Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everybody i posted this question a couple of days ago. but this time let me post correctly (in detail and with pics).

ok. here goes..

1st clutch ever, layed on OCT 1st.

i placed all 6 eggs inside a sterilite tubb with HATCHRITE with a tiny hole melted on the lid for the thermostat probe to fit in, and put that inside a hovabator set to 89F, with a Helix thermostat.

the eggs started drying out.

so i lowered the temp by 1 degree to 88F, partially buried them in more hatchrite and added 2 ounces of water to the sides of the egg box.

Question is,these pics were taken on day 30. i havent seen how theyre doing today because the eggs are 25 miles away at my parents house. should they get better? when should i check on em again?

thank you all in advance for your time and advice

A little early for that much dimpling, but if you added enough water in time you may be ok. Pic is fuzzy but they look ok other than not being plump. Next time try vermiculite...when mixed right you never have to worry about drying.
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Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

I've had eggs dimple earlier than that even with the substrate being nearly saturated (I place the eggs on plastic egg crate so I don't have to worry about over watering).

I've got a female who consistently lays eggs that seem to dimple early while the other clutches seem to follow a more "normal" pattern. I think sometimes the amount of dimpling you see in the eggs has a lot to do with the female not just the amount of humidity you present the eggs with.

Personally, I think they look fine. That one has what appears to be a mold spot on it and if you were to lightly dust the area with some anti-fungal foot powder it should be okay.

Never give up on a clutch until the last possible moment. Even eggs that moldy can still hold a surprise.

They look fine -- I've seen worse egg pictures posted on this forum make beautiful babies. Keep an eye on the brown spot tho - you might need to tend to it if it looks like it's spreading.

For the next clutch you might want to d a little tweaking on the hovabator:

I like to put as much damp substrate into the egg box as I can - this way there is a lot more water inside the tub to help prevent drying out to begin with. It also helps to keep temperatures inside the egg box more stable.

Take out the chicken wire and plastic piece in the bottom and just put the egg box right on the bottom of the Hov - this will keep the eggs a little farther away from the heat coil and help keep them from drying out.

If you put some water bottles in the Hov. around the egg box it will help stabilize temps and keep the heating coil from kicking on all the time (which will also keep from drying out the eggs).

Good luck!
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

awesome! will do. thank you all once again

Hmmm. That water bottle trick is a new one for me, I could see how that would work though. I'm guessing full water bottles around the top of the vermic. and sort of around the eggs... Maybe a total of four of them? Im just trying to picture in my head how it'd look, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Thats what I love about this hobby, ya learn something new every day. (Esp. me, as in my knowledge is lacking in some important areas)
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Coolluigi

1.0 Pastel
0.2 Normal
0.1 Spider
1.1 Het VPI Axanthic
and soon to be more. *fingers crossed*

The water bottles are in the incubator but outside the egg box.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

It's all about THERMAL MASS, the more thermal mass you have, the harder it is for outside variables to drive the incubator off temp.

Better to use a large egg box than a small one. The Barker's used to use entire trash cans for one clutch, with a couple feet of perlite. That is a LOT of thermal mass, and that box stays steadier, at temp, than some little deli cup of perlite that will change temp if you breathe at it, ya dig?

The water bottles add great thermal mass, but they are also an immediate source of perfect temperature water that can be added to the egg box if needed. You don't want to add 73F tap water to an egg box that is 89F, you are going to significantly affect your incubator temperature. Using water that is already stored inside, at perfect temp, avoids that swing.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I see, thats probably the best way you could have put that. Lol.
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Coolluigi

1.0 Pastel
0.2 Normal
0.1 Spider
1.1 Het VPI Axanthic

With some guys on the trucks... Waiting for..
0.1 Het VPI Axanthic
1.0 Yellowbelly
and soon to be more. *fingers crossed*

They look fine to me. Maybe a little drier than normal for 30 days, but not too bad. You did the right thing by burying them a little in the substrate and adding a little water. I know it is easier said than done, but probably the best thing you can do is leave them alone and don't open the egg box anymore than you have to. Your post brings back memories of hatching my first clutches when I had NO idea what I was doing and I was totally beside myself worrying about them and opening the eggbox several times a day "just to check them".
Now you should start preparing yourself to resist the urge to "cut" them. If you haven't felt it yet - I can pretty much guarantee that you will and every day after day 50 will seem like a week. Good luck I am sure you and the eggs will be fine. The excitement is why we all do this.
Grant

They look OK to me..I have had a clutch this year that looked like that as early and gave me a big scare, but all the babies came out alright. What is that dark spot on one of the eggs? some kind of mold? I would be more worried about that