Day 65 and still no pippies

[Cornylover2]

Lay date was June 9th between a sunglow motley and a normal. I've been waiting ever so patiently - I'm not sure how everyone does it. Originally there were 16 eggs and 3 went bad. I checked on the eggs again this weekend and they were all very solid (not rock hard, but not really squishy) except for one of them. I gently pushed down and it was like jello, soooo, I cut it open. There was a little hatchling inside that wasn't alive and an awful smell coming from it so I know it wasn't any good and the egg was very very small. My incubation temps have been at room temperature, between 75 - 80 degrees. All other eggs look good. I actually had to put them in a bigger container because I never knew they would expand so much.

So how long is too long before you start to worry? This is my first clutch and just wish they would hurry up!!

 

[cornmorphs]

the temps are a little low, most do 84/85f.
they should still hatch soon, there is a guy in the UK that does at 78 and gets mainly females apparently, but takes 75 days or so.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

Don't worry. I've had some that took up to 75 days to hatch. Day 65 is too soon to panic.

 

[SnakeCreations]

Mine took a whopping 78 days. All hatched and look great... just try to be patient.

Good luck!

-Tonya

 

[dionythicus]

If your temps are that low then they will definitely take longer to hatch. Probably closer to 75 days.

 

[Duff]

I do room temp incubating, low to mid 80s mostly, and 65 days is definitely early for that. I'm on day 82, and still waiting. I don't think I've had any hatch before 70 days. Does take more patience, but slower "cooking" is supposed to improve overall health of hatchlings, so I prefer to just be patient.

 

[Cornylover2]

This gives me more hope and more patience. Thank you all for replying.

Duff - if the general population incubates between 80-83 degrees, with you room temp incubating at the same temperature, why does it still take so long?

 

[Duff]

Duff - if the general population incubates between 80-83 degrees, with you room temp incubating at the same temperature, why does it still take so long?

Most likely it's because room temp incubating is fluctuating temps. Mainly falling at night or those cooler/cloudy/rainy days mixed in here and there. Also, I think most people who use incubators go for a little higher than 80-83, but everyone has their own methods.

 

[Cornylover2]

Well, I'm on day 72 and still waiting. I even turned down a trip to have a girls weekend at the beach because I was so worried the eggs would be pipping soon and didn't trust the bf to do the right thing. Oh well. You'd think I was the one pregnant!! It's been raining here and temperatures have dropped to the mid 60's so I put the container in a 10 gallon aquarium with a low watt bulb overhead. The temperature has been a constant 80 degrees except at night where it gets down to 78.

:cheers: Here's to pippies soon!!

 

[johnbort2]

Did you candle them? I usually candle all my eggs to see which ones are looking good or not. I lower the room lights, and put a mini mag light against each egg. If you see veins throughout the egg, it is usually fertile. Even if it takes longer than you think you can rest assured knowing the eggs are healthy. I also do room temp incubation, so I end up candling once a week until they hatch..just for my own compulsiveness in needing to know.

 

[Cornylover2]

And I thought I was the only compulsive one checking in on the eggs every hour. I candled most of them early on and saw the veins. I had a couple eggs dent in around day 30 and couldn't get them to pop back up. I cut them open and they were hard boiled eggs. I have 2 very large eggs that are twice as big as the other ones and I candled them this weekend. Still looks good, I just didn't realize how impatient I could get with these things.

 

[Cornylover2]

Egg Leaking yolk

I was checking on the eggs last night and most of them are still firm, but one was a little tender, so I picked it up and yolk was leaking from the bottom of the egg. I couldn't see where it was coming from, so whatever hole is there is very very small. I'd say at least a third of the yolk has come out of the egg. I checked the whole clutch and it was only this one and even checked for little bugs in the medium that may have dug there way in there. Couldn't find any. This egg was attached to others, so I've since separated and changed the vermiculite, but what should I do? Today is day 74 and no signs of hatching yet. Should I cut the egg open? Can it still survive if it is still alive with less yolk??

 

[rolandslf]

I dont like the idea of so much yolk leaking out, but I wouldnt panic just yet
I have twice waited till day 83 and all eggs hatched normally. Best of luck.

Ciao

 

[Cornylover2]

Day 79

Well, today is day 79 and I checked the eggs this morning and they are starting to dimple!!! I hope very very soon that they will be sticking their little noses out.

 

[Rich in KY]

Let us know when they arrive!

 

[dwilliamsmms]

Wow! I'm not sure I could handle room temperature incubation if it took 79 days! That's a long wait. My 2nd clutch is on day 56 today (82-84 degrees) and I find myself checking in on them a couple times a day now just to see if they've started to soften. They've got that "ripe" egg smell now, so I know I'm getting close.

I don't think I could wait 79 days. It sounds like you're getting close. I can't wait to see pictures when they finally decide to make an appearance. Keep us posted.

 

[Cornylover2]

Is that what that smell is - the "ripe" egg smell? I got worried thinking "oh no, the eggs are going bad" because there was a funny smell coming from the container. Now I know.

I don't think I had any problems with the flies because wouldn't you notice more than just 1? There's nothing flying around or in the container so it may have just been a fluke, but the eggs did start going "soft" about 5 days ago and are just now starting to dimple. First clutch ever and wow, what an experience. Sometimes I have to drag myself out of the house, otherwise I'm checking on these darn eggs every hour. So yeah, 79 days is long to wait and don't think I'll take this route next year.

Best of luck to you and your pippies soon!!

 

[Cornylover2]

My next question....

How long after they start "dimpling" do they start coming out of the egg? I couldn't wait to go home afterwork yesterday (even left 1/2 hour early) in anticipation of seeing at least the egg being sliced open. Yeah, nothing. Nothing last night, nothing this morning, guess I'll just have to leave early again today Out of the 11 eggs, 10 of them have that soft shell feeling (not as hard as they use to be) and 4 of those look like deflated eggs at the moment. Really deflated like there isn't any more yolk in the egg, just the snake. Is that normal? 2 of those eggs were the ones that I had picked up and saw yolk leaking. Makes me nervous but I promised myself I wasn't cutting any more eggs open.

What are your thoughts? I get my digital camera tonight so if nothing has happened, I'll take pictures and post tomorrow. Thank you all!!

 

[Susielea]

Hi cornylover,
Last year I had dimpling eggs between 7 and 14 days before pipping!
This year I had one clutch that didn't dimple at all and 2 others that dimpled 3 days before pipping and 7 days before pipping.
So it's not an exact thing but it does mean they'll be pipping soon!

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Cornylover2]

Guess I just suck at incubating eggs. 2 more gone and I'm down to 9. The first 2 to start "dimpling", I was getting excited, but it went from dimpling to caving in and growing mold big time. Neonates inside were still pink so I'm guessing they've been gone a while. At 82 days they would have developed color by now. The rest have that soft shell feeling (which doesn't mean a darn thing) but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.