Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ball python layed 10 eggs on Easter, 3 of the eggs showed no veins when candeled. We lost those 3 eggs and the eggs started dimpling we added water after a couple of days now it is day 35 and the eggs have not changed. There is humitity on the top of the incubator but the eggs are not filling back out. the picture below was taken tonight which is day 35 should i worry about losing them or will they be ok?

James

The other 7 eggs statrted dimpiling opps typo also i left to of the bad eggs in because they were connected to other eggs took the one that was not connected out.

James

Those eggs need more humidity. Moisten the vermiculate surrounding the eggs - it's not enough to just add water around the edge far from the eggs. Don't spray the eggs directly, but make sure the vermiculte surrounding them clumps easily. Keep watching. Adding water to the medium surrounding the eggs should them from dimpling further, and they should gradually start to re-inflate (over a week or so). If it was me, I'd continue to gradually add small amounts of water near the eggs until I could see the eggs re-inflating.

Are the eggs in a covered container?

Good luck, Christy

yes they are in a hovabator and i did add water and i add a cup with water in it to raise the humidity there is condinsation on the top of the hovabator and i was told when there is condensation on the vision part of the incubator there is enough humidty am i wrong?

James, listen closely. You can see that the vermiculite is dry where the eggs are. Get a smaller container and put vermiculite in it, and then put the eggs in it inside the hovobator. Make sure that you have a couple of holes in it for ventilation. Some people don't do that, but with smaller containers I suggest it.

James, do it now!!!!!! Those eggs look very dry.

....or you will loose them for sure..

Good luck

Raul

I didn't notice at first that he had the eggs just in the hova bator not in a plastic shoebox. That's the problem, no doubt!

Christy

....the degree of dessication may have already done the embryos in...even with a substantial increase in humidity at this point, it is unlikely to "reinflate" the eggs and allow recovery of severely dehydrated embryos...IF they are indeed alive, particularly the smaller heavily "dimpled" eggs...but, you never know...BP eggs can tolerate surprisingly low humidity levels, more than some people think...good luck and keep us posted...sjm

I did the same thing with my first clutch. But, I added damp vermiculite, mounded it up around the eggs, etc. It took about a week for my eggs to re-inflate but I had a perfect hatch. Hopefully these are not too far gone! Mine looked just as bad.

Christy

....that's good to hear Christy...as I was saying, BP eggs can be remarkably resilient!! ....now of to work...sjm

If not, then yes, Neil is correct. Those are dry. But it looks to me like condensation. Here are my observations:

Eggs are soft and pliable the first 12 or so hours after egg deposition. During this period, they are very sensitive to moisture gain or loss. After this period, they begin to form a harder leathery shell. Whatever shape the eggs are in during this transition, they are likely to remain in. So if the eggs are dehydrated and remain so during this hardening process, they will likely remain dehydrated looking. I have never had an egg "fill out" after this hardening period.

What you can do:

You can spray the substrate including the eggs. If the eggs are truly dehydrated that much, you will find that the water will disappear within 4-8 hours. If this makes you nervous, you can use a crumpled paper towel to gently "dab" the eggs to dry them. You can also place moist spaghnum moss or paper towels on the eggs.

If using a Hovabator, is it the turbo model? The fan will quickly dry out the environment.

If you do not have enough room to add a container, get the bottom of some container that you can place over the eggs to help maintain humidity. If you don't understand what I mean, just ask and I'll explain further. This is a critical step IMHO.

Finally, they are getting close to the stage of collapsing (depending on incubation temps) anyway so determining dehydration at this point will be more difficult.

Keep us posted.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles