Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently found my female ball python wrapped around a cluth of eggs. I was previously gone for about a month and a half, so I do not know when she laid. They seem to be kinda wrinkled and one is kind of smushed. All have a couple of brown spots on them but apear to be pretty white. Ive been incubating them for two days now. The brown spots haven't appeared to grow and the eggs don't really smell. Is it possible that these are still fertile? What would/should fertile eggs look like?
Thanx

Do you mean that you left your ball python without any care for a month and a half?

I suggest candling (shining a flashlight against them) to see if they have veins visible. Chances are that the one that is collapsed was infertile and the white ones were fertile. Who knows if healthy hatchlings will come from them but all you can do is incubate them and see.

Laura

They sound fertile to me.

Fertile eggs are whitish and some have clear or brown "windows' where the shell is thinner. Infertile are usually smaller and yellowish. Some have funny shapes.

It's hard to say when they will hatch. Eggs often get "dimpled" looking about two weeks before they hatch, but it can also happen as a result of too low of humidity. I'd just make sure my substrate was nice and moist and be sure the eggs are in a covered container. Good luck!

Eggs can look pretty ugly and still hatch healthy babies. Keep them in the incubator and watch them. Be careful with your incubator temps. Towards the end of the period, the eggs will produce a little heat on their own. Since you don't know when the eggs were laid, you will have to estimate and watch the temp. You don't want them overheating. I needed to lower my temps 1-3 degrees about 2-3 weeks before hatching.

Congrats!!!!
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Jay A. Martin