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Egg issues...

I would say part of your problem is the ventilation holes in your tub lids. That is why your eggs are dented and your hatchrite is drying out. Most people that run holes in their tubs have large incubators that have humidifiers in them. I run 12 qt tubs with plastic wrap over the top and the lid on over that. I open the tubs every couple of days for some air exchange, otherwise they are sealed tight.
 
Bill & Amy said:
I would say part of your problem is the ventilation holes in your tub lids. That is why your eggs are dented and your hatchrite is drying out. Most people that run holes in their tubs have large incubators that have humidifiers in them. I run 12 qt tubs with plastic wrap over the top and the lid on over that. I open the tubs every couple of days for some air exchange, otherwise they are sealed tight.
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Right on! I open the tubs every 2 weeks or so for 10 seconds.
 
lol - see what I mean, Jen.
Ventilation of the egg chambers is just one example of where people have differing opinions. I have used both, but I definitely prefer ventilated boxes - - in fact, I normally use boxes that I have housed snakes in, so there are more than a couple small holes. With the exception of my colubrid eggs (which are incubated at lower temps), I always get good condensation inside, as well.

I keep reflecting back on the pics you included...look back at them. The first two pics pretty well demonstrate my thoughts. The top one shows mostly normal looking HatchRite (white, like I assume it should be) with a few darker areas which would indicate that it is wetter than normal. The second one in that post appears much wetter, and take a good look at the eggs - note the discoloration. My suspicion is that they were too wet from the start.
Now, to figure out why...after looking at the info on HatchRite and the pics, I've got an idea or two. Again, this media is unknown to me, so this may be little more than tossing thoughts around...comparing the known (how I do things) with the unknown. Basically, I find my thoughts circling the depth of the media. Per the blurb on the website, HatchRite is designed to constantly reabsorb & redistribute moisture (this could explain the lack of condensation). If there is not enough of it, it could get too wet (the problem that I keep coming back to here is that the HatchRite is the source of the humidity - and shouldn't create enough moisture to supersaturate itself). It looks as if you set up the eggs according to the instructions, although experience with other media leaves me thinking they should be deeper in the substrate. I was going to offer another thought, but I realized that it shouldn't pertain to this medium...let me wrap my head around this for a while.
 
Argh. I didn't originally have holes in the containers, I had planned to just open them every few days because that's what a few people told me to do. I added the holes per the advice of another hobby breeder on another forum that I really trust, thinking it would help things. I guess I'll have to go buy new containers and switch things completely over with a new bag of HatchRite. Meh.
 
Can't really help you here myself but by reading your situation I want to wish you the best of luck with those eggs! Hopefully you get good odds and all if not most are females and healthy! :D
 
JenHarrison said:
Argh. I didn't originally have holes in the containers, I had planned to just open them every few days because that's what a few people told me to do. I added the holes per the advice of another hobby breeder on another forum that I really trust, thinking it would help things. I guess I'll have to go buy new containers and switch things completely over with a new bag of HatchRite. Meh.
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Jen, check the instructions/tips. They specifically tell you to put a ventilation hole (ok, they say 1, but having 2 isn't going to be a big deal unless they are huge) in the container
 
Not sure how much help this will be~ but at this point I'd say STOP screwing with them. Everytime you open that container~ add or decrease humidity~ change the substrate.....you introducing a new element. You'll never figure it out at this rate with all the new elements being introduced (cold air~ re-heating~ subtrate or water of a different temp~ more of less humidity) and likely your causing more problems than your solving opening that tub so often.

Close the tub. Keep the temps even at 89-90F. Stop touching it. Hope for the best. I know that will be hard to do~ especiailly if the clutch dies. If this clutch does not make it~ I'm sorry to say.....sometimes that happens. I hope the clutch makes it~ really~ but I think you are reducing your odds of success every time you take that clutch out and change something else.

Good luck
 
Cheryl Marchek AKA JM said:
Not sure how much help this will be~ but at this point I'd say STOP screwing with them. Everytime you open that container~ add or decrease humidity~ change the substrate.....you introducing a new element. You'll never figure it out at this rate with all the new elements being introduced (cold air~ re-heating~ subtrate or water of a different temp~ more of less humidity) and likely your causing more problems than your solving opening that tub so often.

Close the tub. Keep the temps even at 89-90F. Stop touching it. Hope for the best. I know that will be hard to do~ especiailly if the clutch dies. If this clutch does not make it~ I'm sorry to say.....sometimes that happens. I hope the clutch makes it~ really~ but I think you are reducing your odds of success every time you take that clutch out and change something else.

Good luck
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I agree. Its too late at this point to start messing with changes to the incubator, medium or containers. Best of luck!
 
Stupid question. Why not let Mom do what Moms do? I just always wondered why people don't let the Mother Snake tend to them?
 
Leighanne said:
Stupid question. Why not let Mom do what Moms do? I just always wondered why people don't let the Mother Snake tend to them?
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An incubator takes away all the guess work and provides you with the best environment to insure the highest hatch rate. That and after my females have spent months being bred, not eating and laying eggs, I want to get them cleaned up and back on food as soon as possible for their health.
 
jglass38 said:
An incubator takes away all the guess work and provides you with the best environment to insure the highest hatch rate. That and after my females have spent months being bred, not eating and laying eggs, I want to get them cleaned up and back on food as soon as possible for their health.
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I agree there. They lose enough weight through the whole breeding process, I like to get them back eating as soon as possible. And it is much more difficult to keep the conditions as they should be for getting those eggs to hatch when they are maternally incubated.

I have incubated eggs both with no ventilation holes, and with a couple of small holes, and had pretty much the same luck both ways. As long as your humidity is close to correct, and temps are stable, I'd stop fiddling with the eggs at this point and let nature take its course.

I will, however, keep my fingers crossed for ya. I'm looking forward to seeing what hatches out of those guys....
 
I probably should have updated -- I built an incubator out of a mini-fridge while Lex was home, switched the remaining eggs over to containers that do not have ventilation holes and used a fresh bag of HatchRite. They didn't rebound 100% but they did fill back out quite a bit. I also spritzed the thin/sweating spots with that NexCare spray-on bandage stuff and it worked like a charm. Since then, they've been doing spectacular, they're holding steady and not showing the least bit of inclination toward dying/rotting. 4 more weeks to go! :thumbsup:

I do have two more clutches in the incubator now as well and those are doing fantastic -- not a single dent or ripple, no spots or weird things. They look picture-perfect. I guess I need to stick with the HatchRite and sealed containers. Ah well, it's my first year, gotta learn by trial and error. At least I learned before the 2nd and 3rd clutches arrived! :ack2:
 
JenHarrison said:
I probably should have updated -- I built an incubator out of a mini-fridge while Lex was home, switched the remaining eggs over to containers that do not have ventilation holes and used a fresh bag of HatchRite. They didn't rebound 100% but they did fill back out quite a bit. I also spritzed the thin/sweating spots with that NexCare spray-on bandage stuff and it worked like a charm. Since then, they've been doing spectacular, they're holding steady and not showing the least bit of inclination toward dying/rotting. 4 more weeks to go! :thumbsup:

I do have two more clutches in the incubator now as well and those are doing fantastic -- not a single dent or ripple, no spots or weird things. They look picture-perfect. I guess I need to stick with the HatchRite and sealed containers. Ah well, it's my first year, gotta learn by trial and error. At least I learned before the 2nd and 3rd clutches arrived! :ack2:
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Thats Awesome Jen!! Good Luck!
 
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