Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it normal for the egggs to seem "cocaved" and have that sunken in look? Is this a sign of infertility? How long will it be before i am able to tell if they are fertile or not?

They look dehydrated. You need to increase the humidity.

It takes about 60 days ( or - a few) to hatch.

Kerby...

Im keeping them at roughly 80 degrees and misting about twice a day..im scared if i do it they'll grow fungus.

also...they were conceived like that...they're only 2 1/2 days old. What would cause them to be born like that.....the mom is in close to perfect health

I've often wondered that myself as on occasion I have had eggs that were dimpled from the get go, right out of the snake, and have stayed dimpled and funky looking despite the proper humidity, misting and even damp paper towels laid on them 'til the very day they hatched. This has only happened once or twice in the last 10 years or so, and never to a whole clutch.

This year is one of those years...I have a clutch of 9 cal king eggs cooking that are due to hatch in about a week. This clutch was stuck together except for one lone loose egg. The 3 eggs right on top, one really badly in particular, are all puckered and dimpled, and have been all along. I thought they may have been infertile, but ALL of these eggs look good, very strong veins and darkening in all of them.

Something I've wondered about but never thought to ask. Can anyone explain?
Thanks,
~Roo
-----
"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

for nearly the entire incubation, had strong veins, but I thought it was doomed to failure.... hatched a very healthy baby snake. I pipped that one myself, thinking he was doomed anyway, and at first didn't see the baby snake for all the yolk to be seen, when I did find it, it seemed puny, and unmoving. I let it go, thinking it was dead, and then a few hours later, there was a normal sized head poking out of the egg. Not so puny. He stayed in the egg longer than the others (except one) and when he came out he was normal sized. The only one that took longer had its umbilical wrapped around its middle, and came out the size of a small cornsnake hatchling. That one was given the "baby name" of Tiny. Tiny is the oddest of the hatchlings... had a pinky head (took an hour to get down) as his first meal, a teeny tiny newborn pinky for a second meal, and now almost two weeks after he's blue for his very first shed.
-----
~Sasheena

You'll have to post an after-shed pic of him compared to one of his siblings.

Yeah the one badly dimpled egg I have his year is a small one too, if it hatches it will probably be something like your Tiny. I'll keep you posted, 6 days and counting!

The 2 eggs left from that 'wild caught cal king female' from 'Austin Texas' (lol, still makes me laugh!) look good, and were at 60 days incubation on the 27th. Not showing any signs of hatching out yet though. *fingers crossed*

~Roo
-----
"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

I still say that you don't have enough humidity. Your container and substrate are obviously not holding the moisture if you have to keep spraying it. And I hope you aren't spraying the eggs! Your container should have a tight seal with 2 small pin holes in the lid. I use moist vermiculite and I rarely have to put water on the vermiculite during the 60 days of incubation.

The ONLY eggs that I had indented like that were those that I didn't catch right away and started dehydrating.

Kerby...

The reason i mist twice a day is because everyones telling me that they are dehydrated. i dont think its a nesicity.

I mist mine once a week or so? Probably less? I do it whenever I check on the eggs physically, so that would be once every 1-2 weeks. I always try to spray the sides of the container and the vermiculite around the eggs, but the eggs will get a bit wet from the spray-back. I have lightly misted them on occasion, *taps wood* it's never seemed to cause any problems. I also have an open bowl of water inside my incubator along with the egg boxes, so humidity isn't an issue.

I use clear, round plastic 'salad/fruit bowls' to incubate my eggs in, have been using the same ones now for years, they work just dandy and I can fit 8 of them at a squeeze in my small chicken egg incubator. They have an attached flip up lid that snaps down and locks in place when closed. I have several small holes poked around the sides and in the lid to aid in air exchange. I bought these bowls from the grocery store with fresh prepared salads and fruits or veggies in them. They fit a cluster of eggs nicely, as well as several loose eggs laid in like a 'sun' formation.

~Roo
-----
"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

those eggs look fine just dehydrated dont mist the eggs directly and get them on some damp vermiculite or perlite asap not to damp 1to1 ratio is fine maybe a lil less water keep them around 80(top of closet,fridge,etc)somewhere undisturbed plastic shoebox is good w/top to keep humidity high also and in about 60 or 70 days they should hatch,,,,,,,,good luck
thomas davis