So we have got eggs...

[Starter]

Five days ago, my Murray Darling python girl called 'Darling' laid eggs - 27 good ones and one bad, which one she kicked out. I have kept her in the outdoor aviary at that time, as it was hot outside, and she laid the eggs on a mattress underneath a blanket underneath a plastic hood (top part of a hooded cat litter box), not into the box filled with snake bedding which I had prepared, and curled very tightly around them so there was no way how I could take her away. Next morning she left the eggs to go basking in the sun and at that occasion, I carried the eggs away and put them into the incubator. I then washed the mother with warm water and a gentle soap and put her into her indoor enclosure. Then I washed the place where her eggs had been to remove the smell and minimise stress of searching for them when she would come back to the aviary.

For incubating, I took a sealed plastic box, put vermiculite mixed with water (50:50 according to weight, not volume) into it, placed the heaps of glued-together eggs in there, and put the box into the incubator, with the lid on. The bad egg I put in an extra little container next to it, under the same conditions.

Question 1: Some guides say that you should keep the container sealed and air it once a week and in the last week before hatching every day. Other guides say that you should make holes for ongoing ventilation on the sides of the container. What do you think is better? We live in a very dry area with low air humidity. I have a bowl with water standing at the bottom of the incubator. The DIY incubator is quite large - a 4 foot high fridge with glass door and two heat sources in the ceiling. When I keep the egg container sealed, condensate water accummulates on the sides of the box, so by now I have opened the box once a day to wipe away the water, so I can see the eggs and the temperature and humidity meters which are inside the box.

Heat: I am trying to keep the heat at or around 32 °C. The thermostat is set to a range of 25 to 38 and alarms me with sound and light when the temperature gets out of this range. The sensor of the thermostat is inside the box with the eggs. There are three heat sources which I can switch on and off individually - two basking globes in the ceiling of the incubator and a heat mat underneath the plastic box with the eggs, with a glass plate in between. Though well insulated, standing on the patio outside the house, the incubator still responds to outside temperature. Two nights ago, outside temperatures dropped to 6°C and I had to run all three heat sources all night and still couldn't get the temp higher than 30°C. Yesterday at day time, outside temperatures were 35°C and I could switch all three off basically for the whole day. My problem is that we will be away for two days next week, with outside temperatures expected to be around 25°C at day and 9°C at night. I will have a pet sitter come in twice a day to check whether the heat sources need to be switched on or off, but I still worry as there will be long hours without close supervision of the incubator.

Question 2: What would be more dangerous for the eggs, overheating or cooling down? Am I keeping them within the right temperature range now? When travelling away, would it be safer to take the box with eggs with me and keep it warm for example with hot water bottles in the car and an electric heater in the hotel room? Or would the movement and vibration in the car rather damage the eggs? I have to make such a short trip at least once a month.

Question 3: How do I actually recognise if an egg is good or dead? The 'bad' one which I keep in a separate container has a yellow-brownish deformed soft upper half, but all the other eggs have dents, too, and seem not to be completely filled up with substance, by which I mean they are not round and bulging like chicken eggs - is that normal? I am afraid the mother might have squeezed them too hard and damaged them on the first day.

Preparations for the hatchlings: If everything goes well we expect the baby snakes to hatch end of January. I understand that each hatchling needs it's own box with ventilation holes and a hiding place, such as a toilet paper roll, and there should be a heat mat underneath half of the box. I have started to collect young mice for breeding, so we will have enough food in two months. We have got 27 eggs now, and I have a pregnant Bredli python girl, too (called 'Schnucki') ... so alltogether we may end up with 50 or 60 or more hatchlings.

Question 4: As I see it, each heat mat needs an electric power source. The electric cables in the walls of my house are about 60 years old. Will they manage to provide so much power - out of two wall sockets and then running through up to 10 dividers - or do I have to arrange for an alternative power source? Does anyone of you have a power-distribution setup with 50 or more outlets, or how do the breeders among you solve this challenge?

I know these are many questions and it is a long post, but I would really appreciate your advice and support, as this is the first time for me to breed pythons and I do feel a bit insecure.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

You should keep the eggs at a constant 30.5-31.5, without the fluctuations as much as possible. High heat will kill the eggs very quickly, but too low heat will also cause problems. Pythons coil around their eggs and "shiver" to generate heat as needed and they maintain their eggs pretty well between these parameters. If your eggs are regularly getting to 38C you may have already damaged them irreversibly.

Why isn't your thermostat managing the temps for you - that's what they're designed to do - switch off when it gets too hot, switch on when it gets too cool. Why does it have such a wide range? You should be able to set it so that it runs within a degree or two of your chosen temp regardless of what's happening outside.

It would be necessary for you to get an effective thermostat and leave the eggs where they are, you risk causing problems if you cart them around in a car regularly. If the thermo is working as it should you should be able to leave them for a few days at a time without problems.

Jamie

 

[hayden123113]

Sounds like you need a much more accurate thermostat.

 

[pythonmum]

Overheating is the bigger danger. If your incubator is well sealed, it should protect the eggs on hot days as well as cold. As others have said, get an accurate thermostat to control your heat sources and keep the temp around 31. Keep the egg container sealed and only open occasionally for gas exchange.

For a quick and comprehensive overview, read the Ask Doc Rock articles on the Southern Cross website. He covers breeding very well in a series of articles. The Complete Carpet Python is excellent if you can get a copy. They did some interesting experiments with maternal incubation to get a better idea of what temperature fluctuations eggs experience.

If you don't find a hatchling rack for sale, you can make one using advice on this site or simply putting strips of heat mat on bookshelves (my personal method). These run on a low wattage, so shouldn't stress your house wiring too much. Once again, you will need an accurate thermostat for the rack, along with thermometers to monitor the temp.

Finally, you can tell if an egg is good by candling it. Hold an LED torch to the side of the egg. If you can see blood vessels, it is good. Don't stress if the eggs are not perfectly plump. They will cave in more near hatching time.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

You should also ensure that your incubator is in the most temperature-stable part of the house - preferably on the floor if it's likely to get hot outside. generally keep it away from the western side of the house where it's likely to be affected by hot afternoon sun.

Jamie