Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm at day 40 and one egg appears as if it's begining to mold. Sunday evening I added water to my vermiculite fearing it was drying out and i think i added too much. Tuesday when I opened the egg box I noticed 2 drops of water on an egg and a slight discoloration. It appears to be getting worse on the one egg, the others appear to be fine. Is there any way to save this egg??? Hatching time is only 2 weeks away. Is there any way to slow the mold and save it or is it too late? Thanks in advance for any help, Joe
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0.0.1 Green tree python (Aru LT)
0.0.1 Green tree python (Wamena LT)
0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
1.0 Albino ball python
0.1 100% het Albino ball python
0.1 Normal ball python
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.0 Albino cornsnake

Try to remove the excess moisture. Have you candled this egg?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I just now candled it and there are veins present but i only see them where the egg is still appearing normal. However, one area around the size of my thumb appears almost translusent while candling and no veins are present in this area.
On Tuesday when I noticed the problem I switch the eggs into a backup egg box which I had setup a couple weeks ago incase of humidity issues. I also partially covered this egg with dry vermiculite to try and absorb excess moisture from the bad area. Do you think the snake has already passed away if mold is growing on the egg, or is there a chance it can still hatch. It was perfectly fine this past weekend. Thanks Joe
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0.0.1 Green tree python (Aru LT)
0.0.1 Green tree python (Wamena LT)
0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
1.0 Albino ball python
0.1 100% het Albino ball python
0.1 Normal ball python
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.0 Albino cornsnake

At day 40, you are doing pretty good. I have seen surface mold from too much moisture - been there myself. Once the excess moisture was removed - doing exactly what you did - the mold did not go away but did not get worse and the eggs hatched fine.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Hi Joe,

Buy some athelete's foot powder and rub a thin layer onto the portion of the egg that is molded and a bit of the border around the mold. Repeat every few days.

If your vermiculite is really too damp, you might add some dry into the mix.

Veins get harder to see as hatching approaches, my guess is your little guy is just fine at this point.

Good luck,

Christy

Couldn't the althelete's foot powder have a negative affect on the growing embryo since eggs are so porous?
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3.12 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball python
1.0 Plains Garter
0.1 Rosy boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
-----My list is too long, so I'll stop here!
*Amy*

Well,

Ralph is the one who taught me this technique (Thanks, Ralphie!) - and I have used it on a few eggs each season. I have never seen any noticable problems with the babies that have hatched.

Remember, we are not talking about coating entire eggs - just spreading a thin layer of desinex the moldy area and the area immediately surrounding the edge of the mold. If you catch the mold when it starts, that's not alot of powder.

Christy