if i was to purchase a male and female and they mated and the female layed a clutch of eggs and i did not put them in a incubator and let the female on them what are the pros and cons of this i know i asked a lot of dumb questions just trying to learn as much as i can and all of you have knowlege of ball pythons

why not just ask bob clark...

http://www.bobclark.com/a03_06.asp

good luck,
ck

A con of maternal incubation is that the female will be off feed for an additional 2 months while she sits on the eggs. When a female has just laid a clutch of eggs, they are often concave because they've lost so much weight laying the clutch and also haven't eaten for at least a month and a half, probably longer. If a female were to move off the eggs and eat while maternally incubating the clutch, I think you'd risk them defecating on the clutch and causing mold or something in that humid environment.

female ball pythons will coil their eggs, but will not produce heat like some of the other python species will do. so with that being said, yes you can leave the eggs with the mother in the tub as long as you "create" the right enviroment that the eggs will require.

i've done about 45days with maternal incubation....but then chickened out and pulls the eggs to a bator. i know Steven Kelly, you can find him on FB.....he had some of his females maternally incubate till hatching....he should still have those pics to show.

just keep in mind that female won't be ready for that season....maybe even the next.....

Pitoon

maternal incubation can be done successfully if you do your homework.

I dont recommend it to new breeders to the game of egg incubation. Dont get me wrong ball pythons eggs are very hardy, but they have a limit.

Females Can and Will eat while maternally incubating. This is done when offering SMALL prey items to not disturb the eggs much.

Only con IMO is that keeping ideal temps and humidity 80%+ for the duration of incubation is the challenge. Since I have had females(virgins) Lay eggs on the cool side and wrapped them there.

Which ever you choose, be sure you can maintain proper temps and humidity, if not incubator is your best-friend.