dimpled eggs @ 1wk

[rach]

my moms snake layed her eggs last sunday and they are already dimpled. have we lost them or are they still alive. has anyone ever had this and what should we do?

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

dinpled

what kind of substrate are they on?
vermiculite, sphagnum moss?
It may just be they are too dry.
They probably just need to rehydrate.
Make sure the substrate is moist enough.
If the incubator or container has air holes, block them.
This will help maintain humidity.
Could you post pics?
Pics would make it easier to tell.

 

[rach]

here is a picture of the eggs

 

[Joejr14]

I'm certainly no expert, but it looks like those are lost. They look shrivled, not dimpled.

 

[Amanda E]

Yeah... I'd be HIGHLY surprised if even one of those made it... sorry. I had an egg dimple only about half that last year and it didn't make it.

The moss looks REALLY wet though, which makes me wonder. Did you just rewet it right before that photo?

I use moss, but I make sure it isn't too wet (I squeeze all the water out of it that I can) and I also put a layer of moistened moss on top of the eggs.

 

[rach]

They had just been sprayed before the photo was taken. We didn't even know we had a male and female until they were seen mating. My Mom took advice from the web and the pet shop on what to do, she did everything that was suggested. Peat and moss damped in an ice-cream tub and leave it in the viv, after a few hours of putting them into the container the peat had gone very dry, ever since this water has been sprayed onto the eggs to try and save them. Can anyone tell us how we should have incubated the eggs?

 

[Joejr14]

Well, most people use damp vermiculite and half burry the eggs, and keep it moist (ie high humidity) and temps in the low 80's.

 

[Kayb]

Those were my eggs, I binned them today felt very sad that i hadn't looked after them in the right way. It was amazing to have our snakes mate and lay the eggs. Has anybody else had the problems I had? Hopefully if there is a next time I will do better and not lose any.

 

[princess]

Not so confident for those...

Wow, there seems to be a bit of this happening right now. Sorry to say but those eggs look pretty bad, I'm not hopefull for them to bounce back. Perhaps you could chalk this one up to a learning experience and try again next year if you want to. Number one bit of advice...SEPPARATE THE MALE AND FEMALE...no sense in going for 2 clutches in one year. Try agian next year.

You'll find a buzzillion photos of peoples set-ups on this site, so in the next 8-9 months, do some reading and go through all the old posts on this site and you'll learn a lot. Next year, you'll be a lot more prepared for the eggs. Here's a picture of mine in the incubator. This photo was taken at day 12 and shows off some pretty nice looking eggs I have to say/gloat !!!

You can see the condensation in the background but the vermiculite keeps the eggs from being wet or dry. The ambient humidity is up in the 90's and the temperature from the sensor under the eggs (white cable) usually reads at about 28.8 with a range of about 25 to 30 degrees celcius.

The eggs should stay full and hydrated until just a couple of days before hatching when they dimple in (but not shrivle) before the hatchling cuts a door for itself.

Sorry this hasn't been a positive experience for you. Better luck next year.
Adèle

 

[hzahorka]

I would recommend getting Kathy Love's books and memorize them lol...I know she has a new one out but I haven't gotten it yet. This is my first year with snake eggs as well. I am keeping mine in a spare bathroom w/ an infrared heat lamp on above the bathtub. They are in 12 qt sterilite containers w/ sphagnum moss. They are 6 days old right now and are doing well so far...only lost one over the weekend (leaves 20 still). Temps are in the low to mid 80's depending on the time of day and my humidity gauge is reading in the 80's but the eggs are plump. I wish you the best of luck next year....she might double clutch this year as well...just a thought to ponder.

 

[Kayb]

I would like to thank all of you for your help and advice. Hopefully next time I will hatch some eggs, I'll let you all now how I do. You should gloat at those eggs of yours, Adele, they are beautiful. I must admit I didn't realise so many people were interested in cornsnakes, I wish I'd known about this site before mine had laid, maybe then circumtances may have been different.

 

[princess]

ooh, what have you gotten into!!!! Cornsnakeing is HUGE. I believe they're the most common captively bred snake (might be wrong) I'd like to know a rough count of how many hatchlings are produced each year. At least a few 100,000 in the US alone....probably up to a million when you count the worldwide population -just sporting a guess.

Thanks for the compliment I'm very proud of my plump little eggs!

3 weeks down, 6 to go!