Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One of my alterna laid 8 eggs about a week and a half ago and still has two inside her. She is 5 years old and perfectly healthy. What can I do? Is my best bet to go to the vet or should I give her longer? should I try to push them out? Thank you for any help

IMO never push them out without aspirating them first. Aspirating is when you take a needle, poke it through the side of the snake and into the egg and suck out the yolk. Then it should be easy to gently push the egg out. You can't wait long because the yolk will harden and it won't work. Be sure to use a clean needle and wipe the site before and after with an antiseptic.

Will the snake be ok doing this? If she starts freaking out I wouldn't want to hurt her. What if I had a vet do it? Does anyone have any idea what that would cost? Also is it likely she will recover? And should I quit breeding her or give her next year off maybe?

Well there is some risk. I have done it and I think it is easy. I can give you some tips and if you're not comfortable I would suggest take it to a vet. The main danger is letting any yolk from the egg drain into the females inside as it could cause infection.
Use a needle large enough to take the yolk. I don't know gauges, maybe a millimeter. Use a syringe that is large enough to hold all the yolk from one egg so you don't have to go in twice and so there is not alot of yolk left to drain out after the first insertion. Do the egg closest to the vent first, obviosly. Be sure you have the snake steady so it can't wiggle.
Lastly be clean in everything and make sure you have an absolutely clean cage to put the snake back in when your done.
That's about all I can tell you, I'm not a vet or anything. I just learned from books but you may want to take it to the vet the first time and watch the procedure then you should be able to do it yourself the next time, hopefully there isn't a next time.