The original substrate was too moist... once the AC failure was taken care of and I had a new box, I started with all new substrate... I've been told that the best way is if it is moist, but if you squeeze it you get NO drops of water. Last year this method worked very well! One egg did start to get a little white beard of mold, but some athletes foot powder stopped it from molding, and the egg hatched. My guess... if you get a white bearded egg... like santa, you still might get a present of a beautiful hatchling snake. If you get a blue egg... like bluebeard, that's bad, and nothing to do to save the egg. The new egg laying box is better than the old one, and I'm thinking that the biggest/best thing I can do is make sure the temps don't spike AGAIN, don't worry bout the eggs that die due to causes beyond my control.... (I couldn't help the bugginess of the alternate housing for the eggs, and I couldn't help the down time of the AC unit.) Just make sure I control the humidity to be as optimal as possible, and the temperature as well.



As far as the Sphagnum... I haven't had ANY luck finding any around here.... the only sphagnum I've found is in little bags labeled "Green Moss" but that stuff starts to mold within days of being moistened... so either I'm doing something wrong, or it's just the wrong stuff!



I do have some sphagnum PEAT, which I got by accident last year, without any bad results (king laid her eggs on the sphagnum PEAT, they were incubated on vermiculite). This year I've had snakes who haven't seemed to want to lay their eggs (poor things so FAT!)... I did get some more sphagnum PEAT as I felt that while it is not perfect for incubation, the snakes who are turning up their noses at the other options might choose the peat as a good laying place. In fact, I'm hoping that when I get home from work my girl who shed on the 8th will have laid (my hope every day for the last week, actually).



I think there is a fundamental incompatibility of being a school teacher and having snakes due to lay right at the time school gets out! I'm stressing over whether my students will pass my class and be able to graduate from high school, and stressing over the eggs being laid properly, and stressing over the mouse and rat population being optimal, and and and...



URGH! Why do I DO IT????



Oh yeah... it's those little snakey heads popping out of those shells! It's like an addict .... almost cured with the hassle of the egg-laying and mouse raising and etc.... and just about to go sell all teh snakes and get out completely, but then the eggs start to hatch, and the smiles start, and visions for the next spring's clutches start to dance in my head... and I'm re-addicted.
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~Sasheena

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