Spotted Python Eggs

The Spotted Pythons were cooled down this year to simulate proper autumnal conditions. I wasn't certain copulation was taking place, but it transpired almost all of it occurred in the dark seclusion of the stone cave near the main heat source. 

I caught them tied a few times, as did Todd, and so it was just a case of whether the female had enough body weight and the male was fertile. This year was the first time she was large enough to breed (I had worked hard feeding her up during 2011 to ensure the greatest chance of success). 

It was fantastic for the boys to witness the reality of reproduction. There was no point talking about birds and bees or storks with the amount of questions these two have! Best to let nature explain and then support with additional words. 

Certainly the path from copulation to egg laying has not run according to the text books. They were introduced to each other around November and the temperature gradually reduced (via habitstat control) until it rested around 23 degrees. As the weeks progressed (with food having also been withdrawn) biochemical signals began to slip both animals into breeding mode. 

A female python's ovulation is different to the widely accepted human definition. Rather than releasing the eggs on a regular basis, which may or may not be met by the male's seed, the female snake will ovulate once successful mating has occurred and she is literally ready to push the eggs down to the waiting spermatazoa. At this point a noticeable swelling is observed - as if she had consumed a very large prey item. I didn't witness the event, but it is possible it occurred while she was in the cave or that it was less pronounced and therefore not obvious (which does happen). 

About two months ago we had the pre-lay shed and I kept the faith. It is approximately 30 days from this point until eggs appear. After this pre-lay shed the female normally shows no interest in mating, but I saw them tied at least once more after the event. That is unusual. 

Also the female did not appear at all broad or full, she always remained rather slim looking, and this added weight to our opinion that the pairing had failed.

Anyway 60 days after what we assumed was the pre-lay shed, and with all hope diminished, she did in fact lay a clutch! This caught us all by surprise and I was certain it wouldn't happen this year. I lifted the cave up, in order to confirm she was ok (as no hunting behaviour had been observed), and she was coiled in a perfect spiral. I had never seen her lay like this before and, on shifting her head slightly, I saw a perfect, full, white egg. The female is normally good at deciding which eggs are infertile and removing them from the clutch, so at this time it is looking positive. 

Female pythons are maternal and will remain coiled around their brood throughout incubation. They will also twitch their bodies to raise the temperature and maintain optimum conditions. This is peculiar to the family Pythonidae.

Fingers crossed we are in a position to reveal babies. The longer a female holds on to the eggs the less time they take to hatch, so based on what we have witnessed it could be anything from 38 - 58 days before miniature serpents venture forth into the big, wide world.