Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well to my great suprize I just found 10 eggs. Unfortuneately they were not laid in the laying box (probably too wet) and were placed under a cardboard hide box probably a day or two ago?? They still look good but have dessicated to the point of maybe a thumbsize depression on each egg. I have rinsed them carefully and put them in slightly damper than normal vermiculite. Does anyone have experience with (hopefully) slightly dessicated eggs? This is her third year with a clutch. The first one also had about a dozen, of which a couple were bad but 3-4 never made it out of the egg (fully developed). Last year only a couple were fertile but neither fully developed embryo ever pipped the egg. So keep you fingers crossed and let me know if you have had success or failure with dessciated eggs. Thanks

It is not a good idea to wrinse or turn snake eggs, big no no. It seems to affect their ability to fend off mold as far as wrinsing. If you turn them the embrio will usualy die if they have been out a few days. The bright side is that they might still hatch.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Thanks- I should have said that I sprayed them gently and kept the top up. I will keep you updated on their progress.

Bob H

I NEVER allow eggs to come into direct contact with water, as eggs are hydrophilic and will normally act as a sponge when coming into contact with such. Direct contact with even a minute amount of water can drown the developing embryo. I simply add more water to the surrounding incubation substrate and/or allow for less ventilation within the incubation box, should it appear the eggs are becoming a bit dehydrated…

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Make sure to wring them out good if they get too wet!

Having actually MADE this mistake myself early on in my impressionable early indigo breeding stage,I can attest to it first hand:

NEVER rinse the eggs. Though they may appear dehydrated and in fact may be so, rinsing them can cause them to a)mold b) become so waterlogged as to prevent O2 from entering the ggs.

Just my opinion.

TURNING the eggs is another no-no. I have done this with Birds Eggs(Yes...before Fred bred the Eastern Indigo and other snakes, he was a *gulp* admitted bird breeder of parrots, finches and softbills.).. and always with lousy results. in fact it is good to mark the eggs so that they arent inadvertently rotated when and if you have to move or separate them.

Please post pics of your neonates when they hatch

Thanks

Fredrick Albury
Aztec Reptiles