Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This was initially meant to be a response,but maybe it needs its own thread...

Mine were slightly dehydrated at first.
(Layed April 9)

Then i kept them in an igloo cooler with heat tape while i finished construction on the larger incubator.Everything would have been fine..except...the eggbox i was using in the igloo had vermiculite in it with a rubber cheesecloth for the eggs to sit on.Gravity took over and left them sitting in soaking vermiculite(doh)and dampened them on the bottom(only three of them though).

When i saw this ...i freaked.

see...eggprints.

This plastic grid coupled with perlite and the plastic wrap,has taken care of both problems.

Now(two weeks later?)all of them have that "stretched tight" look to them (properly hydrated)...

The ones that were damp are now just slightly discolored...

...and they all appear healthy when candled,(even the golfball).

What i hadnt anticipated was that the perlite actually floats the whole thing....Thanks again JP !

Lemme sneak in another one of my new guy too..

-----
Charles Glaspie

Charles good job with the eggs. What did you breed to get them. Thanks mike.

A 50% possible chance het for caramel male and a "burgundy" girl.

-----
Charles Glaspie

....
-----
Charles Glaspie

Why would you soak the vermiculite? It's not meant to be soaked.

Now(two weeks later?)all of them have that "stretched tight" look to them (properly hydrated)...

It's hard to see from the pictures how much the eggs inflated. In my experience, the eggs rarely reinflate after a certain point. At least not completely so I find this interesting. Do you have any other pictures of the whole clutch rehydrated? How long into the process did you start to rehydrate the eggs? Did all of them reinflate?

...and they all appear healthy when candled,(even the golfball).

This is great news for those who have or who are going to run into issues of excessive moisture.
-----
Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

""Why would you soak the vermiculite? It's not meant to be soaked.""

I had originally intended to use a substrate,but then i couldn't seem to get the water/vermiculite ratio right(sometimes i worry to much).So i decided to go with the no substrate method.Which is why the vermiculite was soaked.Which probably would have been fine,except for that rubber cheesecloth fiasco...

""It's hard to see from the pictures how much the eggs inflated. In my experience, the eggs rarely reinflate after a certain point.""

Mine were no where near as bad as iv'e seen posted here lately,but they did make a comeback.They still have dicoloration that makes them appear "cratered",(but take and expand the pic and look again).(This is the best group pic i could find from yesterday,next time i check on them,i'll take some more).

"" How long into the process did you start to rehydrate the eggs?""

That first pic was 4-9-05.I got them into the new eggbox on the 21st.The other pics(the last 4 in first post and the one in this post)were taken yesterday.

""Did all of them reinflate?""

Yes,they have all "smoothed" over.

""This is great news for those who have or who are going to run into issues of excessive moisture.""

We shall see..lol.
-----
Charles Glaspie

Good stuff. I'm glad the no-sub method is working for you. Like I told you before, I swear by it. How often are you opening the egg chamber? As you get into the 6th week and beyond, be sure to open it every few days to let in fresh air. Good luck!
Link