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Please Help My Eggs!!!

richm2778

richm2778

New member
Hey Guys-

My wife and I have been away for a week. My father in law has been caring for my snakes. He was last here 2 nights ago and he changed the water. The snakes were fine.

My wife and I returned home this evening to find that my female laid 12 eggs! At most, they were unattended for 48 hours. They are all dented badly and I immediately put them into an incubator with "Hatch Rite" bedding. One has a black splotch on the underside, but it is now in the hatchrite. It is a bit too moist for normal eggs, but I think that with the dehydration, it may help them to recover. I also laid damp paper towel over the eggs. I have the temp at 80.4 degrees F and the humidity is at a higher than normal level. In fact, my humidity gauge is reading it as -- right now. I am planning to wait to see if they plump up in the next day or two before I take the humidity down to normal. Do any of you have any recommendations for me?

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My girl never even showed any signs that she was gravid. I was still hoping for a hookup this season! She never went off feed, she never had a pre-lay shed, and she never had a post-brumation shed either! I was sure it was safe to head out for a few days because I didn't think for a second that she was going to drop eggs!

Rich
 
I would drape some wet paper towels over them for a couple of days. That will allow them to plump up more quickly, if they are still viable. They don't look all that bad - hopefully they will be fine. Use about 3 layers of towels. They can be fairly dripping wet, but don't pack them around each egg so tightly that it can't breathe at all. After a few days, the towels will be getting fairly dry. After judging results the first couple of days, you can decide whether to remove the towels, or to wet them again.

Good luck!
 
Thank you Kathy. I have been beside myself. Knowing that someone like you is here to help sets me at ease. I am very excited as I have been trying to breed for some time. I have the towels on them right now, and I will check them again tomorrow morning. If I have to add some, I will. Thanks again.
 
Alright. So I have had them in the incubator for about 12 hours, and they are draped in wet paper towel. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but when I just checked the temp and humidity as well as the paper towels, a few seem to have plumped up a bit. There are a few; however, in the middle of the picture that seem to be discoloring a bit. I am posting another pic so that the more experienced people can give me an idea if there are slugs or if there are some that I need to pay special attention to in order to try to keep them viable. As always, any advice is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you in advance for taking the time to check the pictures out.
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Rich
 
I suspect they were probably fertile. But it is possible that a few of them could be beyond saving - too early to tell. I have actually had babies emerge from some disgusting looking, fairly collapsed, eggs at times - so don't give up hope. If there is any doubt at all, always incubate until they stink, or until you are absolutely positive that they are beyond redemption. If you decide that they are for sure bad, it is a good idea to cut them open so you can see if there was an embryo / blood vessels, and if so, how much it developed. That is for your future information, so you will know which eggs were good or bad, and what they looked like. It also tells you if the embryo started to develop much, or died right away.
 
Thanks Kathy! I have seen a few of them plump up quite nicely. They are not perfect, but they look a lot better than they were originally. Unfortunately, I have also seen some of them begin to develop green coloring on some spots on the shells. I am sure that is not good, but the eggs have not collapsed yet so I am still incubating. Obviously I am hoping for the best, but at this point, I think only 8 out of the twelve look healthy enough to make it to term.

People have told me that the bad eggs will collapse in on themselves eventually. If the eggs collapse in, and I take them out of the incubator, is there anything else I need to do for the remaining eggs? Will the collapsing egg cause a growth of bacteria or mold? Thanks so much for your help!

Rich
 
As a general rule, good eggs don't go bad unless they are too hot, cold, wet, or dry. Of course there are other things that can kill an embryo, but they are usually pretty tough if they have anywhere near the right temps and moisture. I would keep the "bad" eggs off to themselves, but I wouldn't worry about the "good" ones. They should be fine, as long as they didn't go past the point of no return before you rescued them.

The most important single thing is not to ever let a corn egg hit 90F or above, even for a short time. That is the approximate temp that I have found really increases embryo death, and also increases kinks and deformities.
 
I had a girl lay last year when I was gone for a weekend. She decided to lay outside her lay box as well, so she just laid them right on the aspen, and I suspect right after I left. When I got back on sunday, they were in much worst shape than yours. But 18/21 ended up making it. Kathy as given sound advice (as usual!) and I would just continue to keep them covered in a wet paper towel (I personally have always used a damp wash cloth to re-humidify eggs) until they plump back up.

But I imagine that most, if not all will pull through. Good luck!
 
Thank you both! My main concern at this point is the green coloring that seems to be getting worse on 4 of the eggs. I am not sure if it is mold of some sort, or if there is a worse issue and those eggs are just gone. Has this happened to you before?
 
Sometimes healthy eggs can withstand a mould attack. I never give up on a mouldy egg until it completely collapses. However, it is usually infertile eggs or those containing dead embryos that succumb to mould.

All you can really do is continue to monitor the eggs and keep your fingers crossed. Good luck.
 
Thanks Bitsy. I separated the 4 bad ones from the rest. They are in the same incubator, but in a different container. I am virtually positive they are not going to make it, but they have not started to stink yet so I am still hopeful. I will post some new pics once I open the container for ventilation today. The remaining 8 have plumped up very nicely, and I am really pleased with how they have recovered. They are still not perfect, but they seem to still be viable and in relatively good condition.

Rich
 
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