I removed the egg this morning. I noticed a visible patch of sticky mucus looking stuff spreading out from the side where I first noticed the stickiness. There was a distinct odor, and slightly different color to the egg. Also a tiny fly had been attracted to the odor and had flown into the deli cup through one of the tiny air holes. The egg was even more soft and "squishy" than the day before. I washed off all the vermiculite and sticky stuff and there was absolutely no hole in the egg. The stickiness I had felt was not yolk... it was bacterial slime. So either the bacteria were attracted to the bad egg or my oversight in using vermiculite that had had previous eggs hatch out in it had attracted bacteria to the egg. I pretty much think that the egg had been infertile or bad to begin with... that seems to be the most likely explanation. I slit open the egg and there *was* a tiny cluster of blood vessels among the yolky mass, but I still think that the egg was doomed from the start. I remember reading from other people's posts that if one of the eggs is bad you will usually know pretty soon after they are laid. I had a duck once who laid about a dozen eggs and only two hatched out. You just never know.
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snake:
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

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