Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While driving to work this morning, I discovered a large (4 foot) black snake that had been ran over in the road. The snake was not there yesterday afternoon, so I know it happened less than 10 hours ago. Lying beside the snake was one single egg (approx 1 inch long). The egg is soft, completely intact, and slightly damp.

My goal, if possible, is to hatch the snake and return it to the wild.

To do this, I plan to put the egg in vermiculate, and house it in a small Rubbermaid shoe box.

Will this work? Should I use any heat sources, such as a heating pad? How long should it take for the egg to hatch? Should I undertake the gruesome task of dissecting the dead snake to see if there are more eggs?

I would really like for this small snake to survive because there have been 5 snakes so far this year that have been ran over (probably on purpose) on the road that I live on.

Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated because I have no experience-hatching snakes. My e-mail address is Coz953@aol.com

The egg will need to be kept at a constant temp, with MINIMAL change.

It will need an overhead heat source (not one directly in contact with it like an undertank heater as this would cook it.)

I am not sure of the temp you need, i thnk it may be 89F.

Do a LOT of reading on incubation. Getting humidity and temps accurate are ESSENTIAL, otherwise mould will grow.

I know that this isn't a huge help, but i suppose you need whatever info you can get your hands on. Good luck.
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1 Bearded Dragon - Pogona Vitticeps
1 Central Netted Dragon - Ctenophorus Nuchalis
1 Coastal Carpet Python - McDowelli
1 Jungle Python - Cheynei
3 Northern Blue Tongues

89 is way to high, 82 is optimal. An ad hok incubater can be made with a submersible aquarium heater and an old cooler. Fill half way with water create a platform above the water to place tupperware container filled with vermiculite. bury the egg half way in the vermiculite, and place a slanted piece of glass or plastic over it as a drip guard. You want to keep the temperature constant and the humidity high while avoiding and water droplets from coming in direct contact with the egg/s. In the future if this happens again you probably could have found the rest of the clutch still inside the mother. It' possible to hatch a clutch if removed soon after death.