Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a clutch of 16 eggs laid on June 25. She laid them in two clumps. I have had them in two different tupperware containers with vermiculite at 81 degrees. The eggs are definitely growing, their shape is obviously changning. In one container a lightbulb shaped egg started to mold right away but remains white.

In the other container, all was well until about 3 days ago. About day 30, 4 of the growing eggs started to yellow. Now today they seem to be getting moldy. I have never had this happen and wondered if anyone had a suggestion.

If they were not fertile, why would they have started to grow?
Is it humidity? I mixed the vermiculite so that it clumped together but didnt drip. There is condensation on the inside of the container. Just curious, dont want to do it again if it is environmental. At this point, if they are a dull yellow, can they still be saved....doubt it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think that eggs swell because they're absorbing moisture from the environment. That alone isn't really an indicator of whether they're fertile or not.

Sometimes eggs can appear fertile when laid, but fail to develop properly - that's when you'll find them going moldy part way through incubation. I have a good clutch to quote as an example. The shells are very thin due to being poorly calcified, which means I can see how they're developing internally. Of the 20 I started with:

- 2 were obviously infertile when laid.
- 3 started to collapse after a week, went moldy and had collapsed completely by Day 13.
- 2 more seemed to start developing, as a small area of veins was visible in each. However, this area stopped growing around the second week. The eggs remained relatively stable until Day 27 when they started going moldy.
- 13 still seem to be developing normally at Day 37.

Odds are that the eggs are too wet. I'd move the eggs into a Vermiculite and water mix with a ratio of one fluid ounce of water for every ounce of Vermiculite. That's the tried and true ratio that has worked for me and many others. Good luck.

Paul Hollander