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Need help! Sunday Night Surprise Clutch!

OtakuDragon

OtakuDragon

New member
So I bought a corn snake off of craigslist almost 4 weeks ago and as I was getting ready for work I peeked in and there was eggs. The look like miniature plump goose eggs. However, this was LITERALLY 3 minutes before I had to leave.

I haven't been able to get her to eat since I got her ..guess I know why now, huh? I called the people I bought her from and I guess she was cohabbed with a male snow corn so it is possible that they are viable.

My husband is home, so if there is something he can do tonight, that would be great.

I was thinking moistened aspen in a tubberware container for the night? I don't have any other type of substrate except for the sand in the backyard... Or will they be okay in her hide box for night? Poor thing, so wonder why she was always trying to get out of the tank...

What are the best care guide lines for eggs and incubation?

Thanks so much.
 
Well congrats on your surprise! As for the eggs, wait until your snake has finished laying. Mark the top of the eggs lightly with a pencil. Then take them out being careful not to turn them and put them in a container on moistened paper towel, vermiculite, moss, or perlite. You want it moist not soggy, and unable to squeeze the water out. I would also cover them with a moist one paper towel or moss as well. cover the container and place it somewhere where the temp will be 80-85 degrees. Even back in your snakes home would work.

Once you have the eggs out of the snakes home and in the container feed her a small meal like a hopper since she will be going into her post lay shed right away. This helps her bounce back after the trauma of laying eggs. Once her post lay shed is done feed her every 5-6 days to build her back up in case she double clutches and lays another clutch of eggs for you. They loose weight after they lay their eggs.
 
There's plenty of information to help you here if you word search "incubation" but for now I'd have him moisten a paper towel or two and wring out all excess water, shape them like a birds nest and place them in it. Try to keep between 78-82 degrees. Good luck!
 
Well, there is 14 in all. I'm off to get some hatchrite now that I'm off work and figure out what the best incubator option is going to be.



My husband wasn't sure if she was done or not when I talked to him before he went to bed, so we ended up keeping them with her in her hide box over night. I moved them to this in the meantime and with a damp papertowel they are already looking less dented.

15doxog.jpg
 
Also, I'm not sure if it matters, but the camera bleached out the image a bit. The yellowish areas are a little more yellowy than the picture shows.
 
They look fertile, but aspen is not a good substrate for them. If you can get out to a store that has a garden center go buy a bag of Vermiculite. Make sure there are no additive chemicals. Fill the tupperwear container 3/4ths of the way with the Vermiculite and add water until it is damp but NOT soaking wet. Put the eggs into the vermiculite, digging them a little crevice, placing the clump in the crevice, and kind of smoothing the vermiculite around them.

Next soak some sphagnum moss until it is saturated. Wring it out so that it is damp but not soaking wet. You don't want to dry the eggs out but you also don't want to drown them. Place the sphagnum moss on top of the eggs and put the lid on the tupperwear container.

The eggs need to be incubated in the low to mid 80s. 90 is too high.

This is all just general stuff, do a lot more researching. I just wanted to give you the basics so your eggs don't die while you're researching.

Here is a picture of how my eggs were set up. Note that this picture was taken right after my snake double clutched. The large batch of eggs were days away from hatching, the smaller batch was the double clutch (most of which have now gone bad), and the 3 very yellow eggs are infertile eggs, referred to as slugs.
P1019355.jpg


It's hard to see the vermiculite in that picture, but it is there. The spaghnum moss had been removed for the photo. Here is what the tub looked like with the lid on. Note that this is an earlier picture. At that time I had a damp paper towel over the sphagnum moss. I put it there because I read that some people used them but was advised against it and removed it. The paper towel is not necessary.
P1017116.jpg


Also, although there is a fair amount of condensation on the sides, the inside was damp but not wet. Do not spray the eggs directly with water. The substrate you use to incubate in should NOT be soupy.

Do more research, but for now I hope that helps!
 
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