hello and welcome to the forum.

perhaps if you give your location a local member could take the eggs and pop them in an incubator ?


As for the temp, the ideal for grass snakes is 86.

 

hiya if you are by me, we have a muck heap where we keep our horses and have already had plenty of babies hatch and emerge from there this year! we could put them into it if you wanted if ur local!

laura x

 

Hi there, well lucky you is all I can say, wow!!! :smile:

But seriously, reptile eggs mustn't be turned either, the embryo is not fixed and when a egg is turned the snake can drown inside - sorry to scare you but better you know now.

Hopefully someone lives near and can help. But well done on trying to save them : victory:

 

Well done on rescuing them. Good luck.: victory:

 

Thank you everyone for the advice so far

Unfortunately the eggs had been turned already when I'd found them. I probably turned them more putting them in the bucket. But they've stayed put since - and hopefully some may have survived that lot.

I'm near Exeter. The snakes come from Somerset. Ideally I'd like them to go back where they came from - it's ideal snake country, and somewhere I go a lot.

But if someone local is willing to offer an incubator and expertise I'd be very relieved. Does anyone know if hatching in captivity has a detrimental effect on their life in the wild? How quickly would they need to be released?

Maybe it would be better for the snakes to hatch in the wild if we can find somewhere for them... Thanks for the offer Sugababe... I'm still looking near where they came from. But does anyone else know of anywhere in the Exeter / Somerset area where snakes would be welcome?

Thank you all again.

 

lots of us will be in exmouth next saturady as there is a huge show on there.
other than that i am in yeovil but dont drive. If they could be got to me i would happily pop them in my incubator. We live in town but out house backs on a protected area of trees and open grass land with a pond, i could check to see if they could be released there.
Thing is you cant just let them go anywhere and they die through the area being unsutallbe or they distroy other wildlike....it takes a bit of research and enquirys.

 

Thank you wohic.

The eggs come from a place about 15 miles from Yeovil, so it's a possibility. Also my sister lives in Yeovil, although I don't think she'd be very thrilled about being asked to transport snakes!

I could drop them off with you, and if any hatch I could collect them and release them back where they came from.

Depends how well they travel, and how quickly they should be released...

 

I would think it best to release them as soon as possible...... perhaps as soon as they have had their first shed, so they dont get used to captive feeding (not many frozen pinks laying around in fields )

well if you want me to see if they wll hatch I am happy to try.

 

your welcome, :smile:

i know we have plenty of babies wandering around our fields where our horses are, massive area of grassland, no built up area at all and one huge pile of horse manure lol! pretty sure there are still eggs in there!
so if it falls through i can give them a go and release them where the other babies are, we to will be at exeter show saturday.

laura x

 

Well, I didn't kill them all! The first one has just cut a hole in its egg, and I can see a some movement inside...

So now I really do need to work out what to do with them!

So many questions...

Is it better to wait till after their first shed before releasing them? (Am I right in thinking that's within the first week or two, and they don't need to eat until after?)

Do they still rely on the heat from the nest site when they're that young? Or would it be ok to release them somewhere else?

What should keep it in when it's hatched? Is it ok to keep them together? (I'm hoping more than one will hatch!)

Should I keep them at the same sort of temperature when they've hatched? They're in the conservatory at the moment, and I'm insulating the bucket at night so it doesn't cool down too much.

Thank you all. I'll keep you posted, and maybe see some of you on Saturday!

 

wow congrats some have survived! if one has then hopefully more will have done too!

 

congrats!! well done you!

i would put them all in their own tubs (boxes that crickets are brought in are good) keep their temps at the same the eggs have been at, they will take approx a week to shed after hatching, once they have they should be ready to go, try to handle them as little as possible.

dont think they would need the nest site, as i believe they would move away from it as soon as they have hatched! ideally they need to go back around where the nestsite was tho, as it must be an ideal habitat for the snakes to be breeding there initially.

hope that helps, im not an expert tho! wohic may help you better lol
all the best with them and i hope some more hatch for you!

yeh maybe see you saturday at exeter!

laura x

 

that little one out yet??

 

Snakey had hatched when I checked a couple of hours later

He's now in a tub 15x27 cm (6x11 ins) with some grass and scrunched up newspaper. I've put holes in the lid - not so big that 'he' can escape! But it seems quite wet in there - condendation everywhere except around the holes. Is this too wet? Is more ventilation required?

Also, it goes against the grain not to provide food - completely different from mammals! Feel free to reassure me this is ok...

Or tell me what to do differently...!

 

im not sure on the humidity but, yep its fine not to feed it!
with all hatchings (afaik) you only offer food after they have had their first shed.

is there any more appearing?

 

Another hatched today

And it escaped too! I noticed the egg had been cut, but didn't realise it was already empty. I must have lifted the snake out with the newspaper! Recaptured and tubbed without harm though.

Another has poked its head out of its egg too... but not emerged yet. I'm a bit afraid that the kitchen fitting activity and noise are making it shy. How long do they normally take to emerge?

The good thing about the new kitchen is that there's plenty of polystyrene to insulate the tubs at night.

OK, so no food. That's a relief! But do they need water?

Di

 

yes water they will require, milk carton lids are ideal.

 

Many congrats on hatching some of them so far

The only help I can offer is with regards to the condensation on the tubs - tyr making your air holes in the sides of the tubs rather than the lid - I have found that keeps condensation back a little

Could we possibly see some pics of the little ones please

 

Thanks Wohic - I'll water them straight away. All THREE of them!

Di

 

huge congrats!

 

great news that they have started to hatch!!
We want piccies!!!!! or atleast i know i do!! lol

 

yea wouldnt mind see some pics to and a very big well done for all ur time and effort :no1:

 

well done for resquing them dude!hats off especially since you have never had them before!its unfortunate the exitor show is off becuase you could of gotten them to a breeder or someone who would of been able to take care of them there.all the best with them mate!

 

only just read the rest of the comments....well done for getting them to hatch!

 

great news more are appearing!
i'd love to see pics too!

 

And then there were five! With another one on its way out by the look of things.

My camera's broken... desperately trying to replace it. Will post some pics asap...

Di