I learned a hard lesson and want to make sure no one else does the same.
In an earlier thread I mentioned I mistakingly got sphagnum peat moss instead of regular sphagnum moss.
Well, it seemed to hold moisture well and looked like it was going to work out.
Unfortunately I was wrong.
Everyday when I checked the clutch of eggs they looked fine.
I have a "clump" of thirteen eggs, a mini "clump" of two and a single egg.
From the surface they all appeared wonderfull.
Yesterday I noticed a little dry moss around the main clump so I decided to dig down a little and see how things looked. Unfortunately the bottom two eggs had dried and shriveled up.
There are three more I am not sure about. They have colapsed a little but they haven't discolored and have already rehydrated a little. It will just be a wait-and-see with them.
The good news is that eleven do appear to be perfectly fine.
Under the surface the moss had dried. The condensation kept the surface moist but not underneath.
I moistened the moss thoroughly and will be getting some vermiculite today.
So, I would avoid sphagnum peat moss and stick to either vermiculite or regular sphagnum moss.
From the picture below you can see what I saw whenever I checked the eggs. The surface eggs look great!
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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)
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LEARNED A HARD LESSON
Replies (4)
Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I used perlite last year it works great. Held the moisture throughout the incubation period with little needed to be added to it and all eggs stayed hydrated perfectly. So if you can't get vermiculite try perlite.
Good luck and I hope all those eggs finish rehydrating fine for you.
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That's the same lesson I got last year, only it was because of my "home made incubator" instead of the stuff they incubated in (I used vermiculite). I had about 5 that looked dehydrated, but I was able to save 3 of those, and only lost two. I also accidentaly got the Sphagnum/Peat moss this year, but I'm only using it for nesting, and will use vermiculite to incubate.
Good luck on the rest, and hopefully the ones that are rehydrating will come out fine.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents
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