Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got home last night from a 3 day business trip and checked on my eggs. The temps stayed stable but I just got home from work now and opened the egg chamber and saw that the egg on the outside of the clutch started to mold. It wasn't a very big spot, about the size of a half dollar or so. I removed the mold and wiped it off as best I could and cleared out the substrate from around that spot. I also candled it and it's still good but the spot is in the area of where the embryo is. Is that gonna hurt it? Is it good enough now? Also, it got really warm in my house today because of the weather getting warmer and the temp was up to almost 94. I got it stablized again though. Are the eggs, specifically the molded one alright or should I expect problems with it now? Thanks alot. Ryan.

Either way, there's not much you can do. Just leave the eggs alone and let nature take its course. Just ensure it's not too wet.
-----
Jay A. Martin

....once an egg starts molding, it'll usually continue to mold at the spot or area no matter what you do...

...to help control or limit molding, GENTLY wipe the area with a paper towel soaked in 1:10 dilution of Clorox...take a paper towel, fold it into a square about 8 layers thick, add the diluted Clorox solution so the paper towel is wetted but not soaked, and Gently wipe the area...mold spores hate Clorox...

...since the hyphae, or "roots" of the mold 'plant' are embedded within the egg shell itself, they can survive and regrow their "fruiting bodies" (the part you see), so the procedure needs to be repeated pretty much daily to prevent a "bloom" or rapid growth of the colony...

...it's not good that the mold colony is near the embryo, but sometimes, actually most times, these colonies grow adjacent to an area of poorly vascularized "yolk" and often are self-limiting...the embryo grows and develops normally...other times it can affect the embryo...

...if the egg goes bad, take comfort in knowing the bad egg very rarely affects adjacent good eggs...maternal immunity is part of the normal eggs, and as embryos grow, stem cells differentiate into cellular immune cells as well as humoral (antibody)-producing cells...that is why good eggs stay good even exposed to a bad egg...

...lastly, if the attachments to adjacent eggs are not too extensive, a bad egg sometimes can be removed from the clutch, but this is a VERY DELICATE procedure requiring the use of tools, such as sexing probes, scalpels, etc...another handy substance is egg fluid saved from prior clutches (I draw up some of this fluid with a syringe and freeze it in small vials)...this can be applied to the sites of attachment and it'll help loosen the egg...

Hope this helps!

Scott J. Michaels DVM
Serpent City

I really appreciate that. I'd imagine alot of other people would to.

np

Scott,

Won't the eggs absorb this chemical? Or is that how we really get pieds?
-----
Jay A. Martin

...no problem if you just wet the towel, not soak it, and very gently 'blot' or wipe from the periphery (edge) of the mold colony towards the center....Q-tips can be of use in this procedure as well...no significant hypochlorite absorption will occur...excellent point, thanks for asking...Scott

Over the years, I've used hydrogen peroxide on the occasional viable ball, jungle and king egg that began to grow mold. I applied it full strength with a Q-tip and wiped away the excess hp and displaced mold after a minute or so of bubbling action. I then allowed the egg(s) to air dry before putting it(them) back into the incubation container. As Dr. Michaels stated, the mold "roots" often live through the procedure and I usually ended up repeating the wipe weekly until the egg hatched, or more rarely, succumbed. Good luck.

Will

n/p