Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay~ I came by on 8-21 wanting to know if I could candle roughneck monitor eggs. I was told to stop trying to candle them and just wait to see. Okay~ I'm waiting~ it's killing me ~ patience is not one of my better practiced skills~ but I'm waiting. There were ten eggs all together (and apparently Mom also ate 2 as I found the desicated eggs in her feces several days later......that suprised me) but at any rate~ there were 10 eggs that LOOKED good and I retrieved. Have them in an incubator at 86F. Trying not to mess with them (there is that patience thing again) except once a week checking to be sure the moss is still damp. They are just over three weeks old now and all the eggs still look good~ one egg may be growing mold~ I noticed it last week but I didn't want to mess with it too much~ the egg still looks good even a week later though. I don't see anything "nasty" looking about the other 9 eggs at all.

So~ do you think they are fertile? After three weeks (took the pic about 5 min ago) they would be looking bad by now if they never had been fertile at all don't ya think?

-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons~ for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

Ok, after I finish laughing, I have to ask this. Why on earth would you think they are NOT fertile? I mean, do you have so little faith in your monitors that they must be infertile?

Seriously, infertile eggs do not look like fertile eggs, they are easy to tell. The question then becomes are the eggs living or dead. This is a problem with poor nestings. At the time of laying, you cannot tell. Within a few days to a week or so, any dead eggs will be all nasty and such. There will be no doubt.

Then you can think the eggs are alive. Now the question becomes how many eggs will your methods kill over the next five or six months? This happens from using the wrong methods or simply fooling with them. Or simply from the stress of poor nesting and general unhealth.

At about a month, living healty eggs will start to grow, that is, expand in the middle. Once they start to grow, you know they are alive, at least at this point. You have to remember, they can and do die at any time during incubation and for a mulitude of reasons. The month thing is an average, as we are talking monitors, and monitors are nuts. They can diapause(stop or suspend development) for a month or much much longer.

Some eggs diapause in the first month, then again at the end of incubation. Some don't do one or the other, and rarely some don't diapause at all. All in the same clutch, muchless same species.

Considering that, I recomend setting them up and making sure conditions are right, then simply wait. That is all you can do.

ITs like this. They have an X percentage chance of hatching, the more you muck with them, the lower that percentage becomes, X minus your mucking. So I say, ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY LADY???? hahahahahahahahahahaha

Next I recomend getting rid of your monitors, I say this because monitors require an extra super patient keeper, not one with a lack of patience. Or get some patience paaaalleeeese. I know, its hard to wait that long. Maybe we can put some viewing windows in them. hahahahahahahaha

Good going and I bet she is ready to go again, cheers

well~ I thought I got the idea that they may not be fertile from you. When I saw them copulating you told me that did not necessarily mean I had a male and a female. Then you told me my male was probably not a male because his face was shorter than the known female. Then when the eggs were laid you told me

"So my advice is to not worry about it. Incubate them and if they are dead or infertile, they will not hatch. In most cases, they go stinky within a week or so."

And you congratulated me on having a known female (the implication being that if I saw eggs come out of her~ than I KNOW that one was a female for sure).

So why would I think the eggs not fertile? Well~ because everytime I post here it seems your not sure I even have a male AND a female~ and because I thought you were being nice and trying to help me out with advice.

I'm not getting rid of the monitors. I like them~ I'm taking good care of them~ they are healthy, growing, and even laying eggs. I don't know if these eggs will hatch or not~ but why would you suggest I get rid of the monitors? Because I made a joke about how difficult it is for me to be patient and wait to see? Because I asked for opinions about them? Because I check the eggs once a week (the house has AC running this time of year~ the moss dries out quickly even in closed containers~ I'm doing the best I can to keep the substrate from drying out completely while still leaving them alone).

I don't know what I'm doing~ but I'm doing the best I can and learning as I go.

Thanks for your advice FR~ I do appreciate that~ I think.
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons~ for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

how events occurred and when. All these things mentioned, were about when they were said. For instance, I and we, have repeatedly said, ITS PLAIN SILLY to try a sex a monitor over the internet. Yet, you were warned about that, but then take it what was said seriously. The warning is serious, over the internet, sexing if only for fun. Can't we have fun trying.

Without question, females mount females, that is a possibility. Also females lay eggs without the benefit of a male. But lucky for you, it now appears you have a LAYING female, no one will argue that and you may, well most likely have a male. You seen now you have breeders.

On a serious note, your very lucky if you hatch any non nested eggs, this will catch up to you and your female. In my experience, you have three to five clutches to figure it out. Then you will most likely lose the female. Of course many would think 3 to 5 clutches is great, but consider they are capable of have 30 to 60 clutches. In perspective, its marginally successful.

Anyway, they look good so far. Cheers

Thanks for the well wishes~
Just as a side note~ I didn't ask anyone to sex the monitors over the internet. I said what sexes I beleived they were~ but there was some comments based on the pics I posted which had me wondering if I was correct or not. I appreciated your helpful input at the time~ and now as well. Just explaining thats why I was unsure of the fertility of the eggs. I respect your opinion even if I don't always like the way you deliver it. Thanks.
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons~ for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

After I typed that I recalled taking pics of the males tail base and I think I posted here asking for opinions on it sometime before I got the female.

So I was wrong~ I did ask for opinions. Just not in the instance I was thinking of. LOL! Oh well~ I never did have the best memory!

I'm still not getting rid of the monitors~ and I plan to keep them healthy and happy a lot longer than 3-5 cycles.
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons~ for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

I think your one of the good ones, keep it up and consider nesting as you only have a few times.

I am positive You have feelings for your monitors and that is important and for many sadly lacking.

Also consider the egg thing is a constant. You want want want, yet the eggs do what they do, no matter what you want. You can only maintain the proper conditions. The rest is patience. Cheers

"I respect your opinion even if I don't always like the way you deliver it."
hahahhahahahahahahhahaha
Jeez, I've never heard that before. lol
Don't worry, I'm sending out a copy of Dale Carnegies' "How to win friends and influence people" to that old fart pronto!

What is it with chicks and roughnecks?

OK Mike, wear a wig, get some sensitivity and don't be so dang macho around the monitors. hahahahahahahahaha I know you can do it, Cheers