Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well my normal corn laid her eggs Tues/Wed. I was actually able to watch for a couple of them and shared the experience with my 12 year old whom I woke up in the middle of the night! It was fascinating. Mom is resting and looks good, I will probably feed her today.

A couple of the eggs have indented slightly. No slugs and all look pretty good. They are in a ventilated shoe box w/ moist shagnum moss. The box is in a cage and right now is about 86 degrees. Water is condensing fine. Is the temp a little high? Will the indented eggs be OK?

Can someone give me directions on how to post pics?
Thanks
Joel

congrats on the big clutch! dont know what's going on at my zoo, but my largest clutch this year was 11, the average was 6...

anyway. photos. create an acct. here on ks if you dont have one. make sure the photos are within the specified size limit - otherwise it's a major headache, and attach the photos to your post. it's really easy and you're guided through the process pretty much.

as well, you can use a photo hosting site but for me ks is just easier...

hope that helps.

byron.d

86 degrees is asking for trouble,.....a good target temp to aim for is more like 81-82, and even slightly than that cooler will still allow them to hatch just fine, but higher temps are more dangerous than lower ones, the slightly cooler temps will just take the snakes a little longer to hatch.

Temps that are too high can easily kill the embryo's developing within the egg, and if doesn't first kill them, it can lead to deformities.

A better hatching medium is vermicuite, and/or Perlite that you can get at any garden section of a Department store, or home center. It doesn't fungus up as much, and isn't acidic.

Put the vermiculte in a small plastic container and add enough water to the vermiculite(mixing thoroughly)so that the mixture just clumps together when squeezed, and is NOT soaking/dripping wet when squeezed(approx. 1 to 1 ratio by weight). Then you can make slight indentations in the mixture to sort of "cradle" each egg if there are individual eggs, if they aren't in a solid clutch. Bury the eggs just slightly so about 3/4 of each egg is exposed.

Some individuals mark the tops of each loose egg with a water-based marker, or pen so the egg stays oriented in it's original position it was layed in, if it is accidentally rolled when taken out to periodically add more water to the vermiculite. Do NOT rotate the eggs as a bird would do, this can impede the orientation of the embryo inside.

I find that "course" grain vermiculite is a little better than fine grain because it allows more air to get in between the granules and allows the mixture to "breathe" a little better. That's why it's not a bad idea to also use Perlite. This tends to keep the mixture nice and loamy, or "fluffy" as far as substrate mediums go.

Keep an ACCURATE thermometer directly on the substrate next to the eggs so you can adjust temps if need be, and also know for a FACT what the temps are at the eggs surface, guessing at temps is DEFINITELY not what you want to do.

Another important thing is to make sure if there is any condensation forming on the lid, that it doesn't continuously drip directly on the eggs, this should be monitored closely, and be dealt with accordingly.

Hope some of this helps, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Doug,
Thanks. I checked just a little bit ago and the temps were over 87. I took the heat off of them. I did notice a little condensation on the lid, but it appears to be more on the outer edges, not dripping on the eggs.

Most of the eggs are stuck together, with 2 individuals, I was not able to get to them soon enough to separate them.

What about the indentations? Can they still be saved?
Thanks
Joel

If they were viable to begin with, yes, they should be just fine. Now keep in mind, there's sort of a fine line between the incubating medium being too moist, and not moist enough. I always check in on the eggs once a day or so to see how they are doing. Early indentation is usually a sign that the vermicute/Perlite mixture is a bit too dry, so just take the eggs out and thoroughly mix a tad more water in with the medium. You should see a noticeable rebound in the egg's shape within a couple of days. You can also drape a light clump of spagnum moss over the entire clutch to help out with this as needed.

Keep in mind that snake eggs are sort of like sponges, and they will also swell up alot if kept too moist as well. After a while, you will kind of be able to "read" the condition of them if you notice what they look like on a daily basis.

I'm not trying to scare you into thinking they're difficult to maintain, but it's better that you know about certain looks and conditions that aren't good signs.

Also, it is fairly common for the eggs to dimple in somewhat towards the end of their incubation period,...this is because the snake has become fully developed, and the yolk source is being used up to some extent,...the eggs don't ALWAYS dimple towards the end, but it is fairly common for them to do so.

Good luck with them, and I hope all this helps out just a bit more.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I am with Doug on the temps.. 86 is to high.. I aim for 80 myself and the eggs take a little longer to hatch, but I am not in a hurray to rush a great project..

Regards.. Tim of T and J