Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey it's day 12 after being laid, and my clutch of 15 cal king eggs is already in distress (ARGH)....

Of the 15 eggs, one is definately dead, two more look like they are quick on the heels of the dead egg, and a couple or even three others are starting to look suspicious. (veins in all but the green egg, but the probably dead eggs don't seem to have a cohesive network of veins any more... like it's breaking down and dying.

BUT... my question is about the "still lookin good" eggs. One, when first candled two or three days after being laid, (the HUGE egg... twin maybe?) had a little black dot, barely larger than a period, inside the egg.

Today, day 12, the little black "period" is now the size of the letter "o"... it's about 10 times larger, maybe bigger. The egg still has a very vibrant network of veins, the dot seems to be in the center of the network. Another egg has a black dot now, and a third has an "o" sized dot with an empty middle, so it looks like an "o". These are only seen while candling, they are not on the actual surface of the egg, they are IN the eggs.

Is this a bad sign? Indifferent? Good? Opinions?
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~Sasheena

i beleive the blackdot your seeing is a developing embryo!as far as badeggs i wouldnt worry,if they are destined to hatch they will regardless of how they look mold,etc, ive had some babies hatch out of some pretty moldycovered eggs w/no problems
good luck w/them
thomas davis

>>i beleive the blackdot your seeing is a developing embryo!

Oooh! Could it be the actual eyeball of the developing embryo I'm really seeing?

I've never actually seen the embryo (that I know of) when candling. Last year right up to hatching I just saw veins and that was it. Probably because of my method of candling which requires no physical contact with the egg... I just shine the light at an oblique angle on the eggs until I see veins.

If the black dot I am seeing is one eyeball (side view of the head)..... then I'm thinking that the one "eyeball" that is "empty" would be an albino perhaps? I know the papa snake is het for albino, and know nothing about the female snake.

Interesting to think about. July is going to be so much FUN!
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~Sasheena