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Theory on egg binding

T

thesnakeman

thesnakeman
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I have some thoughts to share about the unfortunate scenario of having an Indigo that gets egg bound. I am wondering, of the folks who have experienced this, what they used as substrate? And how soon after breeding did they provide a nice soft, moist, bed of sphagnum, soil, or other soft substrate in the hide box? I'm thinking that a contributing factor to egg binding could be the fact that the females body must be in constant contact with a hard flat cage floor, causing excess preasure, if the keeper uses paper. And another factor might be the lack of sufficient moisture in the snakes environment, causing insuficient hydration, while she is carrying eggs. I think it is entirely possible that the weight of the snakes body and eggs, laying on a hard flat surface, and insuficient moisture might be the problem, or most of it. Therefore I have opted to provide a soft, moist bed of sphagnum from the begining, rather than waiting until it is nearly time to lay. I am hoping that by providing a soft moist environment, I will be able to avoid the problem of egg binding. I welcome all thoughts, and personal experiences with this subject. Please respond everyone!
T.
 
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Infertility..

I believe infertility to be the primary culprit, regarding egg binding.
I have yet to incur a case, or hear of such, regarding the retention of fertile eggs within Drymarchon. Of course, I have derived this from my own experiences and discussions with others, so I am only speculating..
By the way Tony, how is your gravid female coming along??

Best regards,

Jeff
 
I have always provided a shavings substrate with a nice nesting box with sphagnum or vermiculite in it.

I have had several theories that I don't have any real way of testing.

1 is calcium deficiency.
2 is caging too small.
3 is breeding frequency.
4 is undiagnosed parasites.

Some breeders never have trouble. I had one female that was prone to egg binding and it was a contributing factor in her death. I have 2 females now that I will only breed every other year. We'll see if I ever get egg binding with that.

Doug T
 
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