Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am breeding a nelsons for the first time this year. She did her pre-lay shed ten days ago...Where are those darn eggs? She is moving in and out of her lay box, and still wanting small food items when offered even as of today. What is the normal lay time for a nelsons after the shed. Yes , I am getting antsy..I guess she isnt

When did you breed them?
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 3/2/06

I needed them to go early this year so they bred the week of January 22-27th. They went down for brumation in November and got a short brumation period of 30 days. This is certainly not the norm for how I do things, but it worked out fine. I bred another pair during this time too and they are cal kings. She is also very pregnant but has not had her pre-lay shed yet. Should be any day now for her. I can feel about 10 eggs in her.

I am waiting now for my hondurans to go through the shed phases so I can put them together.

its a lil early in the year(but certainly not uncommon),how long did you brumate her?did she ovulate post breeding?can you palpate eggs?they usally drop 8to14 days post prelay shed palpating is very easy,you can even count how many eggs she has in her ,closer she gets anywhoo good luck,,,,,,,,,,,,thomas davis

SHe did her prelay shed ten days ago...actually eleven as of today, and she has about 4 eggs that I can feel in her for sure, but could be 5. I really thought she would lay them by now..but I guess she didnt read the book that said its time..haha. Here she is right after her shed.

In my experience (been doing Nelson's for 10 years) these snakes are late breeders, often mating after their second or third shed. It is not uncommon for babies to hatch in September or October.

Tim

Third Eye

well she was more than ready to go in January . Matter of fact she was quite the little slut about it..haha.

have to agree with tim, bred sinaloans, albino nelsoni, and they were always last to breed. like clock work, first week of june, taking out of brumation march 1st. would like to see pics of that clutch, sure is early/jon

As noted by others, nelsoni and sinaloae typically breed later in the year, like in May or June. At least for us on the West coast that seems to be true.

Of course, I've heard of breeders who have successfully conditioned their animals to breed at other times of the year, but they had to alter conditions in the snake room (like light cycle) to do so.

I agree with the comments that it seems awfully early to be laying, but not impossible. Are you sure, she is not just ovulating after her first shed?

Maiden females tend to take 12 to 15 days to lay in my experience. Make sure her nest box is nice and moist inside and I would take out the water dish if it were me.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

She came up from brumation early, and so did he. They both ate for several weeks heartily and shed, then they mated 3 times within a week of Jan. 22, then over the last 4 weeks her body has become more distended and you can feel the eggs in her.she had another shed 11 days ago and is moving in and out of her moist lay box..that leads me to beleive eggs are coming soon. I could be wrong and she could just be fooling me, but I will be very surprised if she is. here are two comparison shots of before brumation and now.

Two of my cal kings also succesfully mated at that time. I knew it was early for all of them but due to my schedule this year I had to get it done early if I was going to get it done. so I guess we shall see. I will keep you posted within the week.