Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first year breeding Cresteds and I had three out my five female lay eggs. I had 12 eggs total and the first 2 sets of eggs(from two different females) hatched great. but the same 2 females second set of eggs died all 4 of em. One pair made it and them slit the egg and could not get out. The other 2 just didnot develop right. I have 4 eggs left and 2 are growing mold. but the eggs are still white. I had a fairly poor hatch rate this year I think i have done everything right. Is it just because it is the females first year? I incubated them on Perlite at 77-79 degrees. I have had a little bit of a mold problem to? Whats wrong? Should I use Vermiculite?
thanks

Hi,
I think you are doing several things correctly- as evident by the hatching for the first eggs. Also, as the female's eggs hatched, she should be fine.
As you stated that you had an issue with mold, you should check the moisture content of the medium they are incubating in. There are several great care sheets comparing the ratio of weight between medium and added water- 3 parts water to 4 parts medium. Make sure you have enough medium (at least 2 inches in the incubation container. Insure there is a high humidity in the incubator. Radio Shack sells a min-max temp/humidity monitor for about $ 15 and is invaluable in managing the incubator climate.
Finally, the containers I use have no holes in them. This helps keep the humidity high as well.
Good luck and let us know how the other eggs go.
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