Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay. i have about 35 flapneck chameleon eggs. I have them in the incubater and I noticed that two are starting to get mold. What should I do!?! Is there anything in particular that is causing this? are the eggs bad? any help would be very much appreciated thanks.

Don't let the eggs get wet themselves, but instead keep the incubating medium moistened. I helped out two families attempting to breed retiles this past weekend, and this was the problem that was deemed the culprit to all their molding egg problems.

Poor kid had gone through 3 clutches from his Leopard Geckos not knowing what he was doing wrong. Hopefully I was able to set him and his family back on track.

I think this is one of the most common problems people have.
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CANADIAN SILKWORMS

if it is too moist, how do i resolve the problem?

Prepare a second container, carefully lifting the eggs and repositioning them into the new one.

Alternatively, put many holes into the lid to dry out the incubation medium. When it is at the correct moisture levels, replace the lid with a new one with an appropriate number of holes.
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CANADIAN SILKWORMS

I have incubated eggs of C. chamaeleo and veileds with moisture levels in the substrate higher than most people recommend and I have never had a good egg go moldy. Both are species that are somewhat related to dilepis...but I have never hatched dilepis eggs (never had any). This is not to say that mold can't be the result of too much moisture....its just my own experiences. You will see what I mean in the following sites.

I have never had a moldy/bad egg cause any problems for the good eggs when left in the same container....but I remove them well before the babies hatch sot that the babies won't get into it.

I don't want to steer you wrong...so you are going to have to make a decision ultimately for yourself. Here's some information about mold on eggs....

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/chameleons/veiled/veiled.html
"Wile using the "mold " word white mold showing on the eggs just after laying is usually a sign the eggs are infertile black or dark mold is usually a sign to much water used when you mixed your substrate together".

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/mar2003/eggs/egg_incubation.html
"Mold is another problem. It is a sign that things are too wet inside the incubation chamber or that the egg is dead. I did have one egg that looked healthy all except for some mold starting on one side. I sprinkled athlete's foot power on it and the mold went away. The egg successfully hatched. Most of the time, the mold is merely what happens after the egg is dead."

The following are not for chameleon eggs, but many things in reptile eggs are the same....
Humidity...
http://www.esajournals.org/esaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0012-9658&volume=048&issue=01&page=0160

Healthy eggs generally do not mold...
http://cc.usu.edu/~jgjulander/Knobcarepage.html

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer.
Hope you can solve the problem and that the eggs will survive.

thanks for the advice. I don't know if you ever got my reply to your message a week or so ago. Besides the two moldy eggs, the rest look good. The mother didn't make it though. She past away. I have a pair of jacksons now and I still have a female flapneck. I am hoping to breed the flapneck in the future. The jackson female should be gravid. So I am hoping for a clutch here soon. Any advice on them?

You said..."I don't know if you ever got my reply to your message a week or so ago"...I didn't read it. Sometimes things get too far down the page and I lose track of the ones I still have to check on....but I read it now. I figured she died. Its something you learn to expect can happen with gravid females sometimes.

You said..."Besides the two moldy eggs, the rest look good"...I hope that they will continue to do well and hatch for you and that the remaining female flap will be okay.

You said..."The jackson female should be gravid. So I am hoping for a clutch here soon. Any advice on them?"...I saw your post and am trying to find you some reliable material on it. I hope I get time tonight to finish my reply to that post....if not tomorrow. At least you don't have to worry about having an egg-laying container for them!

exactly! lol. That is why I decided to purchase the jacksons.

You may not have to incubate eggs...but that doesn't make a live-bearer any less trouble than an egglayer and the babies have a higher mortality rate than panthers or veileds.