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Problem with Eggs

Bug22baby

Snakes and more Snakes
Ok so I had 4 eggs, then one molded and got really nasty and so I removed it and tossed it. Well now I have another looking the same way and one with green growing on it. What should I do? They are expected to hatch the end of this month. I would like to save atleast one egg, this is my first clucth which came unexpectedly. Oh and just incase it matters, I have them in pearlite in a incubator at 81 degrees. They been that way since August 25th.

Any Suggestions???

Thanks Amanda
 
If possible, separate it. If separation is likely to cause damage to the other eggs, don't.

Either way, I'd leave it to go full term. I've had mouldy eggs hatch out perfectly healthy hatchlings before.

Good luck with them. :)
 
Leave it alone

try leaving it there. Most of the time, the mold won't spread to good eggs. You can apply some anti-fungal medication lightly to see what happens. If it gets worse, starts to shrivel, and its easy to separate, go ahead and trash it.
 
Well they are all seperated none are stuck together. 1 of them Im pretty sure is gonna be bad its starting to shrivel and its now pink and purple and green. Another one has green spots on it and one is fine for now. I think I will trash the nasty one. I also have heard of listerine on a q-tip and rub them??? Should I seperate them all into diff containers or leave them? Im new at this and have no clue how to save my eggs from being overun by mold. I dont know why this keeps happening I havent touched them sicne they were hatched.
 
Maybe the eggs are getting to wet, maybe you have alot of dampness in the areas that is causng it to grow fungus on the eggs. :shrugs:
 
hmmmm Maybe..... But I touched the pearlite to see and it didnt feel moist at all. No droplets on the container and house is fairly dry especially now that the heat is running! I checked them again and it appears that one that was growing mold looks like it may be coming off but the bad one is still bad so atleast I still have 2 left!! My goal is to have just one survive. I really wanna see what the outcome is. My Snake is a Hypo Motley Female and she was bred with a Snow Motley. Just curious if anything hidden is in there. If not I will try breeding my 3 Adult females this spring and hopefully will have more success!
 
Most likely the moldy ones were infertile. Just keep plugging away. There's a good chance that some will make it.
 
Some eggs just don't make it for a variety of reasons. I had a whole first clutch just mold over and wither up. And a second clutch where one egg went moldy and none of the others ever did. I've had one from a first clutch show veins when candled and when everyone else was pipping, hatched, and out it was still plump and good looking. Upon opening the egg up, found a little blip of what used to be an embryo and veins. Each clutch is different.

Have you ever tried to candle them to see if they're showing signs of life? By this point you should be able to see veins and when gently pressed towards the 'dark spot' you should see the hatchling move within. Gentle handling doesn't seem to do any ill effect towards the developing hatchlings. That way you could definitively see which ones are alive and not waste your time treating an egg that has nothing within.

Listerine did save one egg for me this year, so I know that works. The egg was black, blech. So you're free to try whatever method you will. Let us know what you find out and if any do make it.



:-offtopic
I tried incubating leopard gecko eggs in perlite a few years ago, and experienced nothing but trouble. Perlite incubations were always too moist for me. I guess because it feels more dry to the touch than the other mediums and I'd add too much water.

Then I tried vermiculite when I first started with corn eggs, which didn't work out too well either. It was either too dry or too wet, plus it made a collossal mess everywhere.

So I switched to long-fiber sphagnum moss, and haven't gone back since. Its moist, but not soggy wet and doesn't cling all over the eggs. So you can cover them in a nice little happy pocket. You just have to make sure you get good quality stuff, usually from New Zealand without fertilizers added. And pick out the leaves and grass pieces that sometimes are in there, as some have a tendency to mold. But 2 years now and I'm still happy. Plus, moss has an antifungal property to it due to the tannins.

But after my crappy incubation this year I ran out of moss, so I had to use Bed-a-Beast. Barely moist, fluffed up in my typical delicup and the eggs are clean, turgid, haven't needed a spritz or a dry out and still waiting to hatch.

So before you have your sights set on anything this previous year, I'd try various things to see which you liked before doing all of your eggs like that. Maybe one clutch for each different medium, and keep notes of their progress. Something about not putting all of your eggs into one basket. ;)
 
Moldy eggs

I was told once that if you take a q-tip with a tiny tiny bit of listerine (just enough to make it wet, but not dripping) and just lightly rub off the mold from the eggs. I'm not sure if this works or not. If not someone please correct me....I don't want to give out the wrong information....
 
i think i also read in the corn snake guide about Listerine. if you have it try page 53. hope this helps good luck
 
I got a dark spot on an agg that was worrying me last year and I thought I may as well swab it just in case it was mould so I used chlorhexadine. Must have done the job, as a lovely little hatchling popped a few weeks later!
 
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