Incubation Temperature and Sex Ratio of a Python bivittatus (Burmese Python) Clutch Hatched in Everglades National Park, Florida.

We describe characteristics of a Python bivittatus (Burmese Python) nest from observations made from December 2008 through August 2009 in Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL. The nest hatched on 28 July with a 77% hatching success. The female lost 54% of her body weight while breeding, laying, and incubating eggs, and abandoned the nest 3 days before eggs began hatching. Egg-mass temperature was 26.29-31.41 °C (mean = 28.07 °C), and was more stable than the temperature in direct sun above the nest, which ranged from 20.81 °C to 45.70 °C (mean = 28.45 °C). Egg-mass temperature was likely buffered from extreme heat by adjacent vegetation, where the temperature ranged from 23.19 °C to 30.48 °C (mean = 27.05 °C) and from extreme cold by shivering thermogenesis. Of successful hatchlings, 9 were male and 8 were female. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]