A.S.A.P.

I just aquired a female speckeled kingsnake and 15 of her eggs. The 15 yr. old was keeping her and the eggs in a 10 gal aquarium with dirt as substrate. The eggs (seem) to be in overall good condition the momma buried them somewhat in the dirt, but the temps in the cage when i got there was 82. They were laid on the 25th of june. My question is are the eggs any good still and if so how do I incubate them. BTW i am only experienced with boids but knew i had to save these guys from the pitiful life they were living. Please help me.

Thanks,
Joe Henderson

In my (admittedly limited) experience in breeding colubrids, the temp you found the eggs at was pretty much perfect. Major temperature fluctuations can cause problems; so if the daytime temps spiked over the last week, that could be an issue. If they aren't terribly caved in from being too dry, you've probably got a pretty good shot at hatching them (provided they are fertile to begin with...try candling them). As for incubation, set them up in a stable temp environment. Any of the traditional substrate will do (perlite, vermiculite, etc). I typically went a little drier with my mix than I did for python eggs...I didn't measure humidity levels, though. I'm sure that more experience colubrid breeders will speak up soon. ESPECIALLY if I was off on any of the above.

Thank you very much for your help. A few of the eggs have some small denting and slightly dry looking. What am i looking for specifically when candling? Also i'm kinda under the impression that more than one female laid these eggs, because she is right at 4ft. long, or is that about right? I have the eggs in butter bowls with potting soil and temps are 80.6 and steady, will that work or do i need to go to wally world for vermiculite?

Joe Henderson

Sounds like a large clutch, but not impossible from a single female. I have a 52" cal king who laid 16 eggs last year and 15 eggs this year. If you can get some sphagnum moss, or some vermiculite, those are good substrates for incubating eggs. If you incubate at 80 - 82 degrees you can expect the eggs to hatch in between 60 and 70 days from when they were laid. IF you don't know when they were laid, just start counting as if they will hatch in 60 days from the day you got them. If you want advice, please feel free to post on here. I'm not an expert in that I'm only on my third year breeding king snakes. My first year I had two clutches of kingsnakes, last year I had two clutches laid but one went bad, and this year I have 5 clutches.

Thanks Sasheena, so i take it the potting soil is a no no? The eggs were laid the 25th of june. I have never owned a kingsnake so i thought that she needed to be kept at higher temps like my boas. I have momma in a 40 breeder 88 on warm side 79-80 on cool is that ok? Sorry for all the dumb questions, but until about 6:30 today i have never owned or even looked into what it would take to keep a kingsnake. I haven't even had time to look up a caresheet or anything. Thanks for putting up with an old newbie lol.

Joe Henderson

whether or not the potting soil is ok depends on what is in it. many, if not most, of the commercially produced potting soils have additives. I would stick with moss, perlite, vermiculite, etc. The temps you listed are higher than needed for a king. depending on the room temp, you can probably get away with minimal supplemental heating...maybe just have your heat source on for a couple of hours daily.

I would try to have the hot side no more than 85* myself. There ARE plenty of stupid questions out there, I've just never heard any (because they weren't asked!). I don't even heat my snakes in the summer here in AZ... house is air conditioned at around 82 degrees, there are warmer spots and cooler spots in their cages.

I wouldn't incubate in potting soil personally. If I could get some vermiculite I would do so..... then get some sort of tupperware container that will fit the clutch of eggs completely without them touching the lid. Preferably one without ANY holes drilled in it. I would fill the bottom with vermiculite and add a TINY bit of water.... When you squeeze the moistened vermiculite in your hands you should not be able to get ANY to drip out... it should clump tightly, and leave your hand feeling moist but not wet. Put the eggs in the vermiculite so they are half buried (keep the orientation of the eggs the same, so that the side that is facing up will always face up). Once they are half buried in the vermiculite, put the lid on. The next day or two check to see if there is any condensation on the inside of the lid.... if it's a fine dew-like mist, it's perfect, if it's large or medium water droplets, it's too wet.... wipe all the water off with a paper towel and close again.... when it stays a fine mist, it's perfect. If you never get a mist and the eggs start to dent in and shrivel, it's not moist enough... get a paper towel damp (not wet, no water when wrung) and place it lightly over the eggs... check next day, if it's bone dry and the eggs are improved .. repeat the processs until things seem just right.

If you have someplace that maintains a temperature between 80 and 84, (even a shelf) just place them there and give them time. If you prefer to use an incubator, make sure that the temperature you are checking is both the surface and under the surface of the vermiculite. eggs die in heat more easily than cooler temperatures, so just make sure your temps don't go much over 84.

If you can't get vermiculite but can get sphagnum moss (NOT sphagnum PEAT moss) then you can try incubating them in that, but I'm not an expert on that method because I can't get any around here that doesn't turn to mold pretty much right away.

Thank you both so much for all your help. I do have some sphagnum moss and i'll change that immediately. The ambient air temp in my boa room stays between 80 and 84 so i'll just put the eggs in there. I'll be sure to post pics of the babies if/when they hatch. Again you guys are the greatest.

