Reticulated python with eggs

[Thamnophis]

Not a gartersnake, but I would like to show them to you.
You do not see this every day.
Hope you enjoy it.
The female laid between 50 and 60 eggs on Christmasday. She is over 6 meters long and weigs over 80 kilo. She is 9 years old.
The male is 4.50 meters long and weighs about 45 kilo. He is around 30 years old.
We only let one egg hatch.


This is how I found her in the morning.
http://gallery.dierenparadijs.be/data/525/netpython2007_6.jpg

The closest I was allowed to get
http://gallery.dierenparadijs.be/data/525/netpython2007_8.jpg

Busy for the breedingprocess
http://gallery.dierenparadijs.be/data/525/netpython2007_3.jpg

Breeding. The black boy is her husband
http://gallery.dierenparadijs.be/data/525/netpython2007_4.jpg

The juvenile we had last year
http://gallery.dierenparadijs.be/data/525/netje1.jpg[/quote]

[tikichick]

Wow! That is amazing!

Beautiful snakes and the enclosure looks cool!

How long have you had the 30 year old?

[ScimitarX]

awesome pics, thanks for sharing:)

[drache]

amazing
they look just like chicken eggs
somehow I didn't expect that
what do you do with the ones you don't let hatch?
eat them?
feed them to other critters?

[salzar]

i never seen so manny eggs before do they always have such big broods? wow cool!!!
bye
michelle

[Stefan-A]

How protective of the eggs are they? Are they at all aggressive?

[Lori P]

Wow!!! Same questions: what do the eggs look like inside?? Seriously, would they be considered edible to some cultures? Does the momma protect them? Fascinating!!!!!

[Charlet_2007]

why you only let one egg hatch? the go for a very good price last i knew..

[anji1971]

That is VERY cool! I just called the kids over to have a look, and they agree!!
How long do these guys live on average?? 30 seems old, but I guess for these bigger critters it may not be.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

yea im sure u coulda made a but-load of money off that/ have lots of babies:)

why you only let one egg hatch? the go for a very good price last i knew..

[Stefan-A]

But how many would go to serious hobbyists?

[salzar]

I was always told that the retec, python was the most aggresive of all, but they shure are beautiful . would not have one my self but enjoy looking at them for shure!
bye
michelle

[Charlet_2007]

yeah that is true id rather not have any at all then them to be bounced from home to home all there lives poor little snakie's.. thats how my florida king was bounced from home to home..very little attion... now he's here with me and get ALOT of attion.. :D:D:D

[Sid]

Very nice Retics and great photos. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Serpentine99]

That male has some great coloration, great photos!

[Thamnophis]

To answer some of the questions...

The 30 year old male we have for more han 25 years.

These snakes live in our shelter for reptiles. We never sell or buy animals.
That is one of the reasos why we only hatch one. Other zoos are not interested.

The eggs are a bit bigger than a chickenegg. About 10 cm long.

I think this species can get well over 40 years old. Maybe even 50.

Mom protects them. Dad doesn't.

Stefan, we never give animals to hobbyists because we are an official shelter.

Retics indeed are quite defensive. These two we can handle without much problems.

[Stefan-A]

Stefan, we never give animals to hobbyists because we are an official shelter.
I didn't really go into details about my line of reasoning before, but I made the assumption, that the only way to "get rid" of the offspring if all eggs were saved, would be by selling them to hobbyists. The demand can't be that great among zoos, for example. Then again, I have no idea how you operate and what kind of people your snakes can be given to.

Actually, my first thought was, why did you save that one egg? :D

[drache]

still curious about what you do with the other eggs . . .
and whether anyone's ever eaten one

[tikichick]

still curious about what you do with the other eggs . . .
and whether anyone's ever eaten one

ew eW EW!! : P

[Lori P]

still curious about what you do with the other eggs . . .
and whether anyone's ever eaten one

Me too! Does it look like a chicken egg on the inside??

I didn't know you had a shelter... what a wonderful thing you're doing!!!! And how cool to have had the male for 25 years. :)

[Edcase]

WOOOOW!! thats sooooo cool

[adamanteus]

Congratulations, Fons. It's such a shame so many eggs must be destroyed, but I understand why.

[Thamnophis]

still curious about what you do with the other eggs . . .
and whether anyone's ever eaten one

They will be destroyed. And I personally have not eaten them.

[Thamnophis]

I didn't really go into details about my line of reasoning before, but I made the assumption, that the only way to "get rid" of the offspring if all eggs were saved, would be by selling them to hobbyists. The demand can't be that great among zoos, for example. Then again, I have no idea how you operate and what kind of people your snakes can be given to.

Actually, my first thought was, why did you save that one egg? :D

Snakes that get as big and dangerous as this are not done for most people. That's why we do not do them to others. Otherwise we get them back in the shelter in a few years.

The one we save is for our own collection in the future.

[Thamnophis]

Me too! Does it look like a chicken egg on the inside??

I didn't know you had a shelter... what a wonderful thing you're doing!!!! And how cool to have had the male for 25 years. :)

Looks not the same as a bird egg. Looks like a snake's egg on the inside :)

[Lori P]

Sooo... by the time the mother snake lays the eggs, is the baby snake already formed on the the inside then? Chickens lay an embryo.. do snakes lay a baby further along?

Do you have any pics of the inside of a snake egg?? Is the shell hard like a chicken egg?

Off the topic: Did you guys see the story today about the reticulaled python who swallowed 4 golf balls? They say they think he thought they were eggs. So do pythons also eat eggs normally? (I didn't think so).

The farmers around here all say if you have a black (rat) snake feeding on your chicken eggs, to leave golf balls in the nest boxes... I've always thought that was so horrible, what a terrible way for a snake to die. So even tho people always say rat snakes aren't egg eaters, we see it all the time and it's normal enough for the farmers to have a game plan.

[Thamnophis]

The inside is a snotty substance. After a few days you can see some bloodvessels.
When the eggs are laid, the young are not ready developing in this species.

Black rat snakes are known for their egg eating.

[drache]

Black rat snakes are known for their egg eating.
just black rats, or other rat snakes as well?

[Thamnophis]

Dasypeltis is an egg-eating genus.
But there are more species that eat eggs.
There is a species (do not know the name on this moment) that is specialised in Treefrog-eggs.