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New to egg laying: What's normal?

Tom Anderson Jul 02, 2003 11:10 AM

I bred a pair of gray bands this year. It is my first time breeding kingsnakes. The female had a pre-lay shed eight days ago and laid four very large white eggs last night. The eggs look fertile to me. She was still in the egg laying box this morning and it looked like she had at least 4 eggs to go.

My questions:
How long should it take her to lay the entire clutch?
When should I get worried about binding?
Should I remove the eggs she has already laid to the incubator now?
Or should I just let her do her thing in there, and get them out when I think she is finished?
Perlite or vermiculite?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Tom

Replies (3)

oldherper Jul 02, 2003 11:35 AM

Don't get worried yet. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 days to finish laying. One of my Sinaloans just finished laying 16 eggs and it took her 3 days. If they are big and plump and white, they are probably good, but don't throw away any that look different yet. I've seen some pretty rough looking eggs hatch into some nice babies.

You can remove the eggs as she lays them. That's no problem, just handle them very gently and make sure you orient them in the incubation medium in the same orientation you found them in the nest box. Take a Sharpie of something like that and make a small mark on the very top of the eggs. If they are clumped together, don't try to separate them, just pick up the whole clump and put them in the incubation medium in the same orientation that you found them. If you can get them out as she lays them, you can prevent them adhering together and it makes them a little easier to arrange in the medium.

Then use can use either vermiculite or perlite for a medium (I prefer vermiculite). I use a 1:1 vermiculite/water ratio by weight. You can use a plastic Sterilite or Rubbermaid shoebox for an incubator. I just check the box every day or two and make sure that the vermiculite is still moist. If it is drying a little, I just mist it with a spray bottle of water, being careful not to wet the eggs themselves, but just the vermiculite around them.

Temps between about 75 degrees f and about 88 degrees f should be fine. You should be able to find a shelf or something somewhere that will give you the proper temps.

Then you can wait about 60 or so agonizing days. With Graybands, hatching is just the beginning of the fun. Then you have about 8 or 10 little ones to get feeding on pinkies...good luck!

Tom Anderson Jul 03, 2003 07:15 AM

Thanks for the help. She layed the rest while I was at work yesterday. 11 total. All seem to be large, plump, perfectly healthy, and fertile.

Tom

KingE Jul 02, 2003 02:12 PM

That grayband you have pictured there is a very nice looking alterna. That is the female? E-mail me @ E509k@aol.com. Thanks in advance'

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