Joe Henderson

Just remember to ask questions if things seem funny at any time. You can post a message here or PM or Email myself or the other helpful people on this forum. It doesn't have a HUGE amount of traffic, but that just means that the people who are here are pretty cool and there aren't any (many?) fools that frequent this little place on the net.

I haven't been posting much, but in the last week of July when all my eggs are due... you'll see all kinds of posts! The clutches that I'm incubating are 7, 7, 4, 11 and 14 eggs! LOTSA babies!

Some of the eggs are dented and feel dry. Exactly what should they feel like, for instance my leopard gecko eggs should feel like a stale marshmallow. I don't want to be a bother, i'm just scared i'm gonna lose these eggs.

Thanks in advance,
Joe Henderson

My king eggs feel dry and somewhat malleable... they give a little when pressed... when they are close to hatching, they tend to give a lot more. They should be full and firm though, no dents... SOME eggs will dent and stay that way regardless of what you do (one of my coolest eggs last year was more than 70% deflated the entire incubation and still hatched!) I would try the sphagnum moss (moist but you can't wring any water out of it) and just keep an eye. You can completely cover them in the sphagnum and check periodically. (again, this is not my method so I'm only going by what I've heard)

If the eggs have been "abused" before you got them, don't kick yourself if they aren't able to hatch properly.

quit squeezin and pokin at the eggs, lol. seriously - they will look dry (they are), and when they are no good, it becomes pretty obvious. Sasheena gave pretty good advice about what to do with the eggs - no need for me to repeat it. The only thing that I do differently is that I do use ventilation holes in my egg boxes. Remember to keep them oriented the same way if you move them (top stays on top). The reason that you want to make sure that the eggs are not touching the sides or top of the box is that there will be condensation, and you don't want the water sitting on the eggs. You may encounter mold at some point...this does not necessarily mean the eggs are dead. there are also a variety of methods of dealing with it. I've seen postings from some people that sprinkle them with Desenex (the antifungal foot powder), I wipe them off and lightly dab a little white out (as long as it isn't a huge area). The white out thing also works if you notice the eggs seeping fluid. I don't remember if I responded about the candling or not. I use a bright penlight after lights out. you can lift the individual eggs, or shine the light through them where they lie...just put the light right up against the egg and see what you see. A fertile egg will show veining - I usually check them for the first time at 10-14 days, so you're almost there. If you don't see veins, put 'em back in and wait. I incubate everything until it is definitely no good. but I put the ones I think are no good away from the rest...just me and my ways. good luck with them, and if anything comes to mind - just ask. I don't frequent the kingsnake forums, as I don't work much with them anymore, but I always look at the "latest" columns, and I'm already subscribed to this one (for whatever my input is worth.

Here's a few pics of some greyband kingsnake eggs. Two clutches. The substrate is vermiculiate and water. I bought the vermiculite at Home Depot.

Some are hatching in the pic. The eggs do sometimes dent in before they hatch and that really dented in one on the top of the pile hatched fine.

Of course these are my only two clutches of kingsnake eggs so I'm a newbie here myself. I did learn a valuable lession. If some eggs pip and 24 hours later the others haven't pipped, cut a V-shaped slit in the ones that haven't pipped otherwise the babies that haven't pipped will die.

I have one group of ten eggs that are stuck together and one of them started getting some fuzz growing on it. I just wiped it off. My eggs aren't as white as yours Karen, but they were buried in plain dirt from the kids backyard i got them from. It's so hard not to touch them just to ease my mind a little. I got them out of the potting soil and into the moss. On another note, I got the female out today to check her over really good for external parasites and noticed four lumps on her back and sides. She is in quarantine but want to ask if anyone has an idea what they might be. It's a holiday so no vet today. You guys have been more help than you could imagine thanks again.

Joe Henderson

If you have a digital camera, post a few pics of them (the lumps...ah heck, do the eggs, too). Better able to give educated thoughts once we've been educated.

Hey Joe,

How are your eggs doing? Post some pics when they hatch.

They are doin great. I believe if it wasn't for all the outstanding folks here they may not have made it at all. I will definately be posting pics when they hatch. Due date August 24th. I have had nothing but good experiences here and everyone has been very helpful. A big (Thank You!) to all that have helped me and thanks for being tolerant of my total lack of knowledge on kingsnakes.


Thanks,
Joe Henderson

Well there's no "tolerance" involved, it's nice to be able to share what I've learned. I'm still a learner and a beginner myself. Just counting the days down until the first clutch wants to hatch, which is supposed to be at the end of next week.

It's ADDICTING, I have to warn you!

LOL! Thanks for the warning. I am hoping to find an albino speckled male to breed her with, but not much luck yet. Thanks again for your support.

Joe Henderson

Sasheena is so right about it being addicting. I started out last year with sand boas & a few ATBs and balls. I babysat a friend's greybanded kings throughout the winter and then I asked him if I could breed them. He was going to do it anyway and said go ahead. It was my first foray into kingsnake breeding. I loved it.

Now I have 2.9 California kings. I still have to buy a male lavendar California king so I will end up with 3.9. You really have to restrict yourself because if you're buying babies, like I am, they don't take up much space yet.

I'm having fun and I hope you do too. I can't wait to see baby pictures from everyone.