Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So far I have had three clutches, well for the most part. The first clutch was 6 for 6 good the second was 2 good 4 bad, and one of the good eggs started going bad after 10 days. The third female to lay passed 3 slugs on March 21st (27 days after shed) she still has two left in her on 3-26. The last two don't feel like slugs but with the time that has past who the heck knows. The rack temps seem right all the females were bred plenty of times, all of good weight and age so what the heck... This is the first year that all these particular males have bred so maybe that's a factor, I also started breeding earlier in the year so maybe that has something to do with it... I'm expecting a couple more clutches this coming week both of which are from males that sired the two bad clutches mentioned. Hopefully that will give me a little more insight but figured I would ask if anyone had any opinions or suggestions. If there is something I'm missing and this is what I have to expect the remainder of the season, it is going to be a long season...

Also the one egg that went bad after 10 days I slit and here are a couple pics. To me it looks like the internal organs were developing outside the body cavity or there was some sort of a rupture. However I really don't know the embryonic stages so maybe someone could shed some light on this as well.

Sorry for the ranting just very frustrated...

Thanks
George Knaack
GLK HERP

Hang in there! It can be quite frustrating at times.
Happens to all of us.

Chris Simone

np

that told me to be patient....chin up....and I would be rewarded.....????.........Well...your post is not real inspiring!......LOL

Hope this gave you some kind of laugh.....now return the favor cause I'm frustrated as hell also!......

Yes that did give me a laugh...

Speeking of; how's your female doing? If my dates are right you should be getting eggs any time now.

George

"Do as I say, not as I do"..."Can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk".........LOL

Yes, according to calculations, I should be seeing eggs any day now......but I don't want to talk about it....can't sleep as it is!...lol

There needs to be a Ball Python breeding season crisis hotline....???....lol

Hang in there man and best of luck to ya with all your breedings!

....I don't expect as many clutches as I earlier anticipated so
there's plenty of bad luck to go around...for example a 2400 gm
01 het albino that simply will not ovulate for me...

Regarding the embryo, I don't see anything particularly unusual...internal organs do begin development "outside" the body and then as the body wall and musculature develop they sort of envelope the organs...finally all that remains are the vasculature at the umbilicus coming from the chorionic membranes containing the vessels you see when you "candle" the egg...

There are any number of genetic defects that can develop when a defective spermocyte actually fertilizes an egg, many of which are not visually apparent and can lead to embryo death...

Improper incubation conditions can also lead to developmental defects, such as kinking...with the quality of your incubator I doubt this is an issue...

At any rate, hang in there...good things come to those who wait!!

Scott

keep working at it and you will be rewarded. At least that's the way I try to look at. The last few years for me have been less than optimal. But it's looking better every day.
-----
Jay A. Martin

We started out 2004 about the same way and started thinking about everything we did wrong; well we didn't do anything wrong it's just the way things go sometimes.

Hang in there 2004 ended up being the best year we ever had, and the best thing we learned, patience.

Happy Easter,

Debra and Diana
Camlon Reptiles

np

and probably am because you probably know what you're doing way more than I do. But when I look at that pic, the first thing I notice is how wet the egg is. Did you make it wet for some reason or was it like that in the incubator? Could that have caused it to mold and maybe wasn't even dead yet before you cut it open? I've only had my very first clutch in the incubator for 2 days but they are nowhere near that wet, actually they look dry as a matter of fact but doing perfectly. If they were that wet, I'd be terrified. Just an idea. Not sure if it has any validity at all or not?

...apparently good eggs that go bad will sometimes "sweat" as the highly permeable shell membranes break down...this is likely the explanation for your observation...sjm

It didn't have any moisture on it until it started going bad. Even before the discoloration fully sets in you can start seeing what looks like condensation forming on parts of the egg.

The last good egg in the clutch was candled three days ago when I started noticing this egg going bad and it looked fine. Today I noticed some moist spots on the egg so candled it again and I'm not seeing any veins so it appears it has gone bad as well.

These have just been my observations. I'm sure Scott can give better details on why this happens.

George

Lets break it down...

Mondays suck, right?

Fridays rules, right?

Both bad clutches were laid on Mondays good clutch on Friday... Hmmm just coincidence? Think not...

It all has to do with the days suckage factor... Mondays Tuesdays bad Fridays Saturdays good rest of the days in between...

So all we need to do is find a way to manipulate ovulation so eggs have a better chance of being laid on the 'good' days. Duct Tape may also help in this matter... I bet the contractions are no match for a Duct Taped cloaca hence preventing egg deposition on 'bad' days...

The research into this is still in its early stages but I really think I'm onto something...

LOL...

Hope everyone had a happy Easter
George

MONDAYS SUCK. Ball pythons suck, but not as much as people suck. People really really suck. Keep your ball pythons away from people George. And as far as keeping them from laying on monday...I have a good plan. Since the eggs come out the same spot as their crap, I know how you keep them in. My snakes only crap seconds after I clean their enclosure. They will usually do it a few times and sometimes for days after just because they have a clean spot to do it. Clean on friday and keep cleaning, maybe they will keep laying like mine keep crapping. DO NOT CLEAN ON MONDAY. Hope this helps : )

I have had a good start but things got pretty frustrating when MY 12 eggs clutch was found to be Incubating at 92-95. YES, I did say 92-95, The incubator read the 89 degree temp, I checked my eggs and they looked dented in at 27 days, So I decided to see what the problem was, It was Not humidity thatw as at well above 90%, So that couldn't be it then I took my raytek temp gun and put it on each egg --- that is when It sucked the cluch ranged from 92-95 degrees, I have just got my fingers crossed that they will be OK. All 12 eggs are still alive and kicking, they still have good thick blood veins and when I candle the eggs I can see the pattern of the snake, they are at 40 days now so I guess I will see what happens. Needless to say I put a fan in the Incubator and the temps are what they should be. But the rest of my season is like this.

12 out of 12 pastel to normal
4 out of 8 pastel to normal
5 out of 9 (with one eggs that might go south) pastel to normal
7 out of 7 Light normal to light normal (friends)
0 out of 5 pastel to normal

ALSO ::: My friends season has sucked as well, He had 2 clutches of like 6 and 7 or something like that and he just had a egg go bad at 46 days, but the bad thing is he only had 3 good eggs out of 13 so now he only has 2.... so I think it is happening to alot of us. He hatched 20 out of 20 last year and that is all that was laid, was the 20 eggs, he used the same females to a different male this season.

I should have a few more clutches but they are SLOW at doing anything...they have been bred but nothing YET....

But anyway...GOOD LUCK with the rest of the season. See ya

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1.0 Pied(04)(RDR)
1.0 Albino(04)(RDR)
0.1 Spider(04)(RDR)
3.2 Pastels(03's)(04's)(ASF,Graziani,Bell lines)
0.1 Yellow belly(unproven)(04)
1.3 Yellow belly(unproven)(02,03,04's)
2.0 100% HET CLOWN(04's)(MHMR)
3.3 100% het albinos(03's)(high contrast bell line)
0.1 poss Het Albino(03's)
2.0 100% het pieds(03's)(Vin Russo,CRE)
0.2 100% het pieds(03's)(04's)(RDR,TWL)
1.2 Poss het pieds(03's)(PETE KAHL)
2.1 Poss het pieds(00's)(01's) hoping to get PIEDS this year(Vin Russo, Pete Kahl)
25 Normal adult females
60 04 females
15 normal mixed 03's
20 Assorted weird ball pythons 04's