For the third year in a row my albino Bullsnake pair laid eggs that within two weeks turned yellow and infertile. The only thing that I can come up with is how cold do they need to be brumated at to insure fertile eggs, or is that even an issue with bullsnakes. My San Diego Gophers and My patternless Pines both laid good eggs having been brumated in the same room as my Bullsnakes. Help
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Frustration with Bullsnake Eggs
scubafever
Jun 22, 2003 08:42 PM
Replies (3)
BILLY
Jun 23, 2003 01:03 AM
My only guess is that either the male albino bull doesn't have good sperm or the female can't lay any good eggs. If you have the eggs just like the others that hatch, such as same conditions, care, etc, then the eggs may be bad due to potential problems with one of the parents.
Do you have access from a friend perhaps to try mating the bulls you have with someone else's? Try a new male with your female next year or vice versa?
In my opinion, as an old breeder friend once said, " A good egg is a good egg is a good egg." This guy would have eggs get covered in green mold, look discolored, etc, and they would hatch. It probably takes a lot to get a healthy egg to go bad and not hatch, from a natural standpoint.
Hope this helps. Keep the suspected bad eggs and treat them like they are good like the others. They might hatch. I had a second clutch of cal king eggs that were laid by a female that had been only bred once that year. She completely took me by surprise on that one! And, most of the eggs looked nasty, but they hatched.
Take care!
Billy
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Genesis 1:1
Jason Nelson
Jun 23, 2003 09:53 PM
I sounds like your male is dud . I had the same problem with a pueblan milk. 3 year in a row she layed bad eggs . I was breeding her too a nice clean male . That third year after the first clutch was bad I double clutched her to my back up male (which is ugly) But I got good eggs.
Jason
Paul Hollander
Jun 25, 2003 05:17 PM
Brumation temperature could be the cause. My Iowa bullsnakes never did anything worthwhile when brumated at 55 F or above. 50 F was pretty reliable. Your pines and gophers come from a warmer climate and may not need to go so low to breed. OTOH, there could be some other problem with your snakes.
Have you opened any eggs to see if there is an embryo inside?
Paul Hollander
