Slugs and fertilized eggs

[Audrey87]

Hi All,

need your help.. how to tell the difference between a good egg and a slug?

any pictures to help us to differenciate, coz our girl layed us a surprise clutch after leaving her with our friend who has a male corn.. apparently, he tot it'll be a good idea to mate both of them. :smash:

 

[Nanci]

In general terms:

Fertile eggs:

White to very pale yellow, dryish, kind of leathery feeling, often joined together

Slugs:

Slightly to very yellow, wet, slippery, usually not connected, may be smaller than any fertile eggs in the clutch, may last for several weeks if incubated, but often start to cave in and shrivel and mold within a few days

This is a clutch of slugs. Even the two "possibles" did not turn out to be fertile.

 

[Nanci]

Five eggs in this clutch were fertile.

 

[Audrey87]

oh so even slugs will be able to form in a clutch?

what about if it dents? are those good eggs? someone told us to use a pen light to shine in.. if its red then its a good egg?

 

[Nanci]

All but two of these eggs were infertile, and I still don't know if the last two are fertile or not. Hoping...(Same snake as the last post, a year later).

 

[Nanci]

This clutch was 100% fertile!

 

[Nanci]

These eggs were part of the above clutch, just not connected. Also all fertile.

 

[Nanci]

The second clutch from the above snake, not re-mated. The two fertile eggs hatched out two deformed babies.

 

[Nanci]

Slugs ...

 

[Nanci]

Hopefully fertile eggs from the above clutch.

 

[Nanci]

This clutch looks 100% fertile to me. I won't know for a few more weeks!

 

[Nanci]

This entire clutch looked good to me. Three eggs eventually shriveled, two hatched, one baby was deformed and was euthed immediately, the surviving baby never ate. I did not repeat this breeding this year- too sad from last year. (The snake was WAY too young and came to me gravid, which I did not know).

 

[Nanci]

This clutch had a large number of slugs and a few that I hoped were fertile. They were not...

 

[bitsy]

what about if it dents? are those good eggs?

Dents happen because the eggs are too dry and are dehydrating. This can happen to both slugs and fertile eggs, although you see it as slugs start to collapse.

someone told us to use a pen light to shine in.. if its red then its a good egg?

Later in the incubation peroid, you may be able to see a network of veins and the embryo, which will shows up in light as darker or possibly red areas. However, the veins gradually develop and won't necessarily be visible in light for a week or two. It also depends how dense the eggshell is, as to how much detail you can see.

 

[Nanci]

oh so even slugs will be able to form in a clutch?

what about if it dents? are those good eggs? someone told us to use a pen light to shine in.. if its red then its a good egg?

Dents mean the egg needs a little more humidity. As soon as they are placed in an egg box in an incubator, they should plump right up.

I am not the person to ask about candling; I can't do it!! I _have_ heard that if the eggs glow yellow, they are infertile, and red, they are fertile, but I would not throw away any eggs based on candling.

 

[fyrefocks]

Nanci, candling can be done with a tiny, key-chain sized flashlight or LED light. The red glow comes from vein development. No veins = no good. It makes it easier for me to know what to keep and what not to keep after the first week of incubation.

 

[Nanci]

Well, I candled the whole Buzztail clutch last year and saw _nothing_. They were all fertile. Everyone else was posting videos of their snake embryos squirming around in the eggs! I can't do it right.

 

[fyrefocks]

These 2 eggs are 9 and 5 days old and laid by the same female. They came from a snow stripe x caramel ph amel pairing.

The first photo is the eggs in the incubator. The second and third pics are of each egg being candled. The embryo and veins are visible under this LED light.