Maternal Incubation: Nature’s Way

It’s one of the most iconic types of picture you’ll see of snakes on any platform out there. A mother snake, wrapped around her eggs, while little heads take their first look at the world as they just begin to hatch. It’s a topic you will see discussed in many circles as something a lot of people would like to try, but many are to nervous to give up the control to experience.

In my opinion, it is one of the measurements that prove just how on point your husbandry is for the species. Not only have you successfully bred the species…but things are so in-tuned that the mother cared for and hatched the eggs right there in the enclosure, with varying temps and humidities, in an incubation medium you provided. I told myself that if I succeeded with this method this year(second year in a row) I would write up a blog about my experiences with it. Well after 57 days, I walked into my reptile room a couple weeks ago, and upon checking on Sunna(female jungle carpet python), I found her loosened on the eggs and heads popping out everywhere.

I should precursor this with the fact that my only experience with this method thus far has been my jungle carpet pythons. Carpets being carpets tend to be easier and more adaptable to just about anything, so to me it would follow that their eggs are very similar, comparatively. Step one is to make sure your female is at peak proper body condition during the season to make sure she can handle the stress maternal incubation will put on her body. Please understand this means not under feeding, but also not over feeding. 58+ days is a long time caring for eggs after a stressful breeding season, so she truly needs to be in absolute peak condition for the species. I believe this is important not only because of that stress…but if her body isn’t perfect, her instinct may kick in and go into self preservation mode, making her abandon the eggs.

At this point I feel I could just write next to nothing, because it’s truly nature taking over once the eggs are laid. But I’d still like to explain a few things in hopes of answering questions you may have or concerns with future clutches. The way I have set mine up, have been with plastic totes(which double as hides, and nest boxes)…directly under the heat panels. This has worked for me, in my room, with carpets…but please realize your results may vary with different rooms and species. Inside the lay box, once the female has ovulated, I fill it 3/4 of the way with ripped up newspaper as a laying medium. I prefer to almost never bother her at that point other than to check for eggs, and then maybe one or two quick checks during actual incubation. Once the eggs come, I will check temperatures the first couple of weeks, but this far I have done nothing to change anything, as I believe the mother will move eggs and do what needs to be done naturally. My first try the temperatures were cooler than normal artificial temps, and then this season they were a touch higher than I would have liked….but both clutches hatched with very good results.

With carpets, myself and other experienced breeders spend a lot of time preaching that you don’t have to mist them at all for humidity and it’s a non issue. The only exception I make to this rule, is during maternal incubation. I will mist the cage down maybe once a week or so, while being sure not to have any water drip into the lay box. Another thing I like to do, is provide fresh drinking water in their bowl daily if possible, and I move the bowl closer to the lay box, thinking it’s that much easier for her to drink while still close to the eggs. The last thing I would like to touch on is feeding while she’s incubating. I’ve never done it myself while I know plenty of others that have….so both ways obviously work. I would just suggest reading your animal as best as you can, and if you attempt to feed, leave it right outside the nest box so she can take it in the least excited manor possible.

Also just to go a little further, both experiences I fed the mothers a couple of days after the eggs hatched. In my opinion it’s best to start slow, so I feed very small meals the first couple of times….kind of just slowly getting her body back into the swing of things after the long breeding season. It also needs to be said, after maternal incubation the female should absolutely be given the next year off. It takes an incredible amount out of the snake and they need to recuperate. In the wild they likely would only produce clutches every couple of years, and this falls under that category in regards to what it takes out of the female. So give AT LEAST 1 season off from breeding after maternal incubation.

After a couple months or so, you should walk into your room one day and notice the mother has relaxed her grip on the eggs and exposed them because they have begun to hatch. There’s no better feeling than knowing you’ve provided that animal with the best conditions possible to not only survive, but thrive so well that they reproduced and cared for the eggs all by them selves. I do want to point out that different species will require very different things, so thought should be put into that. While carpets are very easy for this method, other species may take some work on your part. But at the end of the day, that work is actually what you need to do to provide the animal with absolute optimal conditions to do what nature intended. I know for a long time I was nervous to attempt this method. But after only two years, it’s my absolute favorite method to use, as it’s extremely easy on the keeper, and absolutely a ton of fun to observe. So if your interested in MI, make sure you ask experienced folks a lot of questions, figure out what works for you and your set up…and give it a try. Because after all, this is exactly what got many of us into this hobby…cool and interesting animals doing cool and interesting natural behaviors. Enjoy!