Question about snake eggs

[Brad]

ok my question is, when pythons lay there eggs why dosent anybody just let the mother hach them. everyone always takes the eggs. and encubates them.

Brandon

[Wrasse]

Oops, sorry. Didn't realise the question was for Jeff. I shall rack off.

[Jeff_Favelle]

1) Its VERY taxing on a female to incubate eggs for 60 days, and poses a risk that she won't be able to breed the following year.

2) Look at the size of a typical cage, and then look at the size of the outside world in Northern Australia. What does this mean? This means that there are an INFINITE more habitats and microhabitats for a female Carpet to choose to lay her eggs in. In captivity, there are no such choices. Usually just an egg-laying box in one corner of the cage.

3) Hatch rates are better (see #2).

4) Females sometimes give up and abandon the eggs part way through, making you scramble to incubate the #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& things anyways.

...and there are more...but those are the big 4.

[Brad]

ok i better under stand that know, but when incubateing eggs what is the right temp to keep them on and also what should you put them on, or should i use something simaliar to yours, also is your incubater home made. (sorry i was asking jeff)


Brandon

[Jeff_Favelle]

All eggs are different. Pythons eggs are incubated at 89-91F (Chondro eggs are a whole other ball of wax.....) and I use the "no-substrate" method for incubating my eggs. I've built my incubators myself, as its the only way I truly trust thousands of dollars worth of eggs.

[Brad]

thanks jeff your a big help, maybe sometime you could maybe give me some directions on how to build one like yours.

Brandon

[toker]

A "How-To" on making a good working incubator would be nice *hint* *hint*

[telefrag]

another reason to artifically incubate is consistancy, sometimes the female cant compensate for broad temperature fluctuations, and humidity is a variable that the female cannot control that artificial incubation can.

[Kohm]

oh and that the eggs may actually get eaten by other snakes in the tank, e.g I know of at least one case where that happened with cal kingsnakes. The male ate the eggs soon after the female laid em.