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Not sure exactly what im doing with the Eggs

chainslayer

chainslayer

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This is my first year breeding ball pythons, so im still in the learning process. And at the moment I dont have enough to buy an incubator. I had spent all my extra money on the snakes and rack. So anyways, one of my females laid eggs last night above the heat tape. I know that they can get too hot so i turned the temp down to 89. But it still makes me nervous because of where there at. I just dont know if i should try to move them to the other side but its only like 75 on the cool side or in the middle. Will she be so upset if i move them that she wont curl back around. If anybody has any helpfull advice on the best way to do this with out an incubator I would LOVE to hear it. Also if you need more specifics on my setup I will be happy to give them inorder to help these eggs. Thankyou for reading.
 
Any chance you can afford a Hovabator? They aren't very expensive and you can fit a few eggs in them.

If it's an absolute "nothing else I can do" scenario. Go to walmart and buy one of those cheapy foam coolers. Cut it down in height to fit in your tub. Put the female in another tub. Put some damp wood chips, not wet, just sprinkled with water to keep humidity up. Poke a hole in the side of the cooler and put your temp probe just above the wood chips. Turn your heat down to 86, put the eggs in, put the cooler top on and hope for the best.

Check the heat and humidity often. Sprinkle wood chips with water if they dry out or eggs dimple.

It's not perfect, but if you've got nothing else, it's the cheapest thing I can think of. Also, the lower temps will cause the eggs to hatch later than 55 days.

Of course I can't guarantee that this will work as I have never tried it.
 
Good luck first of all but Hovabators are not expensive and you might even be able to get your money back out of it depending on what you hatch. If you do nothing, expect nothing in return for all of the hard work you and your snakes went into producing those eggs. Just a thought;)
 
Nobody has mentioned maternal incubation. If he were to mist frequently and keep a full water dish wouldn't she be able to incubate maternally?

Also, for the future if you can find an old fridge or go on craiglist and get a dorm room sized fridge you could easily build an incubator for not too much.
 
I agree with Dean here, hovabators are really inexpensive and you can get em at most any farmers supply store.
 
The only trouble I see with maternal incubation is the heat directly under the eggs. If he were able to get the heat switched to the back or side and keep the humidity up, the eggs have a chance of hatching. Or perhaps put a layer of something between the heat and the eggs. I tried wood chips and the female keeps pushing them out and the eggs end up on the hot spot again. Maybe cut a piece of foam and use that as a buffer.
 
If they are in a tub wouldn't simply sliding the tub out and turning it around work? Might make you more accessible to snake bites when opening though.
 
He mentioned the cooler areas of the tub were at 75 degrees. He could turn the tub, bump up the heat so the cool side is at proper temps, but then the rest of the snakes in the rack would be too hot.
 
I not sure but the female will probaly just move them back to heated end of the cage, and if its to hot she should put them where they need to be and release them alittle to let then cool off when needed. You also might want to get some peetmose to keep up the humidity. j
 
R. Eventide said:
Why would being on the heat be a problem if the heat is set at 89?
Click to expand...

I have my heat set about 86 and the last time I temp gunned right above the heat tape, in tub, no substrate, it read 93 degrees. My temp probe is above substrate so that explains the difference. I'm thinking if he could get some kind of buffer between the heat and eggs it would even out the heat. The cooler foam would buffer and hold in humidity. Even wood chips would work, if you can keep the female from pushing them away. I suppose he could try putting the temp probe right above the heat source, but I think it's pretty risky putting eggs so close to the heat. This would probably make the rest of his rack cooler above substrate.
 
first i do not think there is going to be enough constant humidity for the eggs to survive, and if they start to die and mold, and the female does not leave them you have other issues with the molding eggs possibly giving the female scale rot. i believe The Complete ball python by Keven Mccurly goes over this. save your self some aggavation and buy a $30 havobater.
 
Melinda said:
I have my heat set about 86 and the last time I temp gunned right above the heat tape, in tub, no substrate, it read 93 degrees. My temp probe is above substrate so that explains the difference. I'm thinking if he could get some kind of buffer between the heat and eggs it would even out the heat. The cooler foam would buffer and hold in humidity. Even wood chips would work, if you can keep the female from pushing them away. I suppose he could try putting the temp probe right above the heat source, but I think it's pretty risky putting eggs so close to the heat. This would probably make the rest of his rack cooler above substrate.
Click to expand...

I guess I should've asked whether "heat set at 89" meant the thermostat was set at 89 or the area above the heat tape in the tub/tank is 89. If the area above the heat tape in the tub/tank were set to 89, then he wouldn't have to worry about the eggs. Plus, this shouldn't affect the other snakes since mid- to high-80s is just fine for the warm side.
 
If you have no other option then you must let her maternally incubate. I prefer an incubator but in the past I have allowed maternal. The 2 biggest concerns are humidity and scale rot. You could put a fairly large tupper ware type container in the tub filled with very damp moss. You can get the moss at any craft/hobby store or pet store. This is a great way to keep humidity very high without having to disturb the female constantly. For the temperature issue, I would probe the temp at the surface of the tub over the heat and adjust the thermostat accordingly. Like others have said, she will simply continue to dig a hole if you attempt to put anything between the eggs and the bottom. A 2 degree drop wont hurt the others in that rack as you really need to do everything possible to get the eggs to term.

If she ends up with any blisters where she was coiled around the eggs once they begin to pip here is what to do. I had this happen one time in the past. Bad learning experience. Bathe her in slightly warm water and put a diluted betadine solution on the area. Let it dry out completely and in a few days when it begins to flake and the blisters have drained, begin putting a very small amount of bacitracin ointment or plain neosporin ointment. It heals very quickly if it does not go any deeper than the scales but it will scar..

Start putting some money aside and pick up a hovabator and a decent thermostat/herpstat and you will be ready for the next clutch.
 
R. Eventide said:
I guess I should've asked whether "heat set at 89" meant the thermostat was set at 89 or the area above the heat tape in the tub/tank is 89. If the area above the heat tape in the tub/tank were set to 89, then he wouldn't have to worry about the eggs. Plus, this shouldn't affect the other snakes since mid- to high-80s is just fine for the warm side.
Click to expand...

I understand what your saying. My thinking is the heat tapes usually get hotter than the set temp when heating up.
 
As far as moving them around during maternal incubation: she laid those eggs there because she felt that was the right spot for them. She felt that spot had the right heat or humidity, or at least the closest she could find to "right."

However, with that said, I would not recommend maternal incubation to someone on their first time breeding. Someone locally did the same thing 2 weeks ago, and his eggs are now pretty much gone (one might have a shot, still don't know yet). When you're inexperienced, seeing exactly what the problem is can be difficult. Learning and understanding exactly what the eggs need at any given time is best left to someone with a little expereince, IMHO, when dealing with maternal incubation. As someone else said, buy a $30-40 Hova Bator and save yourself the trouble--in the end it will be worth it, and you'll learn a lot more if your eggs successfully hatch.
 
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