Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Schneider's skink laid two eggs on Monday. I was expecting them, so I carefully put them into a container with moist vermiculite and set up the incubator. But then today I thought that I was pretty thoughtless to use the exact same vermiculite in the exact same cup that I used last year to hatch out babies. That vermiculite would surely have some remnants of organic matter from when the other lizards hatch out and attract bacteria! DOH! That worried me to no end today so I carefully transferred the eggs to a clean container with fresh moistened vermiculite. As I was doing the transfer I noticed that the eggs were definitely not the same. One was larger with a perfect elliptical shape and felt firm and was creamy white. The other was slightly smaller, had kind of a pointed end, was more patchy in color, and was more squishy. I fear that that one may not have had as strong of a shell because of the patchy appearance... perhaps I did not provide my female with enough calcium! Also that egg, as I was putting it back in... I detected the slightest, ever so slight, sensation of stickiness on the side. I fear there is a tiny hole on the side. I hastily nestled the egg into the vermiculite, not wanting to damage it any further. My heart fluttered rapidly as I went over all the things that I could have done right to prevent this from occurring (especially including just moving the eggs!)

So I am just wondering if anyone knows whether eggs have the ability to repair themselves, in the case that there is a hole? If there's a hole this soon in the game, then I'm guessing that egg is a loss, and I can console myself by telling myself that it was probably a dud anyway. I've read through these past forums and read how some people have had really rough looking eggs hatch and I know that most of this is just wait-and-see, but you know the anxiety that develops with this!!
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snake:
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

I removed the egg this morning. I noticed a visible patch of sticky mucus looking stuff spreading out from the side where I first noticed the stickiness. There was a distinct odor, and slightly different color to the egg. Also a tiny fly had been attracted to the odor and had flown into the deli cup through one of the tiny air holes. The egg was even more soft and "squishy" than the day before. I washed off all the vermiculite and sticky stuff and there was absolutely no hole in the egg. The stickiness I had felt was not yolk... it was bacterial slime. So either the bacteria were attracted to the bad egg or my oversight in using vermiculite that had had previous eggs hatch out in it had attracted bacteria to the egg. I pretty much think that the egg had been infertile or bad to begin with... that seems to be the most likely explanation. I slit open the egg and there *was* a tiny cluster of blood vessels among the yolky mass, but I still think that the egg was doomed from the start. I remember reading from other people's posts that if one of the eggs is bad you will usually know pretty soon after they are laid. I had a duck once who laid about a dozen eggs and only two hatched out. You just never know.
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Lisa Rakestraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snake:
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)