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Macklot (Freckled) Python Hatchlings 2001 (Liasis mackloti mackloti) |
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This is how I found the eggs
on the morning of May 6, 2001. The female was not aggressive when removed from the eggs and did not
resist or try to byte. The eggs were all a beautiful bright white and as you can see in the right
picture, were all adhered together into one clump. Click on the images to see larger versions. |
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This is the Hovabator incubator setup I used. The eggs
were placed in a plastic shoebox half full of vermiculite. The vermiculite was mixed in a
1:1 ratio by weight and needed to be occasionally dampened during incubation. The wire in the
picture is a temperature sensing probe which provided digital readouts to a remote display.
The botom of the Hovabator incubator was filled with water to maintain high humidity.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
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The top most egg piped (slit open) on May 4 and the hatchlings head poked out for its
first breath of air. I then manually cut slits into all the remaining eggs to ensure that
all the snakes had a place to breathe. This is done to relieve internal egg pressure
incase the eggs are too wet and therefore too full. Ideally the egg should provide a pocket
of air inside when slit open. Many of the hatchlings slit additional openings into their eggs.
I takes 24 - 48 hours before the snakes finish absorbing their yolks and become brave enough to
leave the safety of the egg.
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As can be seen in the pictures above the hatchlings were exhausted when first out of the egg. I was able to pick them up, rinse
them in the sink, weigh them and place them into individual shoeboxes with out any difficulty.
However, this species is known for its aggressive young. Once recovered from the stress of hatching
these little blighters were full of piss and vinegar. I took many bites while feeding and cleaning
these little beauties but despite their efforts the bites are painless. You have got to laugh at their bravery. Calm and consistent handling while
young quickly tames the hatchlings down to become some of the best pet python species. Click
on the images to see larger versions.
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