Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was called by a friends mom one day while getting ready to leave work. She was frantic as she told me she had some snakes in her shed and was worried that they were poisonous. She wanted to know if I could get them out, well being the Reptile nut I am I was more than happy to do so. I actually saved them from death. My friends mother had killed snakes before, she told me kind of proudly!!! I was upset hearing that and informed her the benefits of having certain wild snakes around and how harmless most are! I also asked her to call me if she or any of her neighbors ever have a similar encounter!
I believe she now understands the importance of these critters!
Hopefully

Well needless to say they were not poisonous, in fact they just sat were they were staring at me like I couldn't see them, kind of funny! I went to grab one while the other was across from me still just sitting there. They did try to flee me but I managed to grab them with out being bit, they didn't even try to bite! One of them did musk me with that nasty smelling stuff, but didn't bite!
They are both very pretty and docile, very handlable snakes. I figured they were a breed-able pair since I found them together.

A couple days went by after setting up they're cages. I figured it was time to try and feed them, so I offered them live small adult mice. One ate and the other did not, I figured either it hadn't acclimated yet or it could be gravid, since she was pretty big. Well a week later I offered food again and still no interest. Another week has went by and today my daughter came in to tell me the Milk snake laid eggs!!! I'm pretty excited as these are some pretty snakes. I always looked for these and other snakes when I was a kid and never had any luck, till this phone call!

The eggs look good, she had a clutch of 7 fairly large eggs!
I'm a Boa breeder and haven't ever hatched snake eggs! What do I do to assure these will hatch. I've hatched Leopard Geckos eggs and Timor Monitor eggs, but never any Snakes. Right now I put the eggs on some aspen bedding and have them in my reptile room with an ambient temp of 82. I lightly misted the opposite end of the sterilite box they're in with 2 small sprays of water. Is this a no no?

1. What type of bedding Vermiculite or Sphagnum Moss?
2. Do they need any moisture?
3. What incubation temperature 78 to 82 degrees?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'll post pictures of them later today after I've cleaned cages...

Thanks in advance for any help!

Chaz Neely
constrictors@comcast.net

I use either vermiculite or perlite to incubate eggs in. The medium should be damp and "clump" like a snowball. This will let you know it is at the right moisture level. I've been using Tupperware lately as a container for the eggs and medium and it works well.

Any incubation temperature in the high 70s or low 80s is good. It takes longer at lower temperatures. You may just want to set the eggs in a garage or some other non-airconditioned area and let them incubate with the natural fluctation of outdoor temperatures.

Baby easterns can be a challenge to feed!

Tim

I agree with Tim except I might want the basement over the garage .It amy be over 80 degrees later in the summer. I have eastern milk eggs at 75 degrees now in my basement.

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A bad day in the field is better then a good day at work

Doug L

Bet she was gonna lay in the shed where you rescued her, out of curiosity, I would shoot the temp of that place with a temp gun right where she was laying in the morning, noon, and at night to see what fluctuations were present. Add that to notes. I would go with vermiculite, wet it, squeeze out the excess water, put it in a tupperware with 1 hole punched on 2 of the sides, lid it, and set it on a shelf in a closet. The others have the temps in a good range, I would go with cooler and longer over warmer and shorter.
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Todd Hughes

If and when they hatch I would wait until after the first shed to try and feed them. F/T pinks washed very well with unscented soap and then rinsed off very well also. Some might eat and some might not. Do yourself a favor and get a feeder lizard and freeze it to kill parasites. You will most likely need it to scent the pinks of the ones that do not eat. Use the same method of cleaning the pinks and then cut off a small piece of lizard and thaw it. Rub this on the pink and try to feed them again. Hopefully you get lucky and do not need to do this but chances are you will. ( I have used skinks and fence lizards with success)

Thanks for all the helpful information!!!
I don't believe I would've got this much help or info from any of the Boa guys?

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of nice guys & gals over there, I just don't think there's as many willing to help!

I set the eggs up like everyone said using vermiculite ( I found it @ Lowes for $3.45). I put it in a small bucket with water then took it out a handful at a time. I squeezed out the excess water ( it "WAS", like a snow ball! )and placed it in a small sterilite container with a few holes for ventilation. I placed the eggs very carefully in the substrate and put some of the vermiculite around them. I made sure not to turn the eggs any way other than how I found them... The eggs are spaced apart and are about 50% to 60% in the vermiculite. I placed the container on the floor, in my reptile room under a rack system. The temp down there is 78 to 82, it fluctuates with the ambient temp of the room.

Now all I have to do, is hope the eggs are good and that they will hatch, then feed!

Two more questions, how do I know if the eggs are good? What do fertile eggs look like and what do bad eggs look like?

Thanks very very much for all the useful information everyone has given!

Chaz Neely
constrictors@comcast.net

Here's one of my favorites so far this year!

I don't have any breeding tips for you. I just wanted to say that you are quite lucky to not only find a possible breeding pair, but a gravid female no less.
snake adventures

Not only are they a breeding pair that laid eggs, they have also eaten for me. I was worried they wouldn't eat and I'd have to let them go. The male has eaten twice and the female once, she ate 2 small hoppers in that one feeding!

Now hopefully the eggs will make it! I don't know the signs to look for when looking for fertile or good eggs. I also don't know what to look for if they're bad eggs either.

Thanks,
Chaz Neely
constrictors@comcast.net