Anxiously waiting....(have a question too)

Alicewave · 05-21-03, 08:47 AM

This egg this is trying my patience! I've still got about 25 days to go on the first clutch, and Aurora is going to lay again soon but she is taking her sweet time! (We moved her back to my house, she was getting skinny) Every day I peek in on those eggs, I know there wont be anything in there, but it's so HARD waiting. I just wanted to rant a little.

Now I have an actual question, Aurora's second clutch (laid April 26) was two somewhat dented eggs. They have both taken on weight and moisture and are no longer dented. I have candled them and one glows pick and I can see veins and the other glows yellow and looks like there is nothing inside. The pink one had a bit of mold for a while but I think I have corrected that problem. The yellow one on the other hand looks fine! No mold, no smell, it hasn't turned any funky colors or rotted, but it just doesn't look fertile inside. Is it possible that it is fertile? I really would have though it would go bad by now.

Tim and Julie B · 05-21-03, 12:07 PM

That is quite common. I have 3 clutches so far out of about 48 that contain one fertile egg and one infertile one. I left them in the incubator with their fertile counterparts and they have not molded or dented or anything. An infertile egg can in fact last the entire length of time. Especially if your humidity and temps are perfect. I hate waiting for the eggs to hatch, I wish they could all do so when I want them to.

It's frustrating, unless you're a big breeder who has a lot of eggs hatch every day!

Alicewave · 05-21-03, 12:53 PM

Hmm so should I flush it or see if my snake wants it or just hold out til it's counterpart hatches?

Youkai · 05-21-03, 01:25 PM

Don't throw an egg until it's rotting and turning into mush! I had some crested eggs go really weird... I let them get too deydrated at one point, later they got moldy...
A few weeks later a few awsome crested geckos hatched out of the nastiest eggs I've ever seen.

And you know what? I've raised and bred some rare geckos, but almost nothing will compare to the feeling of hatching some nice leos. I just hatched one little hypo nut case the other night, and I'm going to hang onto that one. It's got personality in spades. It's also a few days old only and the bands are fading!

Tim and Julie B · 05-21-03, 02:08 PM

Hold out until the other one hatches, and if it still shows no signs of veins then there really is no point in keeping it. Right? No veins=no babies.

drewlowe · 05-21-03, 05:29 PM

I would keep it and try i have had some pretty yucky eggs hatch from my leos. That i thought would have never made it. So give it a try cant hurt anything. And you may come up with a baby you thought would never come. As far as waiting for the other eggs to hatch just be patient they will come. It gets harder as the days get closer to the hatch time. Good luck with the eggs and the leo hope she gains her weight back.

Clownfishie · 05-21-03, 07:15 PM

Keep 'em all, until they start stinking up the place... LOL

I know how you feel Alice -- I'm going absolutely BONKERS over here... LOL

My first clutch was theoretically supposed to hatch around the 15th -- that was 60 days... still no babies. The eggs are looking huge though, it's got to be close! ARRGH -- hatch already!!!!! hehe....

Speaking of candling eggs though -- how do you do it? LOL

I've never seen it done before... Don't have a flashlight, I suppose I should get one

Easier than trying to use my propane lighter... LOL

Tim and Julie B · 05-21-03, 07:44 PM

Try to go to a dollar store or something where they sell cheap pen-lights. Carefully pick up your egg, mark the top,"just in case", and place the pen-light under the egg. It works best to do this in a slightly darkened room. You should be able to see thin red veins forming around the inside off the egg, and as incubation progresses a dark mass will form inside as well, as the embryo gets bigger. Hope that was a good explanation

Alicewave · 05-22-03, 07:24 AM

That's a perfect explanation. I got so excited when i saw the dark masses form. I've been weighing them too and my two best looking eggs have gone up from 5 grams each to 6 now. If you really get a good candling you can almost see the shape of what's inside!

drewlowe · 05-22-03, 10:45 AM

Alice do you handle your eggs frequetly? I was always under the impression to it's best to leave them alone. I only touch the eggs when moving them from the nesting box to the incubator. Plus i live in a basement and it's kinda cold so i try to do the transfer as fast as possible. So i also do not do the candleing thing cause i don't want to have the eggs in the cold air for too long. My basement is usually at 65- 75 degres depending on if the Air conditioner is on or not.

Tim and Julie B · 05-22-03, 01:19 PM

Luckily the eggs are pretty hardy. It is alright to check on them frequently as long as you are careful. I'm even luckier to have a gecko room where the temp doesn't fluctuate more than two degrees, so I could incubate in the room if I scrapped the incubator. No worries in the temp there. If you are going to check on them frequently, it would be best to mark them.

Alicewave · 05-22-03, 02:04 PM

I handle them once a week at the most. But they do seem pretty hardy. The definitely survived the 75 minute car trip so I think they can take 30 seconds of handling in a week. I always wash my hands really well before and after and I make sure never to tip them or tilt them.