It is egg laying season

[Catherine]

The first of my snakes laid eggs today. Pete is always the first. She has a small number of eggs early in the year and then she forgets all about it until next year.

The other snake girls will be fussing about eggs until the summer. Some of them will lay eggs twice. Not Pete! She has done her duty and she has a leisurely summer.  She is not only beautiful, she is smart.





Corn snake eggs

[Ruth]

Wow, what a lot of eggs and they are big, too! Will they hatch? Does a snake have to sit on them? I don't know anything about eggs hatching with snakes as you can probably tell. lol

[Catherine]

The eggs are smaller than they looks, but they will get bigger as the baby snake grows. Not all will hatch. Some of them are not fertile and they will dry up. Corn snakes lay their eggs and leave them to hatch.
My girls won't leave eggs in the nest box until I come and take care of them.  They are placed in a clean container of damp peat moss and put in the incubator. It is not a very hot incubator, but it has a steady temperature and it is easier to control humidity in an incubator.


Not all eggs hatch. Pete has a poor survival rate for her babies.

[Catslave.]

It's like being a pet midwife Catherine.

[Catherine]

It is like being a midwife. When I realized Pete was pregnant and close to egg laying I set her up in a moss filled nest box.
I checked on her regularly so she knew I was around. When she started laying eggs I let her know I was there.

After she laid the eggs she stayed with them until I came home from work. I took her out and snuggled her a bit and took care of the eggs. I put her back with her family and later I got her a good meal.

I am watching my other girls. So far no one else is ready to lay eggs. I think Firebird and Sedona were breeding tonight so I will have to watch for her to be ready to lay her eggs. The length of time they carry the eggs varies so I really have to recognize the signs that a female is ready. Right now I am in midwife mode. I am paying close attention to the girls. Little changes in a snakes usual behavior are often the only warning I have that she is ready to lay eggs.

Pete was restless and was sunning herself. Usually she is very quiet an does not lie under the heat light.

[Ruth]

Yes, you are a midwife for the snakies! I wish you and Pete all the best in hatching.

[Catherine]

We will know in several months how the eggs will turn out. I will check the eggs regularly, but you can't always tell how the baby inside is doing.

Before they hatch I will have other girls laying eggs.  For some reason Pete is always the first.
So far I couldn't feel eggs in any of my other girls, but I will be watching them closely.
If you run your fingers down either side of the snake you can actually feel the eggs inside. It feels like a string of pearls. Sometimes you can even see the eggs.

I do feel very close to my girls during egg laying season. They count on me to provide the right place for their egg laying and then they trust me to provide for the eggs. If the females stayed with the eggs they would most likely damage them. Also, they can't eat once they are full of eggs. After they lay the eggs, they need to seek food.

[Cibach]

It's that exciting time of year again!!
All good wishes for Pete's eggs this year, and all the other girls, too, of course.

[Catherine]

Some of my younger girls are breeding for the first time. There won't be a lot of eggs in a first clutch, but it is exciting that they are finally old enough.  There is a lot of courtship going on. The whole month is going to be Valentines day around here.

 
On the other hand two of my older girls are not going to produce eggs this year. It is time for them to retire.
They are going to be grandmothers however.

I am excited. All the planning in the world can't tell me exactly what the babies will look like.

[Ruth]

It will be so exciting to see what the babies look like, no?