how do I fight mold on eggs????

[Jamie]

I had my first clutch off bp eggs about a month ago but I have noticed a little mold forming....I lost one egg to mold and I have no idea why, They substrate doesn't seem too wet but I never measured the water to vermiculite. I hear all these different ratios...what works for everyone else. Also once you get a little mold how do you get rid of it???? Thanks

[Linds]

This may be a silly question, but I figured I had better ask anyway, have you checked to see if they are all fertile?

[Corey Woods]

Jamie,

What colour is the mold? If it's green then the eggs are dead. If it's white then they may still be alright. Get some Sholls athletes foot powder and sprinkle it on the eggs......that should help. I had to do that with my first clutch of eggs as I got them too wet and killed half of them.

Corey

[Jeff_Favelle]

Don't let the vermiculite (or perlite) tough the eggs! Raise the eggs with fish-crate or some other plastic. In the wild, the females don't let the eggs touch the ground. Neither should you.

[Jamie]

Ok well they are all fertile, one egg died and had green mold and the others are just a off white. I will try the athletes foot powder and let you know how everything goes. I really appreciate everybodys help...have a good long weekend

[Corey Woods]

I let all of my eggs sit in the vermiculite. I have it wetter than most people too with as close to 100% ambiant humidity as well. I just place them on top of the vermiculite and I would say that about 10-25% of each egg is touching the substrate. I've hatched over 200 python eggs in the last 2 years doing it that way.

Corey

[Jamie]

ok I have some foot powder, how much should I sprinkle on. And with the vermiculite I always check it and also like to keep it a little more moist than recommended but I always make sure no water will drip out if squeezed. I also candled them again and they still look ok on the inside...better than the outside...is this a indicator that they can still be saved???

[Corey Woods]

Jamie,

Once the eggs get too wet then they are usually screwed. It is better to have them too dry and too wet. Try sprinkling some of the foot powder on the eggs. Just lightly dust the eggs. My first clutch of burm eggs that I incubated I got too wet. I had to sprinkle the foot powder on them to stop the mold from growing. If mold is growing on a fertile egg then there is something wrong as a healthy egg won't grow mold even if it is touching a moldy/rotten egg. What colour is the mold? If it is white you still maybe able to save the eggs, however, if it is green that usually means the egg is already dead. How old are the eggs? If they are over 30 days you maybe alright. Usually most eggs die within the first 30 days of incubation so if you can get them over that half way mark then you are looking good that they are going to hatch.

Corey

[Jamie]

Alright well there due date is arond june 20 so they are more than half way there. I used the foot powder...there wasn't that much mold on the others they just seemed more wet than moldy. Anyways I still have a coule that look great. I will be very happy if I can hatch just one egg since this is my first ever clutch of snake eggs. Thanks for everybodies help