Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first experience with eggs and is the first clutch from this cornsnake.

Produced 5/15 and I have them in vermiculite and a temp of 80 degrees. They started wrinkling up later that day and are getting worse. It looks like the ones buried in the vermiculite are not shriveling up.

I assume the ones on top are bad. Should I just continue to incubate them all and see what happens?

The pic didn't show, but if you are very carefull, many times you can pull the eggs off slowly. Especially if they are bad they should separate easier. I would leave them in but apart from the others, just to be sure. Once they start to spoil then toss them out. If the ones on top are wrinkling, they may just need some more moisture, but I can't make that call from here? Use a small pen light to canlde them. Do it in a nearly dark room. You don't even need to move the eggs. Just place the light right on the egg. Bad eggs tend to glow yellow, and good eggs tend to be more amber. If you can see any veins then it should be good. Veins tend to start showing after about a week. Sometimes sooner but I'd give them a week or two to be sure.

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

The photo didn't show for everyone to see, so here is the link..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/63041576@N03/5734626971/

They look like they were actually good fertile eggs initially. They are VERY wrinkled up from only being three dasys old in moist vermiculite. They look like eggs that weren't put in moist medium for at least several days.

Anyway, your ONLY hope with any of them now is to moisten the medium a bit more, and drape some moistened sphagnum moss that has been soaked well, and wrung-out a bit with your fist. Drape a very good pile of that over the entire clutch and hope they can spring back in time before all of the embryos have died. Some might still be able to absorb enough moisture that they will swell up to normal again.

I have never seen nice white eggs wrinkle up that bad in three days unless they were laid in the dry cage substrate and never found in time to be honest. But give this a whirl ASAP! if there is to be any hope at all now.

cheers, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

Thanks guys.

I did have an eggbox with moist cypress for her and she laid the eggs in the box.
Last time I checked her was 5/14 at about 7 pm and I found her with the eggs at 7 am the next morning. The eggs were in the vermiculite in the incubator by noon.

I will get them covered and cross my fingers. I was crazy excited when I saw the eggs and I sure hope I don't loose them all.

I live in rural nebraska so finding sphagnum may be tough. I have seen sphagnum peet moss but I don't think your referring to that.

I will lay some moist paper towels over them for now.

I sure appreciate the prompt replies.

i had a snake lay eggs on the heat pad out of its lay box and i didnt see them right away. not sure how long they were even there.
they were way worse than yours are.
i did exactly what dmong suggested to you and had a very good hatch rate. i think the 2 top most didnt make it the rest hatched. just do what doug said and they should be ok. they are not that bad.
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.