Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've read in various sources that one should not try to remove "duds" from a clutch of eggs, but I'm in the reverse situation and wondering if the conventional wisdom still holds: Let's say you have a "clutch" of 4 duds -- becoming increasingly nastier by the day -- and one good egg, right in the middle. Should you still just leave it alone?

The good egg is (of course) stuck to at least two of the others, but it seems like I might be able to remove those bad ones without harm to the good one if I'm careful and surgical about things. As mushy as they're getting, it seems like ripping the bad eggs off the good one wouldn't be too difficult, even if it means leaving a little chunk of bad-eggshell attached. What say ye?

The set-up:

kritter kage sealed w/ packing tape
sphagnum/vermiculite substrate
photocycling with day/night temps at 81 and 79 F respectively
RH ~80-90%

Sometimes bad eggs will pull away from good ones fairly easy once they start getting bad. I usually don't worry about it unless carrion flys have laid eggs and maggots hatch. A good egg will usually still hatch anyway but I can't stand a maggot in my incubator. When I have pulled some bad eggs away from a good one and it just slightly tore it, I wipe the slightly torn place and immediatly put a small amount of super glue gel on it and it takes care of the problem. It's a rare occaison that I have slightly torn one, and I do mean a very small tear but when it did happen that worked great for me.
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Randy Whittington

Just cut the bad eggs away with scissors leaving the attached section.
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Doug L

When it's possible to pull the bad eggs away instead of cutting them away, it's generally easier and neater.
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Randy Whittington

I'll second the scissor method - works very nicely.
Jeff

>>Just cut the bad eggs away with scissors leaving the attached section.
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>> Doug L
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I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way. - Robert Frost, 1935