Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, I'm on my second clutch (first time breeding), and it has been over 100days of incubation. The eggs look GREAT, HUGE and all healthy looking, they are soo stretched thin that you can see grey from the babies inside, but they still haven't hatched; Haven't even started collapsing yet!
The first clutch took 83 days to hatch so I decided to be patient on this second one until tonight.. My curiosity got the best of me and I opened up an egg. There was a fully developed hatchling. At first I figured it was dead, but when I started clearing away mucous.. it Openned its mouth (i figured it was just a reflex as I was stroking its throat at the time). Then it started to uncurl and wagged its tail at me... I'm confused I figured past the 90 days, they'd all be dead...I put the hatchling back into the incubator for now.. My husband told me to wait, but I HAD to see what was going on.. This is just too weird.
The heat in the incubator stays at 81.6F .. Should I up the temp.?? THe only thing I can think of is that the temp is too low for them. Anyone have a clue as to what's going on??.. I'll check on the hatchling tommorrow morn. and let you know what happened with it.. I'm counting it as still born right now though..Not sure what to expect; I'm pretty frustrated at this anyone have similar experience to this? I'm not sure what I should do... The ones from the first clutch are doing great and very heathly; nice coloring like i'd hoped for, and ready for homes this week..

You said the temp in the incubator is 81.6, whats the temp in the egg box?? Assuming your using one its probably lower. Lower temps= longer incubation times. One degree lower can add quite a few days to incubation.I would take the one you opened and put in a container by itself on maybe a damp not wet papertowel or even nothing at all. you dont want the baby to dry out if he's premature. Be carfull not to make it to wet and cause mold. If the one was fully developed it wont be long till the rest hatch just be patient. good luck!!!
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Paul Morlock
of CaptiveCreations and
Retail Sales Rep. for Sandfire Dragon Ranch

I hope the one you opened makes it. You should never open an egg, especially when all is well and the eggs look good. Most people that breed incubate at 82-84 degrees. I read of someone putting eggs in a closet to hatch and it took them 5 mo to hatch, but they did.
How's the little guy doing now?
Personally, I would put him back in the incubator, If his egg sack is still on, on damp paper towel.
If he has absorbed it, I'd get him basking and get him and his metabolism revved up.
And..leave those other eggs alone *smacking your hands*
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www.classylizard.com

I hope it makes it too, christyj, and I promise to leave em alone! I'll never do that again (i'm kicking myself; I should've ASKED FIRST!).. I honestly thought they'd all gone bad or something and wanted to find out.
In my haste to get the message out; I typed that the temp in the incubator was 81.6F, but I meant that that is the temp. inside the egg box. I up-ed the temp a notch,and I checked on the little guy one more time just now before heading up to bed, and he looks good so far... Spunky little devil really.. I touched it's side and it opened its mouth and tried to move away from my finger. Yolk is still attached, so i'll leave it in the 'bator for a couple days or so.. What a LONG time for incubating ,but I promise i'll be more patient, just wasn't sure what was happening. Just another learning experience I guess. Thanks so much for the replies! I really hope they turn out ok..

I got impatient and did that too. The hatchling lived but it seemed to take it longer to start growing then when it did it dind't grow as fast as it should.
I would seperate it from the others for a couple three weeks after they all hatch so that it is insured food, veggies, etc. I don't know why but when you do that it seems to make them weaker. I never did it again either. Some lessons are hard learned but those can also be the best ones......... It just sucks that something has to suffer for our mistakes.

Later,
Robert

You meant no harm. Like you said, it's a learning experience. Unfortunately, many times opening eggs is fatal to the baes. Let's hope this isn't the case. Good Luck..
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www.classylizard.com

Just a quick update. I checked on the lil guy today and he's still alive. Hasn't moved around yet; i'll let you know when he's up and moving around. I think he's going to be ok. The temp. in the egg box is at 83.3F now.

n/p
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www.classylizard.com

Just one last update He's finally up and moving around the incubator and looks good. I checked in on the eggs and they are finally starting to collapse and could hatch any time. I think that temp. change did the trick