I've always been a strange bird, and I like it that way. I like being the one that makes people look at me strange, and thing, wth? I also have a very curious nature, which is one of my fatal flaws. I'm the person that asks all the silly questions that normal people wouldn't even think about.

I know hardly anyone does maternal incubation. But when we bred our ball python, the lovely Wilson, this year, we opted for maternal. We wanted to watch the process. And exciting it was, I can not deny. And a success. She laid a total of five, four were viable. Three hatched, the last died during the hatching process, it was on the bottom and we don't think he was able to get out in time. It was definitely a learning experience.

My moot subject...it will sound strange, but do please keep an open mind.

Four or so years ago, our two female balls shared a tank. As it turned out, Delilah was not the female we were told and the two bred. Which of course prompted an immediate name change to Del. Never before had we bred, thought of breeding, or knew what a gravid female would look like, so we had no idea until five eggs were laid. There were never two more surprised people, and two people that didn't know what to do.

Also, there was a frantic enclosure search. Where on earth was Del? Unless a door is left open, our tanks are escape proof. The pride of my husband, custom built tanks. So he couldn't have escaped. While Wilson sat around her clutch, we searched behind the hide box she'd laid in, under the water bowl, sifted through bedding. Del was no where to be found.

Lifting the hide box off of Wilson, my husband started laughing and said, I found Del. I looked and was shocked to see Del was also wrapped around the clutch, with Wilson wrapped around him. His head resting just where you could see him. He was removed and placed in a new enclosure.

Because of our own ignorance, we were not successful at hatching the eggs. A valid learning experience though, one that we took to heart.

My question is, and yes, it will sound stupid to most (but again, that open mind thing), is I wonder if he would have helped incubate the eggs? Why was he in there? Why would he coil around the eggs like a female? He has no maternal instinct, so why do it at all? Was he just wanting to be in the hide box with her? He had other options, so why use that one? And why actually coil around the eggs?

We know so much, yet so little about wild ball pythons. Yes, the chances are extremely slim that males are involved in the incubation process. BUT so many males in the animal kingdom are involved in hatching or raising of young, so why not a snake too?

Just one of those things I needed to get out.