Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dotz and her mate Mazar. She just had her pre-lay shed and is now in her maternity tub. Expect eggs in about two weeks, her average time from shed to lay. Her mate ate yesterday, also signalling end of mating season for him. (She is the one with the dot on her neck)
My two other pyro females have yet to go pre-lay blue but are gravid.

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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

With good nesting options, they can and do lay the day after shed up to about 5 days. Two weeks is holding the eggs to long.

The longer they hold the eggs the harder it is on the female. The shorter the time, the less energy lost and less stress on the female.

other then that, your animals look great. You take really good care of them. Congrats

Thanks, Frank!
All my females both pits and pyros tend to go at least ten days from pre-lay shed to laying of clutch. Sometimes they go longer; the longest was 20 days! That did make me worry! But the female did just fine, laying a healthy clutch. They seem to like their moss nests, and spend most of their time coiled up in them, not cruising the cage restlessly like they would if they were not satisfied with the nesting options. The best nests for the pyros are those large Glad 104 oz. containers full of moist sphagnum moss. The bull snakes and gophers get even bigger nest boxes but the same principle, a plastic box with moss and a hole in the lid.

I am always open to new ideas, though. What sort of nests do you provide your females?
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

when i bred pits i would fill a 3' neodesha full of moss, stand it up on its back, set the snake in and close the lid. snake disappeared into the moss, never had wandering or a problem.

congratulations on the eggs. incubation was one of my favorite parts of the hobby.
daveb
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alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency

Haven't got the eggs yet, checked this morning.
I like the idea of your tub full of moss for the big pits.

The tubs I use for my pits. Of course the male is not with her when the female is in the maternity cage. They seem to like a container they can squeeze into. There is a round hole in the lid. For added privacy I put a cardboard box over the lay tub.

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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.