• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Another Maternally Incubated Clutch

Quiet Tempest

Quiet Tempest

New member
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
452
Reaction score
25
Points
0
Age
45
Location
Powell, TN
A bit late in posting here. I've had a lot going on lately but I wanted to share. :)




herculesy.jpg


herculeslock.jpg


img8407gx.jpg


66 days later...

img8413m.jpg


img8415v.jpg


img8416a.jpg


img8417.jpg


img8433q.jpg


img8437n.jpg


img8438z.jpg


img8442cn.jpg
 
Wow! I was wondering if anyone let them hatch with their mother! I really love these pics! I know it happens in the wild all the time, its cool to see that people keep it natural. Looks like it turned out well too.
:)
 
I'm not really sure if you entirely know how happy your posts on this make me.

This is amazing. I've been going through some things and this has made my week!
I might send you a pm sometime if you don't mind. :)

Amazing, congrats, beautiful!
 
Thanks, guys. :) This is the only way I go when it comes to balls. I do have an artificial incubator just in case but have not had to use it. I love watching the moms brood and when the eggs finally hatch it's extra special (imo) seeing them alongside their mother. It definitely makes for some nice photos, I think.

Send a pm anytime you like, Amanda. :)
 
Quiet Tempest said:
Thanks, guys. :) This is the only way I go when it comes to balls. I do have an artificial incubator just in case but have not had to use it. I love watching the moms brood and when the eggs finally hatch it's extra special (imo) seeing them alongside their mother. It definitely makes for some nice photos, I think.

Send a pm anytime you like, Amanda. :)
Click to expand...

Why do people switch to incubators?
How does the mother act if the eggs are removed? Does she stay curled up like there are eggs?

Also, does she start feeding after she lays them, even if she is curled up around them?


(sorry I am new to this, and this really interested me when I saw you did it the natural way)
 
blackandblue_lulu said:
Why do people switch to incubators?
How does the mother act if the eggs are removed? Does she stay curled up like there are eggs?

Also, does she start feeding after she lays them, even if she is curled up around them?


(sorry I am new to this, and this really interested me when I saw you did it the natural way)
Click to expand...


Many breeders prefer incubators because they have more direct control over the conditions for their clutches. If the eggs are removed and the egg scent isn't removed from her enclosure she will cruise around looking for them. It can be stressful for her so those who artificially incubate their clutches usually wash the female and clean her enclosure to remove the scent. With the scent removed from the equation, she will settle down and stop looking for them.

I don't go that route because I think it's less stressful to let her keep the clutch. It's also less work for me. The only change I make to a gravid female's enclosure is adding some moist sphagnum moss about a week before she's due to lay and I check it periodically and mist it a bit if need be. On feed days I offer brooding moms a rat along with the rest of my snakes. Some of my girls eat every week and others are more sporadic but all still feed while brooding their clutches. :)

a few examples:
img5491u.jpg


img6624u.jpg


img6383i.jpg
 
What's your success rate hatching clutches this way? I've talked to a few people over the years who were nervous letting higher end, highly anticipated clutches stay with the females to be maternally incubated and would only try it with normals if any.

Seems like such a cool way to watch the process.
 
Thanks for the feeding shots!

I didn't not ever try leaving the eggs with the mom as I wanted her to eat again quickly. Thanks for showing that they can & do feed while on their eggs! :)
 
AFMike27 said:
What's your success rate hatching clutches this way? I've talked to a few people over the years who were nervous letting higher end, highly anticipated clutches stay with the females to be maternally incubated and would only try it with normals if any.

Seems like such a cool way to watch the process.
Click to expand...

From the '07/'08 breeding season to now I've had 10 clutches unless I've miscounted and out of those I've had one severely kinked baby in 2009 that had to be euthanized. I had one baby with a knotted umbilical in 2011 that was fine after his cord was snipped and tied off. This year I had my first slugs and dead/dying eggs (out of 5 eggs - 3 slugs, one egg that died a couple weeks into incubation and the other egg apparently dying a week or two before due to hatch). The rest of my eggs have hatched out healthy babies.
 
Back
Top