How to Hatch Snakes

How to Hatch Snakes. Many snakes reproduce by laying eggs. Snake eggs have a soft, leathery texture and vary in size by species. The eggs are permeable, which allows oxygen and humidity to pass through the eggs and reach the developing snake embryo. Most snakes lay eggs in warm, moist environments. In captivity, hatching snake eggs is a simple process of recreating physical conditions similar to those of the snakes' natural environment with an incubator.

Things Needed

• Styrofoam box with lid
• Small plastic container
• Vermiculite
• Heating pad
• 2 thermometers
• Hydrometer

Step 1

Fill the bottom of a Styrofoam container with no more than 1 inch of water. Water covering the base of the incubator will help maintain humidity and evenly distribute heat throughout the incubator. The size of the Styrofoam container should be proportional to the number of snake eggs that you want to hatch. A small picnic-sized Styrofoam cooler is suitable for hatching a single clutch of snake eggs.

Step 2

Fill a small plastic container with vermiculite. Ensure that the plastic container will easily fit inside the larger Styrofoam container.

Step 3

Place a reptile heating pad under the incubator and set it to the lowest setting.

Step 4

Place two thermometers on the surface of the vermiculite and then place the small plastic container in the water. Its important to have two thermometers to accurately gauge the temperature at all times.

Step 5

Install a hydrometer in the incubator to monitor the humidity levels.

Step 6

Monitor the incubator for two or three days to ensure that the environmental conditions remain stable before adding snake eggs. Most snake eggs require temperatures between 78 and 84 degrees and humidity levels between 75 and 85 percent.

Step 7

Make small depressions in the vermiculite with your thumb and place a single snake egg in each hole. The snake eggs should be half buried in the vermiculite and half above the ground.

Step 8

Monitor the environmental conditions in the incubator daily and adjust the temperature and water level as needed to maintain the proper conditions. Most snake eggs will hatch in 45 to 70 days.

References

• University of Maryland; Snakes; : Raymond V. Bosmans
• Pet Place; Snake Egg Incubation; Jenni Bass
• Sydney Animal Hospital; Snake Egg Incubation; Nigel Bass