Question

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

what happens if my snakes lay their eggs and i am not there? how long can they stay alive without being incubated?

[Stefan-A]

Garters dont lay eggs. :)

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

yes stefan i know that :rolleyes:, im talking about my tangerines and the hybrid pair

OO and just 3 weeks untill my male puget comes back from brumation and 4 for the female puget, and my maritime male has 6 and the female has 7

then i let the magic happen


Garters dont lay eggs. :)

[Stefan-A]

Sorry, wrong smiley. :D The eggs should be moved to an incubator within a few hours, but I don't know if that's with or without the use of a "nesting box".

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

what ifs im at school? or asleep? maybe i can get my mom to do it if im at school

[Loren]

I would prepare a nesting box out of a plastic container and fill it half way with moist(moist, but you cant quite sqeeze water out of it) vermiculite- or the incubating material of your choice- then they have a good place to lay them, and they should be ok for a day or 3. Vermiculite is available at orchard supply and other garden supply places for real cheap. Make the entrance just big enough for the snake to get in and out, so the humidity will stay in there for days at a time.
I have used large ziplock food storage containers for kings, and it worked well. put the hole either in the top of a side, or in the lid. Put the container on the edge of the warm side so the temps will be ok for eggs.
I messed up and didnt provide a nestbox for my fm gopher this year, and she laid them in the water dish- they all went bad. In other words, if you dont provide a good spot- they will try to find the next best place, which may not actually be a good spot.
Also, you can cover the container or shoot it with spray paint(let it dry real good-a whole day-first) so it seems more like a dark hole.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

ok thats good

[Lori P]

Dumb question here... so... why do we incubate the eggs instead of letting the mother take care of them? Or do the mother snakes not take care of the eggs??

[adamanteus]

No, mother snakes don't care for the eggs.... except for cobras and some pythons..

[Loren]

Yes- like James said. Also, in the wild, female snakes search all over for just the right place that will provide the right temp and humidity for entire incubation period- often 8-10 weeks, or more. The fact that they can find such a place, and know to find it, is amazing. Especially in desert animals, and those from really humid areas. Just a few days of bad conditions can ruin the eggs, and in the first few days after being laid, just hours of bad conditions can kill them.
In captivity, due to the different conditions and smaller environment to "search", we are just better off to incubate them ourselves.

[Lori P]

VERY interesting! I once came across a turtle in our woods laying eggs in a hole she'd dug, not too far from the creek. It was fascinating to watch her. :-)