Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!! I am new to your forum! I need some help. My grandpa caught 2 gopher snakes about a month ago and he gave them to me. I put them in seperate cages cause I don't know how to sex them and if they were both male I know they would fight. Anyways, one of them "Glady" has not been happy and I was going to take her back to release her, she has been hitting her head on the glass. Well this morning I found out what was wrong with her!!! SHE LAID EGGS!!! I think about 7 eggs, they are all stuck togther. I read another post on here about eggs in her "lair" but my snake chose to lay them out in the open. She has a hiding box, but I guess she didnt want to share it with her eggs. I want the eggs to live!! What do I do? Should I leave them in the open and not do anything? Should I let "Glady" go, or will she be more calm now like "kiss" my other gopher snake. So many questions I know, but I really like my snake friends. Since I know one is female now can I put them togther in a bigger tank? or will they still fight? Anyways I really want to help the eggs out. They were not there when I went to bed, so they havent been there for more than 12 hours as of now. It is warm in the house, their light is off because of the heat here, (I dont want to cook them). Please anyone help me!!! I want to see the eggs hatch into cute baby snakes!! Thank you so much!!
Angie

See if you can get a plastic shoebox. If not, one of the aquariums will work fine, you'll just need a piece of plywood or something to put over the top to hold humidity in. If you use the aqaurium, you'll need enough of some sort of medium to cover the bottom of the aquarium about 3 inches deep. You can use Vermiculite, Perlite, Sphagnum moss, peat moss or if none of that is available, you can use sand or even potting soil. You want the medium to be slightly damp, but not wringing wet. Whatever you use, just leave the eggs stuck together and place them in the medium. Don't cover them up, just scoop out a place as big as the clump of eggs and about 1/2 inch or so deep and set the clump down in there. The bottom eggs should be covered about halfway. Try to orient them the same way you found them, meaning don't turn the clump upside-down or anything. Find a place to keep the aquarium that will stay between 75 degrees and 85 degrees F. Keep it covered to keep the medium and eggs from drying out, but open it once every couple of days for fresh air exchange. If it looks like it's drying out a little, then just moisten the medium around the eggs with water a little, but try to avoid wetting the eggs themselves. Now just wait. It should take about 60 days give or take depending on temperatures.

Thank you oldherper and Del!!!! I got the eggs out put them in the container, I am so excited!!! I hope they hatch!!!! I put a thermometer next to them so I could watch them carefully. I will try to get some pictures up of the mamma. The other one we caught could be the daddy? Who knows, they were in the same place, but I guess that doesnt mean anything. I am going to put them together in a much bigger tank so they can stretch out more. Do you think they will live in peace together?
I have really enjoyed reading all the posts and I have been learning a lot from everyone! Thank you again!!!
Angie