Diamond not laying on eggs - help please!

[MattBusteed]

My Diamond Python has laid 20 odd eggs last night but this morning she is only lying on about 2 of them - the rest of them are sitting beside her.

Has anyone got any ideas what this might mean? I do know that some females will leave unfertilsed eggs out of their coil, but this seems a bit excessive - there are two eggs that have gone yellow which I am presuming is because they are not fertilsed, but the rest of them still look healthy and viable.

I'm in Brissy and it was 42 degrees today - could that have anything to do with it?

Please help - this is the first time she has had a clutch - could it just be she is not a good mum?

Thanks

[MrBredli]

I take it you don't have an incubator?

[waruikazi]

The mother will sometimes leave her clutch when it gets too hot. But if she is still on a couple of them, then i don't know what is going on. Hope someone else chimes in and helps you out.

[MrBredli]

Take her off the two eggs and put them with the rest, hopefully she'll then coil around the lot. You really should be looking at having them artificially incubated though.

[MattBusteed]

No I don't have an incubator - I will try taking her off and then replacing her but I am afraid that she will ignore all of them if I do that.

Any tips on mak-shift incubation methods?

All my cages are melamine with glass fronts and thermostatically controlled - but the thermostat is only an analog one - but would that do for now?

[nook171]

i looked on ebay or trading post i carnt remeber and there was an incubator for $200 thta could be an option

[munkee]

An eski, heat cord and thermostat will make an incubator. A thermometer is a handy addition. Otherwise an empty enclosure that has it's airflow reduced has sufficed for people in the past.

[munkee]

Was it 42 today? didn't feel that hot....

[MattBusteed]

yeah - 42 in Ipswich which is where we are - bit cooler in Brisvegas itself tho - about 35 or so

[ad]

Hi Matt,
The eggs didnt get that hot I hope, with no incubator find a spot in your house around 29-32 deg and you might have a chance.
I have an esky incubator here you can borrow - set up and ready to go. Its crude and fluctates 2 deg but better than nothing, pm me and we can organize pickup/delivey if you want it.
Cheers
Adam

[serpenttongue]

Matt, could you post a pic?

I would remove the 2 that she is sitting on to see if she will then coil around the others. It's better to lose 2 than 18 or so. Have the others stuck together well?

Young females tend to be a bit crap when it comes to maternal incubation and sometimes spend too long off the eggs. They will also leave the eggs when temps get too hot and then return when it cools down.

I think you should quickly set up an esky incubator and artificially incubate them. After all, these are diamond eggs we're talking about!!

[MattBusteed]

Hey Serpenttongue,

Yep I'll try to get a pic up soon.

The other eggs have stuck together but are stuck together in a line - she has not moved them from where she lay them.

I agree - I want to save as many as I can but I also don't want to panic and fix something if it isn't actually broken. I'm still sus on the hot weather playing a part - but at the same time I'm concerned that she has just plain forgotten about the other 18 eggs.....

unfortunately there is not much I can do til tomorrow morning now but I have some great ideas from everyone - thanks a bunch.

I'll let you konw how I go....

[Reptilian]

Originally Posted by nook171

i looked on ebay or trading post i carnt remeber and there was an incubator for $200 thta could be an option

Yeah i brought an incubator for $230, waiting for it to be freighted...Looks like an ok lil unit...

[Australis]

Ive seen crude eski, and fish tank heater with water filling most of the eski............
Maybe you have a old one laying around