Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How long do ball pythons typically remain in the eggs, soaking up the yolk, before emerging? Then how long before the first shed?

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
0.1 Spouse
8 ball python eggs due any day now!

I slit open my first clutch at day 54 but no one came out until day 56. He actually should have stayed in longer. He was dragging the yolk around with him. The others stayed in a few more days and they had absorbed all of their yolk. So I would say 60 days is probably average at 89 degrees but that was just my experience. My eggs never dented in. I assume that they were just well hydrated up until I opened them. Some people will say not to cut them open but I believe in giving them a hand to insure that they don't die in the egg just because I didn't keep their environment correct and the shell was too tough for them to get through.

By the way, you're not planning on eating them are you? I see you have a fork at the ready ;o)

>>How long do ball pythons typically remain in the eggs, soaking up the yolk, before emerging?

About 60 days give or take a few - this year I think we've seen some come out as early as 49 days and as late as 65 - after 60 days you can cut them open if you like.

>>Then how long before the first shed?

7-14 days
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

To answer your questions the eggs should start hatching at 56 days and the eggs will dimple and become softer the closer they are to being hatched. The dimples and the softing allow the hatchlings to hatch more easily and this all begins about 2 weeks befor they hatch. In regards to cutting the eggs I cut all of mine at 52 days to insure that the hatchling make it out ok.
TopNotchReptiles

Thanks, I found the answer in a ball python book, it said 24 to 36 hours. I was talking about after they slit their way out of the egg, not the entire incubation period. LOL, no I'm not planning on eating them, I just threw the $20 bill and the fork in the pick for scale. Today 9/26 is day 57, so I'm expecting them to emerge anyday now. So now I'm begining to wonder if I need to slit them or not. They have dimpled in the last week and the top of the eggs seems to have softened up a bit. It's a bit nerve racking expecting grandsnakes.

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
0.1 Spouse
8 ball python eggs due any day now!

I've spoken to other more experienced breeders and they say that if you do not slit the eggs and the shell is a little too tough to get through, the baby could break off their egg tooth trying to get out and drown inside the egg. It doesn't appear that slitting them open does any harm, so why not? Just be careful to cut just the top of the shell and not the snake when you do it. Good luck grandpa!