Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She paired last winter and all the other girls have laid clutches that all hatched as of a week ago. This girl finally ended up laying her first clutch - 9 eggs, 3 defininte slugs, and one egg that has extremely weak veins in it (they don't go up past halfway in the egg). That leaves me with 5 eggs that look healthy when candled (nice veins and a mass in the bottom).

My question is about the viability of healthy neonates from the good eggs. Obviously the girl was using retained sperm here (laying 68 days later than the other girl paired at the same time), which isn't something I've dealt with before. The absolute latest I would have expected a 'normal' clutch from her would have been about 40 days ago. It's also her first clutch, too. If the eggs appear healthy, do they have the same odds as a normal clutch as far as producting healthy neonates?
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Yes, they have the same odds. Just because the fertilization was with retained sperm does not mean that you'll have weak or small hatchlings.
BTW, the egg with veins only half way up the side is good.
If you check some books on breeding you'll find that there are records of snakes retaining sperm for years.
Best of luck

First off your odds and viability from the good eggs should not be any different from the other eggs. I would also expect that the egg with blood vessels only half way up the egg is also likely good.
Having said that by pair last winter what do you mean? Paired in December, January, February, March???? I am asking only for my own curiosity because while there are many reports of snakes retaining sperm and laying viable clutches for up to 2 years after having last paired with a male, I have not experienced nor have I been able to substantiate any cases of balls laying viable clutches beyond around 5 months from last copulation.
Thanks
Grant Whitmer

Her last pairing was in mid February of this year (2007), so she's retained for a couple or three months - well within the range you've seen.

Right now all the eggs are in the incubator, even the slugs, just in case. The one with the very faint veins is in the middle of the clutch, so it's there for the duration even if it dies (it was about 8 hours since the last time I looked at her and the time I found the eggs, so they're stuck together).

Thanks to all that have replied, I really do appreciate the help, advice, and info.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day