Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the max amount of time I can wait before I can no longer pull eggs apart without tearing them. I just had my second clutch ever two days ago and when I tried to pull them apart last night it felt like they were going to rip so I just put all seven eggs in the incubator as they were layed.

If you spray water where they are attached and roll them apart gently without rotating them you should be ok. And of course this is only if you need to seperate them. Be very careful not to rip them take your time.

I do not attempt to pull eggs apart, just put in incubator as they are.If they are stacked enough to cause problem for bottom eggs when they pip, just wait, they will come apart easily the last day or two before they hatch.

Claude

Thanks guys.

I would candle them all and make sure they all have veins. If any of them glows yellow and does not have any veins, it is probably infertile and will eventually rot and mold.

To avoid the mold spreading to good eggs and harming the rest of your clutch, it is good practice to separate those eggs now rather than try to do it later.

Even if I do not see any veins, I still do not immediately throw the "bad" eggs out, I just leave them in the same container (separated) and monitor their progress (just to error on the safe side). If they are for sure bad, they will start to mold in about 14 days.

That being said, the only time you need to separate your eggs is if you are trying to pull off one or more bad eggs. Otherwise you are good to go. Stick them in the container as the female laid them.

Good luck!
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

I candled them and they are all good eggs. I tghought maybe they were pulled apart to avoid the bottom eggs from drowning if they cut through the egg on top of them.

I don't pull the eggs apart until they are about to hatch, then it's easy to do it. I had to separate an egg that started to grow mold. I asked for advice and was told to use dental floss. It worked. But as I said, usually I don't pull them apart until the end, otherwise, I leave them in a clump.

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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

Ok thanks. how easy is easy? I don't have to worry about them rolling off on their own do I?

when they are about to hatch they naturally kind of detach from each other. pull them apart gently or use dental floss
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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...