Help Guide

How to Add a Clutch

Record a new clutch in THE RACK when your female lays eggs.

Before You Start

Adding a clutch creates a record that tracks a female's egg lay through incubation to hatch. You will select the parents, enter the lay date and egg count, and THE RACK calculates the estimated hatch date automatically. No fields are strictly required, but you should enter at least the Dam and Lay Date for the record to be useful.

Time: Under 1 minute Recommended fields: Dam, Lay Date, # Laid Access: All tiers

Open the Add Clutch Form

From your Dashboard, find the Quick Actions panel in the left sidebar. Click the Clutch button (the egg icon).

You can also use the + Add button in the top navigation bar and select "Add Clutch" from the dropdown.

Dashboard showing Quick Actions panel with Clutch button highlighted

The Quick Actions panel on the Dashboard sidebar. Click "Clutch" to open the form.

Review the Clutch ID

When the Add Clutch modal opens, a Clutch ID is automatically generated at the top of the form. The format is CL-YYYY-NNNN (for example, CL-2026-0002).

A green READY badge appears next to the ID, confirming the record is prepared for entry. You do not type or edit this field.

The Add Clutch modal showing the auto-generated Clutch ID CL-2026-0002 with READY badge

The Add Clutch form with the auto-generated Clutch ID and all entry fields visible.

Add a Photo

Click the dashed photo area below the Clutch ID to upload an image of the clutch from your device. This is typically a photo of the eggs as laid.

The photo uploads after you save the record. You can skip this and add a photo later from the clutch's profile in the Incubator.

Select the Sire and Dam

Use the Sire and Dam dropdown menus to select the parents of this clutch from your collection.

Field	What to Enter	Status
Sire	Select the male (father) from the dropdown. Lists all males in your collection by name and ID.	Optional
Dam	Select the female (mother) from the dropdown. Lists all females in your collection by name and ID.	Optional

While both fields are technically optional, selecting the Dam is important. THE RACK uses parent data to track breeding history, calculate genetics for expected offspring, and link the clutch to the breeding pipeline.

Enter the Lay Date and Egg Count

Field	What to Enter	Status
Lay Date	The date the female laid the eggs. Defaults to today's date. Click the field to change it using the date picker.	Optional
# Laid	Total number of eggs in the clutch. Include all eggs (fertile, infertile, and slugs). You can update this later if needed.	Optional
Estimated Hatch Date	Auto-calculated as Lay Date + 59 days. This is the standard ball python incubation period. You do not type this.	Auto

The 59-day estimate is a standard average for ball python incubation at 88-90F. Actual hatch dates can range from 52-65 days depending on incubation temperature and individual variation.

Save the Clutch

When you are done, you have two save options:

Save -- Saves the clutch and closes the form. The clutch will appear in your Incubator.
Save & Add Another -- Saves the clutch and keeps the form open so you can immediately add another. Use this when multiple females lay on the same day.

Click Cancel to close the form without saving.

After saving, your new clutch appears in the Incubator section of the Dashboard and on the Incubator page. From there you can track incubation progress, update egg counts, and eventually record the hatch.

What Happens Next

Once saved, the clutch record does the following:

Appears in the In the Incubator card on your Dashboard with the estimated hatch date.
Shows up on the Incubator page under Breeding in the sidebar, where you can track all active clutches.
Updates the Due Soon alert on the Dashboard as the hatch date approaches.
Links to both parents' breeding history for record keeping.

When the eggs hatch, use the Hatch quick action (or click into the clutch record) to record the hatch and create individual hatchling records.