I lost an egg, now what....

[SlitherinSisters]

I open up the incubator every few days to check on the eggs, and this time I noticed one was bright green. I took them out, candled and it has nothing inside. I knew this egg had tiny/few veins compared to the others, so I guess I'm not incredibly surprised. As I was candling, the one right next to this one looks questionable. Do I leave the bad egg in there, or remove it once it gets really bad? Also, how would I go about removing it. Does anyone have any videos? I tried looking, but couldn't find anything.

First the bad one, they were laid 18 days ago.



Nothing inside


Now the questionable one next to it. It seems like the veins are disintegrating


This one had maybe a sliver of hope because there is something inside of it


And a picture of a good one, to remind me that I have some good ones left

[FatBoy]

I personally never try to remove bad eggs due to the risk of damaging others. You caught it very early and the biggest problem you may run into is mold. I would go ahead now and apply a little anti-fungual foot powder to the bad egg to try and keep mold away.

[SlitherinSisters]

I personally never try to remove bad eggs due to the risk of damaging others. You caught it very early and the biggest problem you may run into is mold. I would go ahead now and apply a little anti-fungual foot powder to the bad egg to try and keep mold away.

That's what I was wondering, I'm scared of damaging the other ones. I'll have to go find some of that foot powder! Thank you!

[muddoc]

They typically won't harm other eggs they are attached to. However, I normally remove them. This can be a messy process, but I will try to detail it below.

I wait until the dead egg gets kind of firm (this will keep the mess to a minimum, and I cut it away from the group. Do this by actually cutting into the bad egg, and cut around the stuck portion. In other words, when you are done, the good egg will have a little circle of the bad egg still stuck to the good egg. I don't have a pic of this, or I would post it, but I hope you understand what I am saying.

With all of that said, I don't run into this problem very often, because I seperate all of my eggs at laying.

Hope that helps,

[SlitherinSisters]

They typically won't harm other eggs they are attached to. However, I normally remove them. This can be a messy process, but I will try to detail it below.

I wait until the dead egg gets kind of firm (this will keep the mess to a minimum, and I cut it away from the group. Do this by actually cutting into the bad egg, and cut around the stuck portion. In other words, when you are done, the good egg will have a little circle of the bad egg still stuck to the good egg. I don't have a pic of this, or I would post it, but I hope you understand what I am saying.

With all of that said, I don't run into this problem very often, because I seperate all of my eggs at laying.

Hope that helps,

I thought about doing that. Thanks for the info.

I was scared to pull them apart, I'm not sure how much force they need and I really didn't want to ruin any. This is my first clutch.

[ScubaDiver007]

Hey Stephanie,

what are you using for substrate?

Thanks, Richie

[SlitherinSisters]

Hey Stephanie,

what are you using for substrate?

Thanks, Richie

Hatchrite

[J.Vandegrift]

Yep, that one is dead as well. The veins almost look like the explode when they die. Sorry. If it were me I would dump it now, but you could wait a few days if it gives you more assurance.

[Tempestas]

Honestly I would wait it out until it does start going moldy it would affect the other eggs if you do get mold then use Athletes foot powder, But I wouldn't give up on that egg.

[Quiet Tempest]

I had a had a JCP egg that died a week or so into incubation last year. I wound up cutting it away from the other because it was beginning to smell foul and I was terrified that if I tried to pry it away that I'd end up tearing hunks from the good eggs it was attached to. I probably left a lot more of the shell on there than necessary but it didn't bother the other eggs and the rest all hatched out.




Because I cut it away from the clutch, I was able to see the contents of the egg (and a nose/mouthful of the odor). Here's a link to the pic of the egg's contents if you were curious...
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7746/cimg2545.jpg