Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I decided to make a whole new thread on this because I don't want this subject to die.

I'm leaving on vacation today for a week so this concerns me because my mind will be on this the whole time. Hopefully I'll get some good advice when I get back.

My woma eggs have been in the incubator for 19 days. They look fine when candled. The temp is 87-88 via proportional thermostat and the humidity is kept 85-90%. The eggs are inside plastic shoeboxes with wet vermiculite on the bottom and a layer of dry vermiculite on top.
When I take the boxes out for inspection the eggs "pop" back into regular shape. What is that all about?
I've been adding moisture to the substrate with a syringe injecting the water to the bottom of the container so the eggs don't get wet.
What is the best way to add moisture to the individual boxes?
The book "The Reproductive Husbandry of Pythons and Boas" from the Institute for Herpetological Research, in Stanford talks about spraying the inside of the continers and even getting the eggs wet. They don't seem to follow the same philosophy about getting woma eggs wet.
I just don't know who to believe.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated when I get back.

Thanks

Rudy
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0.1 Rubber Boa
1.1 Womas
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
1.1 Leopard tortoises
0.1 Pembroke Welsh Corgi

If there's condensation on the insides of the container, humidity is fine. Nothing else you can do. They may not be fertile, or they may. Some collapsing is normal, and not all embryos are the same size.
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

When I notice eggs starting to collapse (which for me are usually the eggs that are on top of the clutch, having no contact with the substrate), I place a damp/wet paper towel over the top of the egg container, but not touching any of the eggs. I always pick an egg container that is slightly taller (~1-2"than the height of the clutch. The wet paper towel serves as a "lid" to the container. Since it is wet, it sticks to the sides of the egg container well requiring nothing else to secure it. Also, place the egg container inside a shallow pan filled with distilled water. Make sure that at least one corner of the paper towel "lid" is submerged in the water of the pan. The paper towel will wick water up from the container and raise the humidity of the egg container without getting the eggs or the substrate wet. When I've done this, I usually see the collapsing eggs inflate right back up. If they've collapsed too far, however, or if it is too late in the incubation period, you may not see much improvement. Don't worry too much though, as I've seen even severely collapsed eggs hatch just fine. The hatchlings from the collapsed eggs just seem a little smaller than the others.

Good luck,

SSSammy

thanks a bunch.
This helps alot.

Rudy
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0.1 Rubber Boa
1.1 Womas
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
1.1 Leopard tortoises
0.1 Pembroke Welsh Corgi

The paper towel trick works very well, though it can wick the water out pretty quick from your resevoir. If you hvae condensation on the inside your container you should be fine, my last two clutches of womer eggs both dented somewhat but hatched out fine. Just keep an eye on things when it gets time to hatch, a collapsed egg can trap a baby inside and not allow him/her to pip properly.

Good luck!
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Cheers
Lateralis
"I would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right"
Marion "Doc" Ford