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Strange positions

akaangela

akaangela

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This is my first clutch and I am SO excited. If my calculations are right I should have eggs around the 3rd of April. So I have time but I want everything perfect just in case she drops early (what is the earliest you have had females lay after they shed?).

On the 14TH she was laying like this.

2332976071_726c37e24e_b.jpg



Yesterday she was like this
2338242096_ac9deb6f68_b.jpg


Why the change? Is it something I should be worried about? It looks like she is still laying like that today with the exception her tail is on the inside of the knot (I haven't lifted her hide to check just looked in without bothering her). I think she is getting tired of me peeking in on her, (I lift her hide once a day to check on her then leave her be).

One more question:
OK I got my incubator up and running. My Helix is a dream. I have mixed my perlite and vermiculite. I was going to do 2:1 but it didn't look right. The vermiculite is SO hard to find and I could only get med not course. So I mixed it till it looked right and added water till it clumped when I squeezed it but no water came out and it broke apart easy. My biggest question is how deep should I put it in my egg box? Right now I have about 1", but this is just a test batch to see if I could make it and if I could hold temps. The temp in the egg box is about 88.5 is this too high? Should I drop it to 87?
 
I've had a total of 6 clutches over a 3 year period. With my limited experience, I've found them pretty predictable. Most of mine laid right around 30 days. Last year though, I had one female take 56 days, I believe it was. I don't keep any records, just remember her having me so anxious for the eggs to finally show up and she was like 3 and a half weeks late. So ya never know, she could actually have you waiting much longer. Seems like it's much more likely for them to go longer than shorter. 30 days is just a good guide to go by. They will most likely come very close to that time, but there are never any guarantees.

I have 2 clutches coming this year but I'm not expecting the first until mid-April and I'm already so anxious to get the incubator running. I've been checking on mine like 5 times a day, making sure they're good with temps and everything, and just observing their general state. They move around a lot during the whole process. One position doesn't mean one thing or another. They're just getting comfortable and doing what they do. The eggs will come. We just have to be patient, cause we really have no choice anyway. My first female had her post shed friday night, and the second female just finished her ovulation thursday. So it's been a pretty eventful time in the snake room this week for me. I love this time of year. Doesn't take much for me. I'm more than happy expecting only 2 clutches. It's all I have room and time for right now anyway. Good luck with her. What was she bred to?

As far as the vermiculite, if you're planning on half burying the eggs in the medium, I'd put at least 3-4 inches in the bottom so you have a nice base and good insulation and all that. That's how I did it 2 years ago and got good results. 6 out of 7 eggs hatched. One rotted from getting too wet I think. Have you seen the method with the plastic egg crate ON TOP of the medium? The eggs sit above and never actually come in contact with the dirt or water. I did that last year and loved it. Had 30 out of 30 eggs hatch and they stayed beautiful and problem free the whole time. I'll use that way from now on. 88.5 is perfect. For me, fluctuating between 87-89 is optimal. Enjoy yourself. Ryan.
 
Ryan, Thank you. I know I should just chill but it is SO hard. This is my first clutch. If I use the grate on top of the medium how deep should the medium be? I guess a lot will depend on how many eggs She lays. If she has lays a lot of eggs and her sister decides to lay eggs as well I am going to be scrambling as I just don't have the room for two large clutchs (but I am SURE I will manage :D )
 
She and her sister are 50% het for albino. They where bred to my 100% het albino. I am SO hoping for at least ONE albino baby from each of them. I would love it if they both proved het for albino..... All I can do is pray and cross my fingers.
 
I just used about an inch and a half of perlite last year in the bottom. It's totally saturated with water and actually pretty much floating. This year I'm using a bag of hatch rite I had from last year. You basically just create an island for the grate to be supported by and the water evaporates within the container. It works perfectly.
 
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