So one of my blacks went way beyond normal for laying her eggs this year ... again. Last year she laid a clutch of 10, fully-shelled and normal appearing eggs 34 days after her pre-egg lay shed (pictured below). Those eggs eventually all went bad even though it looked like they were fertile. My suspicion was that she simply held them too long, the embryos died and then she passed them all.
Well, she did it again this year. She had her pre-egg shed on June 27 and laid a clutch of seven very large, normal looking eggs on July 23. She cruised her cage and egg box and just did not seem happy. Egg box is filled with moist sphagnum moss. Cage substrate is cypress mulch. Plus there's lots of cork hides etc. She eventually laid her eggs inside a cork tunnel I stuffed with with moss.
I dunno what her problem is. She laid a perfectly good clutch of 12 huge eggs two years ago and had a good clutch the year previous.
Temps were a little cool this year in New England so maybe she sensed it wasn't quite warm enough? Ambient temps her cage were low 70s and I provided a small basking area where temps were close to 80. She would bask for short periods there when gravid. She ate a small meal two days before she finally laid.
My other black milk laid a great clutch of 12 eggs on July 11 - 19 days post-shed. Those eggs all look great still.
So, we'll see what happens with these seven super-late eggs. If I had to guess, I'd say they will go bad. I did a quick candling and it seems like there is a red dot from the embryo and fertilization. I should be able to see some good vein growth in three or four days.
Overall, I'm just happy she didn't get eggbound. She is nine years old so she is too young to start having age-related problems but maybe I'll "retire" her as a breeder. She would make a nice 5-foot pet. Or I could change her cage set-up (she's in a 3-foot Vision cage) and eggbox.
Rob
