Studies I have seen in the past have pointed to eggs of this genus being more hydrophilic than the eggs of other python species, most likely due to the drier environments inhabited by these species. This adaptation toward a higher capacity for water absorption makes these eggs more prone to super-saturation in an artificial incubation environment where typical humidity levels are 90 to 95%. In their natural environment, the female is obviously able to control this situation through spatially selecting the laying site for optimum relative humidity, and also by the degree to which she allows air flow around the egg mass by use of body coil configuration. It appears optimum humidity for the most successful egg incubation is around 80 to 85% with Antaresia in general.

Another issue is incubation temperature. Antaresia is known for slightly lower incubation temps than most other tropical zone pythons and is usually most successful at 86 to 88 F. When you get up around 90, I believe you are approaching the upper safe limit and if your temp measurement device reading is off by a degree low, you could actually be into the 90’s and producing developmental problems and hatch rate issues.

My thoughts on Zach’s full-term neonate loss issue are that there is a possibility that the temps and humidity were both just slightly high in the artificial setup. I bred A. maculosa and A. childreni in the 1980’s and used both maternal and artificial incubation with excellent results using both methods. Ambient humidity was around 80% maternally and in the upper 80% range artificially, and I used an artificial incubation temp of 86 to 87 F. While I would occasional see an infertile egg or two, I never lost any neonates in the egg with either method.

I understand the concerns with a rodent diet expressed by Derek, but with Antaresia I don’t think that is an issue. The maternally incubated group didn't show the same issues while on the same diet. Also, I believe Antaresia have a lower percentage of lizard species in their diets than Aspidites sp., and are better able to tolerate a higher percentage of mammalian prey. I definitely never noticed any health issues in any of the Antaresia in my colony, which were fed on rodents exclusively from birth.

Kelly

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