Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'll recap for those that did not see them. I had some eggs laid while I was laid up. (Sorry for the bad pun ). I believe they were laid on 8-14-08, or maybe late 8-13. I found them buried in the aspen, NOT her eggs box on 8-15-08 and posted here "stupid snake". The first image is the first day I found them, and badly sunken. The next 2 are today, and I must say I am surprized. While doing the image resizes I saw a pink spot I did not notice just looking at the eggs. Any input on this would be helpful.

Also, I don't use moss for incubation, but was caught off guard. The first batch of moss kept getting fungus or mold. A friend told me to boil the moss. WELL DUH. I felt so stupid. I boiled some moss, then it was so hot I stuck it in the freezer to cool. I forgot about it, HOURS! Go ahead laugh, I did. So my new boiled and frash frozen TV dinner style moss is doing great. After all that, I hope nothing can grow on it.

Sunken eggs 8-14

Today 8-21, angle 1

Today 8-21, angle 2

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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

some are dead......some look good........you'll get some babies..don't get them too wet from now on......

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>>some are dead......some look good........you'll get some babies..don't get them too wet from now on......

I've hatched some eggs, I'm no expert but I have a good idea on moisture, it was heavy to start due to dents. But how can you tell which are dead? I would think I should pull them out if I can. And can you point them out for me to watch.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

just let all the eggs set and see what happens....
pulling on them will make it worse..
the ones on the bottom look dead..like the one with the yellow spot on it and the one to the left....if they dent too far they don't always come back......at times I (and you) am surprised at how bad they can dent and still come back.....as you can see on alot of these eggs......

good luck.......only about 7 weeks to go......LOL
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That moss looks very wet. I agree you had to plump them back up at first, but I would let it dry out some now.
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Capitol Breeders is:
http://www.freewebs.com/capitolbreeders/index.htm

It's reading 60% humidity. The flash really lights up the moss. There are small areas totally dry. Also the moss is floating more around it. Not up tight like vermiculite or peralite. I do appreciate the input though.

I plan to go to home depot this weekend to get peralite. Our Wal-Mart was out, and local hardware stores were $14 a small bag. I passed on the $14 as they were all dented and did not expect them to come back at all. But peralite is in the near future, and a normal incubation setup.

It's tough at times when you live in Hooterville.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

Hey Tom!,........does "Hooterville" have a local nursery?,..that would be a good place to get Perlite/vermiculte too.

Also,....the eggs that don't absorb and inflate back to original size are the ones that are not viable. After they inflate to just smooth again, I would also set them up in a more conventional manner too,....you don't want to risk drowning them either. When set up as normal(1 to 1 ratio of water by weight) they will continue to absorb moisture and swell some too, so easy does it on the moisture as soon as you see them JUST become smooth again.

From the looks of things, you do have a few that look like they are coming back nicely so far.

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

mention the "1 to 1 ratio of water by weight" was ONLY for vermiculite ,....I've never used Perlite by itself, but do use a mixture of both when I have the two. I like the way the two mix together and combine their properties. And I just "guestimate" the water content when I mix my hatching medium. When you squeeze it in yor hand, you don't want it to clump together, you want it loose and fluffy, yet still moist(if that makes sense)..LOL!

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

perlite. Tim S. got me on peralite for the snake eggs. It's just less messy when the snakes hatch out, unless you have the course vermiculite.

Everyone thinks the setting is still so wet, but at this stage its really not. The flash from the camera really makes the moss look a lot wetter than it is now. I have a humidity probe in there and it is reading 60%, as when I first set it up it was 95-100%. The eggs are in a tub I use for small snakes, and is about 10"x16", with small holes. So it has a lot of room to spread moisture, and slowly air out. I did not plan all that, it just happen that way.

As I've said, I do plan to change to a conventional setup. I just wish the eggs were not fused. I had a few sets of ball python eggs that I tried the dental floss trick, but I just stopped and did them as a batch. I'm no expert, but I have hatched a few clutches of various herps.

As far as "dead" ones, I guess that idea if they have not bounced back by now they will not?

I kind of posted this as the moss really worked well for this purpose. ORginally that first day, I made a floor of moss that was not that wet for the eggs to lie on. Then there was a kind of dome over them of wetter moss. Lots of air, and not a ton of direct contact. But I assure you they are not that wet. I have a new camera Nikon D-50, and I have not looked up how to force "no flash".

Thanks for all the info and help everyone. I hope to post some baby pics in 52 days!
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"