Great question, I mean a great question, Many years ago, late seventies, I worked on a research grant. I did a literature search infertility in wild snake clutches(in nature) and found there was some infertility. I have pics if me checking croc nests. I found full term dead babies, in eggs and infertile eggs in each nest.

In all the years in the field, I have indeed seen maybe five females with held eggs. One was a greenrat. One a banded rock rattlesnake on our study site. A cal king. That's all I can remember.

And yes, I palpate all snakes on the road, and some in the field. I try to not touch field snakes, but there are exceptions. So far, no held eggs with hogs.

The point is, nature covers all possibilities, from mass die offs, to super successful. Our task in captivity is to support success not support failure. I do not believe in any way, failure is only in captivity. Nature wacks them dead in more ways then you can imagine. Its the other end that interests me. Simply put, in nature, if a snake makes a poor decision, its quickly erased. Nest in the wrong place, gone. Nest in the right place where neonates survive, they continue until that no longer works.

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