Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Curious as to how long to get a female to eat again after laying a clutch of 8 eggs? My corn snakes would often eat again within a week, but this is first time with bp eggs.
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PHWyvern

Clutch of 8 eggs laid 7/17/05. Apparently this snake had not been with any snake during the 10 years the previous owner had her. As far as he knew, the snake was a male. We've had her a little over a year now. The chances the eggs are good are slim, but hopeful. They look fairly decent.

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PHWyvern

They're shaped kinda funny. Have you candled them yet? Is there a chance that some snakes like some lizards can lay eggs without having been bred? I know those that do lay infertile eggs, but it would be interesting to see what comes out of an egg that came from a ball that wasn't bred.

Quig

>>They're shaped kinda funny. Have you candled them yet? Is there a chance that some snakes like some lizards can lay eggs without having been bred? I know those that do lay infertile eggs, but it would be interesting to see what comes out of an egg that came from a ball that wasn't bred.
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>>Quig

I answered the candling question in the other post below.

I know several reptiles are capable of retaining sperm for long periods, but I don't think there has been any experimentation on just how long they can go without further breeding and still produce viable eggs. As the years go by, the probability of viable eggs certainly decrease without any fresh breeding, but at what point in time can one really say that yes, that snake is no longer harboring any chance for a fertile egg?

Odd shaped eggs are usually considered a high risk for being infertile (or a deformed hatchling), but I have had some rather odd shaped corn snake eggs in the past that managed to hatch. I remember one egg that looked more like a banana than a nice corn egg... long, skinny with a slight curve and I got a baby from it. very weird. lol.
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PHWyvern

It depends. Sometimes they will eat right away, sometimes it takes a while. Just ensure you thoroughly clean your female and enclosure. In fact, I like moving the females to a new rack just to ensure they can no longer smell the eggs.

Did you candle your new eggs. Did you see any veining?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Yes, I will be cleaning the enclosure pretty good tomorrow. I had little trouble encouraging her to let me have the eggs.. she put up a minor struggle but didn't try to strike or bite and eventually just let go. From the looks of it, she had part of her body underneath the egg pile actually holding them up off the bottom of the cage. She was pretty caved in along the belly so it looks like she laid all that she is gonna lay. I don't think there are any strays still inside.

I tried candling them, but I am not sure of the results. I got a strong orangey-pink uniform glow but no noticable veins. There were two eggs that had what might have been barely noticeable veins near the ends of the eggs but that could have just been a crease or flaw on the inside of the egg shell. I will probably try again in a few days to see if there is a change. In the past when I've bothered to initally candle corn snake eggs right after laying I've had that same glow and no noticable veins and still wound up with hatchlings later on. The egg color on the bp eggs are not yellow but not chicken egg white either - more of an off white-beige. I've had some very odd looking deformed corn eggs hatch too, so it may be slightly possible that the odd shape of the bp eggs isn't necessiarily a really bad sign either.

I know my chances of anything in this clutch being good is less than 5%, but you can always hope.

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PHWyvern

pink glow is a good sign. Good luck with em.

Quig

alot won't touch food so I use a gerbil......they slam it alot of times..........then yes they usually go back to whatever you feed them after they shed out.....

.....up to you...try them on whatever they normally eat
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>>alot won't touch food so I use a gerbil......they slam it alot of times..........then yes they usually go back to whatever you feed them after they shed out.....
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>>.....up to you...try them on whatever they normally eat
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>>................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhOK

Thank you. I will try a nice FT rat in a couple days then. I am heading to a reptile show at the end of the month so I can see about maybe a gerbil or two to keep on the side just in case.
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PHWyvern

don't use gerbils unless you are willing to use them forever...

I have balls that eat just one or two items and most do not eat frozen thawed at all......

I breed ALOT of different items.......and that alone taks hours a day.......

ok?....

they switch back..u s u a l l y I said.not always.....
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