Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Eggs are in a very humid, but not soaking wet environment. Can they be treated? Alterna eggs @ 80 degrees. In home made incubator. Aquarium w/ a little water w/ heater in seperate tub w/ combo moss/vermiculite substrate... Had bad experience with hovabator b4...What kind incubators do you use? Dave.

Dave,

I think most people here will tell you that bad eggs will succumb to mold and good eggs won't, and beyond that there's not much point in worrying about it. I HAVE rinsed off eggs before, gently washed the feathery mold off. But I tend to believe those who say there's no point in that, that it's nature's way of dealing with the bad eggs even in the midst of other, good eggs. It'll be itneresting to see what others say here.

BTW, my incubation method is pretty simple: Eggs are incubated in airtight tupperware containers on damp sphagnum, on a shelf in my snakeroom which is around 80, maybe 81-82 on hot days and depending on which of several thermometers i choose to believe! I open the boxes every other day and fan in fresh air. The downside of incubators is that a single malfunction can destroy everything in it, your whole season's hopes & dreams, as they say. In my setup, i'm still vulnerable to an air conditioning failure (I'm in florida) that could result in temps spiking, but at least we're talking about a large-scale failure and a large room, that would buffer the effects so that spikes wouldn't happen as fast as in a runaway incubator.

terry
albino tricolors

I use hovabators and they've worked fine for me for several years.
If the mold is a blue/green color, that's always been a sign of bad eggs, infertile. These eggs will usually show some moisture on them as if they are perspiring.
If the mold is not the blue/green color, I have saved some in the past using a fungal foot powder. Carefully wipe the eggs off with a q-tip, folded corner of a paper towel, etc. Then sprinkle a fungal powder all around the edges of the egg. I also move some of the vermiculite away from the sides of the egg to expose more surface area. This helps by allowing the shell to dry out a little. Two years ago I had a real problem with several clutches and it turned out to be the batch of vermiculite I was using. I picked up a fresh bag, filled containers, and move the eggs one by one. I saved several this way. Last year when one egg started showing mold, I immediately tried the treatment as described above. The pic says it all.

I'd forgotten, i've used the foot powder trick before too...no harmful effects to report, and some eggs hatched, i'm just not sure whether they would have anyway or not. I guess there's no harm in trying it.
Terry