Double clutches would be nice. I doubt the one that laid the 25 eggs will but the 1 with just 5 might. The one that laid 25 has been eating like she’s starving but the 1 that only laid 5 has refused to eat after laying her eggs. I have checked her and i’m pretty sure she’s not holding any back. She’s been a picky eater since i got her. She was raised on live rats and i feed f/t mice.
I didn’t candle until about 2 weeks and the slugs were pretty obvious. Solid yellow and getting hard. All the good ones had lots of veins. 2 of the slugs were growing mold so i was happy to get them out.
How long does it usually take between clutches if they do double clutch?
Female will usually lay a second clutch a week or so before the first clutch she layed piped, somtetimes closer to the hatch date, they will do a shed again like before. Here is the thing with second clutches they are always smaller and have more infertiles. You could reintroduce a male after she has eating a few times to try to get a fresh lock for more viable eggs, but they are always not as good as the first. Your snake that only layed 5 eggs and hasn’t eating worries me. Corns usually lay 10+ at least. I would soak her for a few hours in a tub filled half way up her body with warm water and put her back in a egg laying container in her enclosure. You can usually feel or see if a egg is stuck, depending on her weight and body condition. If really just five eggs that is strange to me, hope all is well with her.
Neither of my females has done the things they were supposed to do. Neither of them shed before they were ready to breed, both shed within a few days of leaving brumation, and neither shed right before laying. The one with 25 eggs shed 3 days after laying and the other just shed today, more than 2 weeks after laying. Last time trying to feed her was Sunday and she acted interested but never ate. Maybe it had to do with being almost ready to shed. I have checked her out pretty good and can’t feel anything inside of her so i’m pretty sure there are no hold backs. Her eggs were twice the size of the other female with 25 eggs though.
Yep. I have wished at times that they wouldn’t, but a lot do anyway. I’ve had a couple of girls who laid twice every season, even when they weren’t bred. And sometimes it seems like the ones who laid the most eggs on the first round lay the largest second clutches. More slugs is also quite usual, as @banereptiles said. You should prepare for second clutches, just in case.
Apologies, as this is a bit off topic, but the discussion of incubation temp ranges in Corns got me thinking about incubation humidity. As with temps, I’ve seen a variety of recommendations out there from various sources. I typically try to keep the humidity @ ~85% in my incubator, but when I take readings inside the plastic bins with the eggs in them, the humidity levels are nearly always 90-95%, which seems a bit high to me. I’ve nearly always had good success wrt hatching, and very few issues with eggs drying out or molding (good eggs anyway; had plenty of infertile ones mold). I’m just curious how other folks monitor, and control humidity and what levels/percentage people try to maintain. Thanks!
ps- I incubate at Corn eggs @ 82 degrees (fluctuates between 81.5 - 82.5) and have rarely ever had issues. I’ve read that incubating at higher temps can not only cause deformities, but can decrease the length of time to hatching. However, I incubated 9 clutches last year at exactly 82, and the average time to hatching was 60 days (i.e., not exactly fast). Food for thought
Well, I may be flamed for this but I monitor humidity by touch. I do live on the Gulf Coast, so our ambient summer humidity is around 3000% . Okay, maybe not quite, but our dewpoints are regularly in the 70s, which is quite high. I like to replicate nature when reasonably possible and I use sphagnum moss as the incubation medium. The eggs are in clear containers, and I keep an eye on the condensation as well as on the way the moss feels. As long as there’s a light mist on the container walls, I’m happy. I mist the moss on the edges when it feels a bit dry. I rarely have a problem with mold; some of that is likely due to the moss, which has some antimicrobial properties. So far have never had a problem with dehydration.
Haha, well if you get flamed for that, toss me into the fire too! I don’t monitor the humidity levels with a hygrometer. I incubate in moist vermiculite with a layer of damp sphagnum moss on top. I check on them every few days, give them some fresh air, and remoisten moss if it starts to get dry. I haven’t had any issues with mold or with eggs drying out.
Just goes to show how variable methods can be, and all seem to work…one of the many reasons I love Corns! I incubate in 100% perlite, and never cover the eggs with moss (or anything else). IDK, but I don’t imagine that Corns manage to cover their eggs in the wild, so I’m curious if there is any reason for the moss on top, other than its antimicrobial properties?
Right? Me too! Their flexibility is a great thing. And I’m kinda thinking that most clutches in nature do end up with at least some degree of cover from windblown, drifting leaves, moss, etc.
As for why I cover eggs, it does help keep humidity even. There’s the antimicrobial bonus. There’s also the possibility that keeping them covered with a natural medium like moss might actually make hatching easier. I know that there’s been scientific study done with alligator eggs, proving that eggs surrounded by moss, leaves, and such - the way mama alligator does things - have a higher hatch rate. The shells are easier for the babies to cut through because of enzymes’ action.
Covering them also gives me an excuse to check on them often and feel like I’m doing something useful while passing those loooong days before pippies appear!
. Okay, maybe not quite, but our dewpoints are regularly in the 70s, which is quite high. I like to replicate nature when reasonably possible and I use sphagnum moss as the incubation medium. The eggs are in clear containers, and I keep an eye on the condensation as well as on the way the moss feels. As long as there’s a light mist on the container walls, I’m happy. I mist the moss on the edges when it feels a bit dry. I rarely have a problem with mold; some of that is likely due to the moss, which has some antimicrobial properties. So far have never had a problem with dehydration.