Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are they slugging or just too wet?

The smaller top "egg" is no good. The other 5 eggs were good, however, it looks like they have gotten too wet and are now screwed. Better luck next time.

Corey

I totally agree. The top smaller one was never good. The others looked like they were good (only candling would have told for sure) but appears that they have gone bad. They may have gotten wet or your humidity might have been a touch too high.
Good luck,
Jason @ Jason's Jungle

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They look too wet. But keep them incubating - it may not be too late. Candle them often to see how they look. Good luck.
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Jay A. Martin

How far into incubation are they?

I had some start oozing yellow like that a few weeks into incubation this year. I was told that it is possible for good looking eggs to also be infertile (in addition to the obvious slugs) but I never candled them so I don't know if they just died real quick or where infertile to start with.

It does look too wet but hard to tell from a picture. I have a tendency to make the mix too wet but am learning my lesson. I actually pulled the scale out this year and found that with the vermiculite I bought that the 1:1 ratio of water to vermiculite by weight is about 9 cups vermiculite for 1 cup water. I had always winged it before. With that mix I've even had to pull the water pan out of the incubator as it's already wet enough that some don't collapse much before hatching.

I’d be tempted to move that best looking one to a new container with a little dryer media (don’t overdue the extreme change though). Also, be sure flies can’t get to them.

Sorry

Ugg...I got so frustrated when my eggs started looking like that in the beginning...The middle one looks salvagable.

Not only does it look too damp, a bit of over crowding could have hurt the eggs later on....many years ago I saw Loyd Lemke give an excellent lecture of caring for snake eggs and he noted..."the further into development the eggs were, the more oxygen they used up"...be careful not so suffocate them with too small of an container..

Rich Macias

This is interesting. I know there are some who do not provide fresh air for their chondro eggs at all. The Collette (SK) suggests periodically "airing" out your eggs.

I'm curious, anyone incubated eggs without adding fresh air?
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Jay A. Martin

>>I'm curious, anyone incubated eggs without adding fresh air?

I always open the egg boxes on an irregular basis - every few days in the beginning, maybe once a week later on. I do it because I almost always incubate python eggs too moist and need to wipe off the condensation; because eggs in the wild are not hermetically sealed off by the female and have access to the surrounding air; because I occasionally track egg mass in some clutches; and because I'm always curious about how things are progressing.

-Joan

Let the mother do it it is the cheapest way to do it. And you know that is what the girls do in the wild.

Nemo, Can someone tell me where he is?
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RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.

>>Let the mother do it it is the cheapest way to do it. And you know that is what the girls do in the wild.
>>

Rick! Do you have a page or info for those of us that might want to do this and are phobically paranoid about egg incubation. I swear I am gonna have a bleeding ulcer from my CP eggs. So I wanted (that an no more incubator space) to let Urbi keep hers IF she lays. She is due anytime before months end and I want to leave them with her. Lord knows she doesn't eat anyway. She is in a 50 breeder with a hide, 15X12X6 moss box, overhead heat light for daytime boost and a 11X11 uth that is under a corner of the box....she keeps pushing it there. Suggestions....move the uth to the wall? What?
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Sonya

I use Freedom Breeder cages.
My room now is 82 degrees.
My humidity is 70%.
I use newspaper.
Water bowel.
No problems.
But what does an old retired band director know?
I never follow I lead.
The home of singing snakes!
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RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.

10 or 13 gallon trash can, glass cover stays on untill the last week or two and is turned over to get humidity off, but first 6 weeks no fresh air introduced. Seemed to work just fine.

....the small egg on top was/is a slug. The larger normal-sized eggs have gone bad. Or they were normal-sized infertile, unembryonated eggs to begin with. The vermiculite appears to be too wet. I use lightly moistened vermiculite but keep the air humidity high, and I make sure the egg box itself is ventilated. It does no good to allow CO2 (carbon dioxide) to build up within the egg chamber. Scott J. Michaels DVM