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Had 10 eggs and 2 hatched after 60 days. pipped others after 48 hours. all were full term and dead. Some had heads that were a little rounded and blunt. Any ideas? Should cornd be bred every year or given a rest year?

>>Had 10 eggs and 2 hatched after 60 days. pipped others after 48 hours. all were full term and dead. Some had heads that were a little rounded and blunt. Any ideas? Should cornd be bred every year or given a rest year?

Check your humidity level. If the medium or air is too wet / too dry, the eggs can swell or the sheclls can dry out. this hinders the oxygen/carbon dioxide flow through the shell. The babies basically smother to death. A dried out shel can also be VERY difficult for the snake to cut through.

I've had a female that over-calcified her shells, too. First clutches never hatched oxygen couldn't cross too easily, I assume), but double clutches (when the female had fewer Calcium reserves) would have near 100% hatching success.

KJ

Generally this problem is water related, I wouldn't blame it on humidity per se as the eggs tend to be able manage water vapor in the air. Its exessive substrate moisture that tends to cause the eggs to absorb too much water. if water is condensing into the substrate or directly on the eggs this will happen. The first sign that you have a problem is that the eggs have noticable growth. This is because they are swelling with water. Athough some growth is okay, I have found the that size of the hatchling and hatching rate is an inverse relationship to the eggs growth. In other words the eggs that have shown little or no growth, have the largest hatchlings and a greater hatching rate. My explination for this is, is that the embryos in the growing eggs actually have less space to grow, because of the water retention, and nutrients maybe more diffused, so small and weak they drown just before hatching. Usually if the problem is too little water they don't make it full term and the signs to watch for are indentations in the shell. Excessive heat can likewise cause full term death. Usually you can tell this is the case when the embryos, or hatchling if any make it, have badly kinked backs and tails.

You probably had to low humidity, and they wore there selves out trying to cut threw.