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This was the clutch that I've been really waiting for...I felt 11 eggs in her and with my previous good clutches (from the same male) I was expecting the same good results...unfortunately I was disappointed when I got home yesterday.

Turns out only 6 good eggs...and one of the 6 is marginal (even though it appears fertile).

Also, I saw these for the first time...

Anyone seen this before??? They look like old slugs...about half the size of your thumb.

They came out as I was palpating the last remaining bad egg that is still inside her. I hope she passes it soon!

Either way, I hope to see 5 or 6 Megas in a few months...fingers crossed!

Also, it's difficult to show in photographs but this "mega" female was sold as a Triple Het...but I took a few pictures to show that she is clearly not a "normal" but exhibits some sort of Hypomelanism that has been coined by others as "Mega Hypo".

Here's an over exposed pic to show the missing pigment:

and a normal pic:

-Rusty

Wow!,.that's crazy looking "sluggage" that came out along with the others there. I'm very glad to see that you at least have several GOOD eggs from this line in hopes of finding out more about these "mega" hypos.

Interesting about the pigment in the below photo as well!

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

can't be from last year if you had that thought...they have good looking blood vessels...
NO...I never saw anything like that...and I have seen some odd stuff...
....they have blood vessels....they have what looks like clots or hematomas....popped vessels....??...weird....
......good luck with the good ones....save the pic of the weird stuff.....

...
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........JY

Wow those things are weird for sure, never saw anything like that. Congrats on the 6 Rusty, hope they all make it for you!
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Jimmy Tintle

Rusty

Congratulations on another excellent clutch! I can't wait to see what the mega x mega pairing produces!

Never seen anything like that. They look like slugs of slugs, can there be such a thing! lol

Dave
DNS Reptiles - Milk Snakes

That looks like a cool project!

Tim

This Mega stuff makes Hondos very interesting and fun for me...I can't wait to see what pops out this year.

Only a few others are working with these lines and we've all had poor breeding success...hopefully this year will change all that!

-Rusty

Below, a Mega Ghost (R.I.P.) and the first Mega male with his Mom (the Mega that just laid these 6 eggs).

Hey Rusty,

Those are definitely slugs in your picture, and that picture tells a thousand words. The vascularity could indicate fertilized follicles once healthy in early development that died at some point in gestation. It might also just represent absorption angiogenesis as your dam tried to reabsorb the follicles. The black areas of likely hemorrhage may indicate some failure of the embryonic disc or other such anomaly... In any case, the important thing to note is the apparent inflammatory process developing as indicated by those glistening white fibrin tags and granulation of the masses. My concern would be that those slugs were becoming fetid within the oviduct and that failure to successfully and safely remove that last egg could kill your female at worst or leave her unable to safely breed again at best. My unsolicited advice is to try removing that last egg as safely (gently!) and expeditiously as possible. If that egg is firmly attached to the oviductal wall as the vascularity in the others seems to suggest, you risk tearing the egg open (as well as the oviduct) warranting an emergency surgery. If the egg is far enough caudally, you may be able to help coax it out with a little sterile KY jelly, but again, do so as gently as possible. This may be a two person job or require sedation, depending on her temperament. Retained eggs, as I'm sure you know, can lead to secondary bacterial infection, sepsis, impaction and/or death. I lost one of my most valuable females last year to an unexpected dystocia and have another who is now a "vet school education" animal from the oviduct ligation surgery (my first!) that saved her life but has rendered her unable to safely breed again in the future. If my experience helps saves your mega, then risking looking like the vet student know-it-all will not have been for nothing. Good luck!

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