Ball Python Clutch #1 this season!

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Eggs are doing great...I guess I'm at day 26 right now...I'm incubating at 88 degrees, so I expect them to go closer to 60 days.

A lot of people incubate at 89-90, they hatch sooner but tend to be smaller and have absorbed less yoke upon hatching. I figure I can wait another 5 days to have a better chance at all healthy hatchlings.

I'm also expecting another 2 clutches in the next 2-3 weeks...can't wait!
 
crazy...glad to hear there doin well...make sure to post pics on the hatchlings....
 
Here they are at 26 days...

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Notice the "windows" (dark spot on two of the eggs), apparently thats an area of the egg that did not completely calcify, and happens randomly. Further into incubation, you can actually see the embryo. All of them show active veins when candled, so I'm hoping for the best!

The one slug, however, isn't doing as well ;)
 
elevatethis;887031; said:
The one slug, however, isn't doing as well ;)

lol yea dont hold your breath on that one.
Good luck with these. Best times of year now, everyones waiting for laying and hatching and births.
 
Nice!! They look real good so far.

That's not bad at all...one slug on her first clutch...my girl gave me 3 on her first clutch.

Just out of curiosity, what are you using for an incubation setup?
 
I am using an old Coke fridge, like you'd see by the check-out line of the grocery store with the glass door on the front.

I stripped out all the shelving and cooling stuff from the back, and added two strips of 11" flexwatt to the back wall and front door.

The heat is controlled by a Helix DBS-1000. For temp control, accuracy, and reliability, these things ROCK.

For egg boxes, I'm using 15 qt sterilite containers about 1/2 full with vermiculite. I used a 5:1 vermic to water mix by weight, it seemed to get the mix just right. I think a lot of people tend to make the vermic too wet...properly mixed vermic should actually feel more dry then wet, and of course, its always better to error on the dry side, as dry eggs can be saved, while wet eggs just mold over and die.
 
elevatethis;888372; said:
For egg boxes, I'm using 15 qt sterilite containers about 1/2 full with vermiculite. I used a 5:1 vermic to water mix by weight, it seemed to get the mix just right. I think a lot of people tend to make the vermic too wet...properly mixed vermic should actually feel more dry then wet, and of course, its always better to error on the dry side, as dry eggs can be saved, while wet eggs just mold over and die.

That's a pretty sweet incubator you built there. I definitely agree with you on the mixing ratio...I also use perlite in the mixture. When I first started breeding reptiles (about 10 years ago) I used a ratio I read in a "how to" manual and about every other day I was using Q-tips to wipe off the mold that was starting to grow on the eggs because it was too wet.

I make my substrates much more dry now. :D
 
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