After candling, it appears at least four of my five recently deposited pueblan milk snake eggs are viabale. Unfortunately, one of the viable ones (the one precariously glued to the top of an unfortunate three-viable-egg pyramid) is already beginning to grow mold. The eggs are currently in an egg box inside a Thelco scientific incubator which fluctuates daily between 81.7 and 84.1 degrees F, and the relative humidity seems to stay between 75-85%. The egg box is a shallow gladlock plastic container, filled 1/3 of the way with damp vermiculite (1:1). The eggs are covered by paper towels which are spritzed as needed with filtered water to keep things moist (thanks, Dave Niles, for this gem!). I do not wet the eggs directly.
The incubator currently lacks a fan, so the air is not circulating ideally, but I do open the incubator door at least once a day to check on the eggs, plenty for gas exchange although perhaps not the best situation to deter mold growth.
At any rate, it seems mold is virtually a fact of life here in New Orleans (this is my first year breeding in this pressure-cooker of a city). Even the newspaper cage substrate I use on most of my pythons has to be changed at least once a week or mold will begin to grow. If this turns out to just be an environmental something I'm going to have to continuously fight, is there a safe way to do so? I've heard anecdotes of people using listerine or salt water solution on a Q-tip to wipe mold away, but haven't verified any of these stories. Has anyone here tried such a thing or heard of other methods? I'm in the process of baking vermiculite (hoping to kill any spores) and transferring the eggs to a new, "clean" box in the meantime. Thanks in advance for any advice or insight!
Waffa House Reptiles
