This morning I was in a rush and barely had enough time to glance at my snakes so when I came from the office, I really wanted to check on them. As soon as I saw the way Knuckles was coiled, I knew she had finally laid her clutch. I've been worried that she may be retaining her eggs. I even had an appointment with my vet scheduled for Friday morning. I was expecting a clutch of eggs in March because I had mistakenly assumed that a shed from the middle of February to be her pre-lay shed. But she shed again at the end of April.

Before opening the tub, I immediately noticed one roll-out healthy appearing egg. After opening the cage and removing her, I saw a clutch of seven great looking eggs. Candling shows nice vein development in all eight eggs, including the roll out. Maybe I will have eight healthy baby snakes.

My girlfriend is tripping! When I removed the snake from the eggs, Monica flipped out. Saying I was ripping a mother from her children; the mom needed some time to be with her eggs; she will miss her babies; etc. Monica couldn't stand it any longer and left the house-cursing my Spanish and slamming doors behind her. She just feels so bad for Knuckles. Silly woman!

This is my first attempt at breeding. Needless to say, I am excited. I chose to breed to increase my first-hand knowledge and experience of the hobby. Also, I wanted to educate my daughter about the cycle of life and the miracle of birth. Plus, I want to off-set some of the expense of caring for my snakes. Two different pet shop owners have already agreed to buy my baby pythons. Money earned from selling them will go toward a future Rodent Pro order. She was bred to a normal and a Mojave. Even if all of them are normal, the money earned is enough to purchase a six month supply of feeders.