Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings,

Following are pictures of my Ringed Python eggs. Unfortunatly, I think that this is a total loss at this point, but would welcome any comments on what I did wrong

picture 1
picture 2
picture 3
picture 4

The eggs were laid M/T, and were moved to the incubator on Tuesday night. They were already fused together in a clump, and I was not able to separate them (I don't know how much force I can use, but they were NOT very willing to come apart at all).. So it's possible that they were laid up to 48 hours prior.

The incubator is a hovabator with fan, set to 89-90 degrees and holding well, humidity is around 70%.

Any helpful comments welcome. *sobs*

aaron

http://www.nw20.com/images/eggs1.jpg
http://www.nw20.com/images/eggs2.jpg
http://www.nw20.com/images/eggs3.jpg
http://www.nw20.com/images/eggs4.jpg

maybe your humididity is to low? dont hold to that womas are desert speices so i go the humidity could be lower but from what i heard te eggs dimple when they get to dry? wait for other opinions before u change anything though good luck next time
simon

i thought u said woma eggs not ringed so that desert comment i amde was wrong oops
simon

You want to incubate woma eggs dry but with high humidity.
Brett

lol i told u im no expert
but i do have a question for you how do u acheive high humidity and keep it dry
simon

The humidity must be high, but the eggs can't be on wet substrate. You could use no substrate at all, or put 1/2 inch dry perlite on top of the vermiculite. I use the 2nd option and it works fine. I mix the vermiculite with too much water to make sure the humidity is always high.

Are you using an egg box inside of the hovabator?
Brett

Yes, egg box, but no lid. Should I lid this thing?

The lid will hold the humidity much higher. I use a lid and drill two holes in the egg box for air flow. I also open the lid every day for a few seconds for gas exchange. I have never worked with rings but I think this will help you.
Brett

Do not give up hope on the eggs. You can hatch some pretty ugly looking eggs!
Brett

thanks for the messages... so this MAY be salvagable

I'm so depressed.

Give it some time to see how they progress. Some of my eggs were dented from day one. Keep them in the incubator until they completely colapse and rot. I started with 12 woma eggs this year and ended with 4 hatchlings. It is tough to lose eggs but it is also a learning experience! I will be doing things differently next year. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Brett

Put a lid on the internal container...humidity needs to be much higher. The fan is drying out your eggs. Those eggs don't look too bad. You just need to get the humidity up. The quicker you get the humidity up the better, but down add any more water to the substrate that 1:1. You may need to add a little water, make a new batch, or try the no substrate method if it was dried out too much.
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http://www.moreliapythons.com

I put a lid on and put some water in there (on the thermometer) to raise the humidity... it's up around 85% now.

This is only day three of these eggs, is there any chance that they will make it or have they deteriorated too much to have any hope?

The vermiculite mix when I made it 1:1 seemed too soupy, so I squeezed out the excess water into clumps and used that .. it was definitely damp, but not watery. Did I make this too dry as well?

Thanks to all for your help. You have no idea how bummed I am (well, maybe you do).

Thanks!

aaron

Oh, I totally know how you feel...I lost about 50 eggs this year because of an incubator fan problem. When you said it was 1:1 was that by weight? Because that's what it needs to be. As long as the eggs aren't sitting in water and the humidity is at 100% aka condesation inside the internal container you should be good.
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http://www.moreliapythons.com

1:1 by volume seemed to be a bit much lol!

I put in a couple of water dishes in the egg tub and shut the lid ... there's a little ventilation at the top, I need to go out and buy something that locks (i had to cut the tub down so it would fit in the incubator, so it's got gaps right now.

I also sprayed the inside of the incubator with water to make the ambient atmosphere more humid (there was water in the bottom which helps the humidity)...

If what I'm doing is helping, will the eggs stop deteriorating and possibly make it, or will they actually look better?

I guess now I'm "NEVER SAY DIE" ... when will i know the game is over? how do these things end up? and if the outside ones end up opening or whatever, since the clutch is packed, what should i do? just leave it alone?

Sorry for the newbieness, I was caught off guard a bit (I wasn't sure she was gravid) and then BAM! eggs.

Thanks so much .. if its any consolation, it's nice i don't have to go this alone.

aaron

"If what I'm doing is helping, will the eggs stop deteriorating and possibly make it, or will they actually look better? "

If humidity is boosted it should stop any further denting...whether or not they fill out is questionable. You could also try covering them with warm damp papertowel to see if they fill out. Just make sure they aren't soaked. The goal is 100% humidity but dry eggs.

"I guess now I'm "NEVER SAY DIE" ... when will i know the game is over? how do these things end up? and if the outside ones end up opening or whatever, since the clutch is packed, what should i do? just leave it alone? "

You will know within a week if it's a lost cause. Thing will end up really smelly if they don't make it. Remeber a white egg is a good egg. Any signs of green or blue mold or the egg turning completely yellow is a bad sign. There is really no need to remove the rotted eggs as a good egg has built in protection from bateria and so forth.
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http://www.moreliapythons.com

You can get a hovabator extension ring it adds 2 inches per ring.
Works great to add more depth to your incubator.
Also I fill both the water trays in the bottom of the incubator.

Mardy