Egg Disaster - Need Help in WA!

[JaqC]

I'm an idiot...

I didn't know my female was gravid - I even took her to the place I bought her from and had them check for me since she looked fat (they give free care to all of the animals they sell for life)... Well, the lady said not to worry about it yet, and less than a week later I find eggs all over the effing viv...

I put them in a round rubbermaid/sterilite type container with moist perlite - I put it over the heating pad in the big 50gal viv - Temps seemed to stay in the 80-85 degree range, but the thermometer is a cheap POS & I had so very little time to set this up, and no time to monitor the temp range...

Of course at first the eggs seemed dry since they were laid in aspen chips and sat in them for at least a few hours - I accidentally put too much water in with the perlite & there was too much humidity at first when I put them in the container. I have done what I can to lower the humidity, but the temps have been out of control and I'm starting to panic. The temps have ranged from 75-90 degrees at this point, most of the eggs look f*cked, but at least a few look like they're still ok at this point...

I just don't want all the work my poor girl put in to be for nothing! Is there anyone in the area that can come take a look at these eggs and help me out?? I would even be willing to give them away to someone who could care for them and get them hatched properly - If there were to be more than one live baby at the end, I'd want one, but my biggest concern is NOT ruining these eggs with my stupidity and lack of preparedness!

I'm located in Redmond, WA - My head is hung in shame.

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Sorry I am not closer.
If it's any consolation my first eggs were also unexpected and unprepared for, I had no incubator at the time, so I put them in a damp moss filled tupperware inside a dresser drawer under the UTH of a tank that was on top of the dresser and kept them there until the incubator I hurriedly ordered arrived. It was a batch of 17 and 12 actually did hatch.
If any still look good just try to keep them warm without going over 85 degrees, any warmer than that can cause problems. Hopefully there is someone with an incubator that can help you.
So the pet store sold you a gravid female and didn't know it, and then didn't recognize it? If it was me I'd decline any further help from them.
Oh and one more friendly bit of advice be careful about cussing on here even if you are using * in the word people will know what you mean, & you could ruffle some feathers...
Good luck with those eggs!

 

[PtDnsr]

If you're worried about temps put them on top of your fridge as long as the room stays 65+ ish. We incubated ours in a rubbermaid on top of the fridge last year. They took much longer to hatch (93 days I believe) but they were fine and little pigs. This year they're going on top of the rack system so it should be a little warmer (75 ish the whole time) but we still don't run the risk of an incubator going out of whack. I know it's not nearly as conventional as an incubator and this is only our second year breeding but the eggs will still be within the normal temp range for corns (as long as your house/the room they're in is in the range that is). Good luck!

~Katie

 

[dionythicus]

Don't beat yourself up. You didn't know she was gravid (nor did the morons where you bought her) and you weren't prepared. That's not your fault. It sounds like you're doing your best to take care of the eggs now. Get the Cornsnake Manual pronto if you don't already have it.

If the temps have been over 90 for any length of time, the eggs may not be good. I would recommend getting an incubator (www.beanfarm.com) or at a local farm supply store (where they sell feed and such). Just keep an eye on the temps (better if they are little lower) and keep the humidity up. You don't want the eggs sitting in water, but you do want to keep the perlite damp. I use perlite and it works wonderfully.

I'm in Tacoma. PM me if you need more help.

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

another idea

Do you have a VCR or DVD player on top of your TV?
Just place your egg container on top of your VCR or DVD player.
Don't turn the player's power off, though.
There is just enough heat generated by the player to keep an egg container around 80 to 82 degrees.
I have hatched three clutches on top of the VCR in the bedroom.
I think the average time was around 60 days or so.
Can't ask for a much easier incubator then that.
I also used my hatchling rack as an incubator.
I turned the thermostat to 85 and placed the egg containers towards the back of the rack, next to the FlexWatt. This worked fairly well.
Between the VCR and the rack I think I had around an 85% hatch rate last season.
Not 100% but not too bad.