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Was looking at some clutch pictures earlier and noticed that there were some eggs that were very oblong shaped eggs (long and skinny) and some that were short and fat. Mine last year were all the short and fat type - but noticed some clutches had a mixture.

My question is - is there any difference between the two? Like: does one have more yolk - do bigger babies come from one type over the other, does one type go bad more often, or is it a sign of a deficeincy in the mother?

Or do some eggs just come out that way - I mean you can look at 100 thousand chicken eggs and they are all the same size and shape - why would ball eggs be different?

Stupid I know - but just got me to thinking.

Thanks,
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

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Very interesting. I have long wondered this myself. I have some hypotheses, but nothing concrete. I noticed last season that my genetic (now proven) reduced pattern female (a younger, smaller girl)gave me the long skinny eggies, while my other girls (older, larger girls) gave me the short fat ones. Therefore, I have three possible explanations:

1) maybe its locality related (i.e. Ghana BPs vs, Benin). I have long suspected the genetic reduced patterns are coming out of the same locality.

2) maybe it all has to do with the size of mom.

3) maybe there is no connection of the connection is something other than #1 and #2.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the skinnies:

and here are a couple of pics of fatties:

Joe Pociask...might update someday soon...lol

It may have to do with the snakes body shape or how she lays. Or how hard she squeezes them out. Chickens pop out hard shells. Going from inside to the ground doesnt cause changes on them. Maybe some just get squeezed.

Just a thought.

No...I don't think it has anything to do with how they are laid. Having held both types of eggs just after laying they are clearly more different than just how they are "stretched" during the deposition process. Once the eggs are shelled their lenght and width is pretty much set.They are physically longer and narrower. Now, if a freshly laid egg is forced into a corner or something, it could slightly alter the shape.

I think it could very well be related to the body shape of mom. The bady wall of a skinnier mom could laterally compress an unshelled ovum, "locking in" that longer skinnier shape.

>
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

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I think your age and size point is correct, I've produced thousands of colubrid eggs and while it does vary somewhat by species, and there is always some variation for certain individuals it's almost always the younger skinnier ones that lay the long skinny eggs or the very small eggs while it's the older fatter ones that lay the large fat eggs. The weirdest eggs I ever saw laid came from a 14 month old cornsnake that had never been bred. She laid 5 infertile eggs that were as long and as skinny is my pinky finger. I've also seen eggs that were dumbbell shaped, tear drop shaped and even with twists in them. Eggs shapes will also vary for the individual from year to year.

Mark

Very interesting. I have long wondered this myself. I have some hypotheses, but nothing concrete. I noticed last season that my genetic (now proven) reduced pattern female (a younger, smaller girl)gave me the long skinny eggies, while my other girls (older, larger girls) gave me the short fat ones. Therefore, I have three possible explanations:
>>
>>1) maybe its locality related (i.e. Ghana BPs vs, Benin). I have long suspected the genetic reduced patterns are coming out of the same locality.
>>
>>2) maybe it all has to do with the size of mom.
>>
>>3) maybe there is no connection of the connection is something other than #1 and #2.
>>
>>Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the skinnies:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>and here are a couple of pics of fatties:
>>
>>
>>
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>>Joe Pociask...might update someday soon...lol

Very interesting question. Chicken eggs though also come in different shapes they just don't make it into the stores for sale. My mom owned a restaurant and would just go in and buy the large boxes of eggs from the egg farms and there were long skinny eggs, huge ones that wouldn't have fit in the cartons and some that were almost completely round like a ball.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com

When I was a kid, my granny had a few hens, and I'd collect the eggs every day when I was visiting. I noticed that they were of different shapes and sizes. Some used to have two or three yolks.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.