Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My northern shed on the 3rd and has yet to lay. She is very active and won't settle down into her box. I thought the box might be too small, so I got a bigger one, but she won't stay in it either. She explores it and leaves. What should I do to get her a box she likes?

This is her in the first, smaller box, 2 days preshed:

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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

GRAVID SNAKE BATMAN!!!! That is one fat snake! As far as getting her to lay in the box, I'd provide the box and leave her alone...as long as the box and environment are correctly set up, she should find it and settle in on her own....and then you'll be rewarded with (what looks like) a million eggs.....

-AzAtrox

I'm wondering if the box is not correctly set up, she will get in and just get out again, and tear up the rest of her cage. She tries to dig her way though the box and out of the cage as well.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

maybe try a box thats not clear, just an idea

Thought of that, I taped newspaper around it to darken the inside. I figured that was it and that she would lay last night but it didn't work. She was in it for a while today but then she got out and is still out.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

my northern just laid and she went 17days post shed and she was fairly active right up until laying. if you have a decent box setup when the time comes she'll use it, make sure its full of peat/sphagnum as they like to burrow, good luck,,,,,,,,,,
thomas davis

17 days huh. I heard 10 max, glad to see another one went longer and was ok. I was thinking of adding more moss, guess I'll have to. I also considered perlite under the moss.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

Mine just laid 10 days post shed.

She was very restless as well.Seemed more comfortable when I switched to a darker box and changed the entrance from a hole in the lid to a hole cut in the side. Laid the night I made the change......

Good Luck.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

I just switched the hole to the lid, I thought she would think she was going underground. I did make it darker. Thought she would lay that night, here's hoping for tonight, tomorrow is day 10.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

I know I may not be much help, but I just finished reading a breeders site where his SD Gopher ignored the nesting box altogether and laid the eggs outside. Best of luck w/ her, Nick. She's a big beauty.

reako45

try putting something slightly moist in her box to lay on, even damp newspaper will work. there's no telling where she'll lay though & it really doesn't much matter as long as you retrieve the eggs within that day. from the looks of her, she's gonna go any day now. good luck!

congrates! pituophis, especially northerns have a very strong nesting instinct. jim Kane taught me about nest box strategy and I have used his techniques successfully for many years. That is not to say that these are the only good techniques or the best but they do work. I use rubber maid or tupperware bowls with a hole cut into the top. Match the bowl size with the snake size. They are clear but that does not seem to matter. I generally stuff the bowl with green moss which can be purchased at hobby stores. I do not use spanish moss or fake moss. Wet the moss thoroughly but squeeze out as much water as you can. I generally pick out any twigs to avoid poking an egg but have never had any problems. I generaly use a few strips of duct tape to hold the lid on as bigger snakes will pop it off in the process of nesting. They seem to really get into "digging" in the nest boxes and will move out some of the damp moss material.

Kane's rule of thumb was "make it a really tight fit", which I presume makes the female feel more comfortable about the space being a good place to deposit her eggs. Even my absolute longest, largest female will lay in these 5.2-5.3 liter bowls. This astounded me initially but when you consider how small of a space that a 6 or 7 foot northern can hide in it makes more sense.

I really worry if they go much over 10 days from the pre -laying shed. retained eggs are a serious health problem for the female. Much later than 10 days and the eggs are generally no good any way. There are exceptions as noted in a previous post but it has been my experience that 10-13 days is about the limit. If this happens get your animal to a GOOD herp vet.

I tend to check daily on expectant females without disturbing them. Once they start to lay I leave them for 24 hours at which point I remove the eggs but leave the nest box just in case. Then start to feed with fequent smaller meals as reproduction is very metobolicly costly.

I generally pick off any of the moss when I set the eggs up in vermiculite to avoid contamination during incubation.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR! Sit back and wait for those tiny little snake heads to come pipping out of the egg!

one thing I noticed with my pit collection is I usually have to provide larger egg laying boxes packed full of long leaf moss so that they can dig through it and find just the righ spot. Last year it took me three tries to find the right container to get my sonorans to lay. The other thing I recommend is covering the front of whatever you keep your snakes in so that there are no distractions (like you walking around the room). Oddly enough when I put the two things I mentioned above in play she laid without problems....and a big healthy clutch at that.

Good luck,
Russ