Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys
I have some questions and i hope you can help me.
As near as i can work it the eggs my corn laid are 12 days from hatching. I have used a small torch on the eggs and i can see loads of blood vessels spidering all over the inside of the shell, but i cant see the baby corns inside. Is this normal? should i be able to see the baby corn when i do this ?
The temp inside my home made incubator has remained at a constant 80 deg F and at a humidity level of 90%
Also when i shone the torch on the eggs there appears to be some clear parts to the shell of the eggs themselves mostly at the bottom of each egg where it was in contact with the sphagnum moss they are incubating in.

Hope you can help
Need any more info on the setup just ask
Ebola

i just went through this about two months ago, and i had the same experience... i could see a load of blood vessels in the eggs but it appeared for the most part to be completely clear...HOWEVER... if i hit it at the perfect angle, i could see a dark mass inside the egg (usually on the bottom half) -- there was even one baby that i could see moving... i had 20 eggs, and they all looked exactly like that, and all of them hatched and are healthy and kickin!

Cool happy for you m8 I know everything is ok or at least it looks ok. Problem is this is the first time i have done this and its my first clutch of eggs.It has been hard to leave em alone but the suspense is killing me. Cant wait to see what the little fellas look like.
Ebola

My clutch for this year has looked exactly like you noted during the incubation period. I did candle them with a LED penlight - very cool light soruce ( I truly hope your 'torch' is similar and not a torch in the true sense of the word.......) and they looked as noted in the response. The embryo develops in the bottom 12 to 1/3 of the egg and I was not able to make out its body, but did note the blackness/shadowing did grow. Now, overnight one of the eggs is starting to leak on one end out of a small slit. Not real clear to see inside, but closely looking there does appear to be a viable snake, so it is starting to hatch. Key thing to do is leave it alone!!!!. The tempartion is to 'help it along' but try not to. As they hatch they are still absorbing nurtients from the yoke sack and they need to release from it once done so try to let them be. It may take a few hours or a day or two. They will emerge on thier own accord at the right time if the hatchling is viable. Also, the wetter they stay during hatch or afterwards, the better the first shed will be. Nature has taken them this far, don't interject too soon.

Let the forum know how it goes!! Remember, patience, patience patience.......

Hi and thx for the reply.
To answer your questions:
Yes its a real tiny maglite smaller than my little finger so no problem there.
This is only the second time i have done this the first being when i checked if they were viable (2 days or so after they were laid)
And yes i am trying to be patient and i am leaving them alone i just wanted to make sure everything was ok as this is my first ever attempt at incubating reptile eggs of any kind.

Thx again for the replies guys 'n' gals

Ebola

Ok so i said i would keep you updated and i am real excited.

Now its 11 days as far as i know and i just got up and checked the temp and humidity in the incubator (which is see through on the top)as per usual. 2 eggs have slits allover them and 1 of these 2 has a little tiny nose poking out ! Is it too early?
If they are premature will they be ok ?

Also can someone run through how i post a pic for you all to see, i just got my digital camera out to take a photo but the batteries are dead so i am on my way to the shop for new ones right now.

Thx
Ebola

Ok here goes first attempt at posting with a photo

Anyone any ideas yet what its going to be? Mother was amenalistic but some sites i have seen showed piccies of sunglows which could be her twin,Father was a snow who had undertones of pastel green/yellow.
Thx
Ebola