dturner100
New member
Alright, one of the biggest questions you see running around now days other than "what morph is this?" is about incubating ball python eggs. "What substrate do you use?", "What mix of water/substrate is best?", "What temperatures are best?".
I don't know if 30 is old, but I remember an old saying: K.I.S.S
It means keep it simple stupid. In my 30 years of life I've tried to remember it any time I may be over thinking a situation.
Well my friends this definitely pertains to ball python breeding. Yes genetics can be hard for some to grasp, and even when we think we've got it all figured out something shows up that makes no sense. But the rest is simple.
So let's go over the basics of letting nature happen. What do ball python eggs need to hatch? 3 things that we can give them: Moisture, heat, and air. The rest is given by nature.
So #1 Moisture. Very simple. With a fairly even mix of substrate to water the tub will keep the perfect humidity levels if sealed. Simple as that. So how do we achieve it? For a typical ball python clutch up to 10 eggs I use a 6 qt sterilite tub. Cost 94 cents at wal-mart. I use a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and peralite ( either would be efficient on its own ). Then I use 125 grams of substrate and 125 grams of water by weight. Then I put the eggs in the tub, and cover the tube with cling wrap and then put the tub lid on. Simple.
Problems/solutions - Eggs wrinkling or denting ( eggs to dry ) add a bit of water to the substrate without getting it on or relatively close to the eggs. Remember the moisture needed will be absorbed as the eggs breath. These aren't plants they don't like to suck up the water.
Eggs molding - The problem that you can help is too much water. Simply un-cover the tub, and wipe away the excess moisture from the eggs. If they are still okay you'll know when they hatch. As well this may happen if the egg is no longer viable ( not fertile, dead in the egg... )
Heat - This is the simplest of all things to control. If anybody tells you that your temperatures have to be exact they're dead wrong. If you're breeding ball pythons then you know their most comfortable growth range. It's been proven that ball python eggs can hatch from 82 to 94 degrees. So do your ball pythons thrive at 82 degrees? No, but they survive. Same with 94 degrees and shortly above. So there are optimal temps I've found to be 89.9 but I don't worry when they go up to 92 or down to 87. These are still comfortable temps for a developing ball python egg.
Key to temperature - Don't skimp on a thermostat. Get the best that you can afford. This doesn't mean break the bank nor does it me just get what you can grab for $10. I use a herpastat II. It's a very reliable perportionate thermostat.
Air - How simple can this one be? You could quite literally not open the tub until the eggs hatch and they'd have enough air in the tub to survive. Snakes have a greatly lower metabolism than mammals do so they consume less air. BUT how many of us can go 55 to 65 days without checking on our eggs? Not many. SOOOOOOOOOOO yeah it's okay to open the tub every few days, and say that we're doing it to let air in.
Anyway I hope this helps. So please remember simplicity is KEY! Yeah light diffusers are cool. They may even serve a purpose, but if you don't know that purpose then why use them? Se what I mean? Don't tweak something if you haven't got the basics. I've never been to africa, but I'm sure no ball python mother surrounds her eggs with a wet paper towel because her eggs look too dry.
SIMPLE. REMEMBER. K.I.S.S
I don't know if 30 is old, but I remember an old saying: K.I.S.S
It means keep it simple stupid. In my 30 years of life I've tried to remember it any time I may be over thinking a situation.
Well my friends this definitely pertains to ball python breeding. Yes genetics can be hard for some to grasp, and even when we think we've got it all figured out something shows up that makes no sense. But the rest is simple.
So let's go over the basics of letting nature happen. What do ball python eggs need to hatch? 3 things that we can give them: Moisture, heat, and air. The rest is given by nature.
So #1 Moisture. Very simple. With a fairly even mix of substrate to water the tub will keep the perfect humidity levels if sealed. Simple as that. So how do we achieve it? For a typical ball python clutch up to 10 eggs I use a 6 qt sterilite tub. Cost 94 cents at wal-mart. I use a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and peralite ( either would be efficient on its own ). Then I use 125 grams of substrate and 125 grams of water by weight. Then I put the eggs in the tub, and cover the tube with cling wrap and then put the tub lid on. Simple.
Problems/solutions - Eggs wrinkling or denting ( eggs to dry ) add a bit of water to the substrate without getting it on or relatively close to the eggs. Remember the moisture needed will be absorbed as the eggs breath. These aren't plants they don't like to suck up the water.
Eggs molding - The problem that you can help is too much water. Simply un-cover the tub, and wipe away the excess moisture from the eggs. If they are still okay you'll know when they hatch. As well this may happen if the egg is no longer viable ( not fertile, dead in the egg... )
Heat - This is the simplest of all things to control. If anybody tells you that your temperatures have to be exact they're dead wrong. If you're breeding ball pythons then you know their most comfortable growth range. It's been proven that ball python eggs can hatch from 82 to 94 degrees. So do your ball pythons thrive at 82 degrees? No, but they survive. Same with 94 degrees and shortly above. So there are optimal temps I've found to be 89.9 but I don't worry when they go up to 92 or down to 87. These are still comfortable temps for a developing ball python egg.
Key to temperature - Don't skimp on a thermostat. Get the best that you can afford. This doesn't mean break the bank nor does it me just get what you can grab for $10. I use a herpastat II. It's a very reliable perportionate thermostat.
Air - How simple can this one be? You could quite literally not open the tub until the eggs hatch and they'd have enough air in the tub to survive. Snakes have a greatly lower metabolism than mammals do so they consume less air. BUT how many of us can go 55 to 65 days without checking on our eggs? Not many. SOOOOOOOOOOO yeah it's okay to open the tub every few days, and say that we're doing it to let air in.
Anyway I hope this helps. So please remember simplicity is KEY! Yeah light diffusers are cool. They may even serve a purpose, but if you don't know that purpose then why use them? Se what I mean? Don't tweak something if you haven't got the basics. I've never been to africa, but I'm sure no ball python mother surrounds her eggs with a wet paper towel because her eggs look too dry.
SIMPLE. REMEMBER. K.I.S.S
