Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Couple of things..

My Sorong was acting restless so I put a nest box in for grins, and in she went! She hasn't even had her pre-lay shed yet. Sound odd?

Also, is there a benefit to artificial incubation? I was told there is a higher success rate using artificial incubation...thoughts?

I have an Aru right behind her so I need to decide which way to go.

Thanks,

Bill

It's not unusual for them to go in and out of the nest box before they are actually due to lay. As far as maternal or artificial, the biggest benefit to artificial is less stress on the mother. She will not eat during the time she is incubating the eggs and if you had a female that was right at the breeding minimum, it could well mean an unhealthy weight loss that she couldn't withstand. You also would have the chance to keep an eye on the eggs and remove bad ones. Benefits of maternally....no incubator to buy...and mom's always know best!
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4.5~Cornsnakes
1.2.2~Green tree python
1.0~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

I agree with most of what Meg said...... However if you are expecting eggs you need to be prepaired both ways... What if she lays the eggs and goes back to the perch? What are you going to do then? I guess you could always sit on them yourself, but buying a backup solutuin might be a good idea...

I have a Forma and I love it... I have a girl due to drop any hour now and they are going straight to the Forma...

I totally agree with the easier on the mom part... The sooner the mom gets back to eating the better... I personally think it will make the females breeding ability longer...

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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

Thanks for the replies, reinforced all I've been contemplating. You mentioned a 'forma" and I'm assuming its a brand of incubator?? Got a link?

Thanks,

Bill

Go look on Ebay... Just type in Forma and narrow it down to lab equipment... They are designed to culturing cells and some of us use then to hatch GTP eggs...
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

Bill:

I concur with the above. Forma's can be found on Ebay. I called for a price on a new one and instead of giving me a quote, they assigned a salesman to get in touch. It turned out that a new Forma was many, many thousands of dollars!

I use the Avey incubators and routinly get 100% hatches. But as shiloh said, you have to have an incubator no matter. Even if you are planning to go maternal, it doesn't always work out.

I get much better hatches with artificial incubation. And you loose less females in the process because it puts them through less stress.

Moms know best, and I am learning from her on this one. Believe it or not, there is more than 15 eggs under her coils!

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Mike C
MClark202@insightbb.com

Looks like a perfect beehive! Congrats and good luck on the little pearlies!
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4.5~Cornsnakes
1.2.2~Green tree python
1.0~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com