Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I have a clutch that's being a bit troublesome. Almost all of the eggs seem perfectly healthy and I'm expecting hatchlings fairly soon. However, two eggs have been quite deflated for several days. Another is slightly collapsed. They have been like this much longer than I would ever expect from the pre-hatching collapse. Of course I went through all the normal checks, temperature is 82-83 and checked with 4 different thermometers (just to be sure). Humidity/ moisture is right and has been throughout incubation. I was wondering if the embryo had just died, but I candled the two just to check and there seems to be movement. I'm keeping them in the incubator until the others hatch, but I'm curious as to why they would be collapsed so long.

Can you post a picture ? There's a good chance they need moisture,humidity is not the key alone. If you can gently ,with an eyedropper,get some water around those eggs[ if you get water ON the egg,dab off with a paper towel,as this can kill the egg ] I have even moved the egg,this I've done for 15 years with no problem, and spray water directly in to the cavity that the egg was resting in. Be sure to put the egg back the way it was,same side up. and even if you are using a product that says you don't need to add water [ like Hatchrite ] I have recently had a friend that had eggs in the same situation as you described,she added water and the eggs plumped back up. If you wait too long,they may die. This is not difficult to add water,I 've done it many,many times with no bad effects.

Thanks for a quick answer. I can't get a pic due to my camera being MIA for some reason (neighbor "borrowed" it). But I did add water around the eggs and I'm hoping it works. The moisture level has seemed alright, but maybe more will fill them back up. I'll see what happens.

How long have the eggs been incubating?
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PHLdyPayne

They are at 64 days. All the others have grown considerably and seem very healthy.

my first batch of eggs started hatching at 72 days. i thought something was wrong but they continued to hatch for 4 more days. I have another batch that are at 73 days and have not started to hatch but all the eggs look good

It's been a few more days and i have added water around and under the eggs but they didn't get better. However, they also haven't gotten any worse. I did notice that when I gently moved them that they would firm back up and be plump again rather quickly. I didn't believe it at first but then the other one did the same. Anybody know why?

The contents [ baby yolk] most likely shifted a bit. If the babies in there are still alive,the addition of water should have plumped them.

Thanks for the help.

Just as a follow up, one of the two eggs plumped back up pretty well, but still has a bit of a wrinkle. I'm not to concerned with it. The other hasn't filled back up yet but looks better.

A side question, when adding water, some other eggs became clear-ish in some spots where extra water touched them. Is this normal?