Day 43... few questions & pattern pics!

[Lolo76]

My eggs are now on day 43 of incubation, and the 6 healthy eggs (one went bad early on) are looking great! I just candled them, and see good veins & movement in every egg... I can also see a clear pattern now, and got some cool photos which I'll post below. Mom is a normal who locked with a mojave & pastel, and my untrained eye says it looks like a pastel - or a nice reduced normal.

I'm incubating in a converted mini-fridge with a solid door, using a 6qt tub with no holes and Glad Press & Seal. I had some trouble stabilizing the temps at first, so they lingered just above 90 for the first week or two. Since then it's been fairly stable, holding at 89.2-89.6 degrees. As I incubated at slightly higher temps, when do you think I should expect pippers? And do you think the early fluctuations will affect anything? They've all started to dimple this week, so I think they might hatch in the next 10-12 days.

I also have a question about "burping" or airing out the tub at this stage... so far I've only been doing that every 6-7 days, but I read somewhere to do it more often after day 40ish. Is that correct? And when (if ever) should I remove the Press & Seal and/or lid? Is it okay for them to pip & emerge with everything still sealed up? I'm also a bit concerned about how often I've been opening the door and tub, but I had no choice for two reasons... one being the solid door, and the other being that I've had to maintain a moldy egg (since it couldn't be removed from the clutch). I have a couple of water bottles to hold temps, and have tried to do all maintenance without removing the tub from the incubator. Any words of advice would be appreciated, and wish me luck!!

Here are the candling pics... I know it's a crapshoot at this point, but any guesses on the morph (or lack thereof)?





And here's the whole clutch - including Mr. moldy egg, dimpled eggs, and a pancake egg (top right, been like that since week 2)


The current setup

[dr del]

Lookin good,

I tend to refresh the air every day after about day 45-50. Partially out of impatioence but mainly because I read their oxygen requirements increase towards the end of incubation.


dr del

[llovelace]

Looking good, I'm on day 50 so I'm looking in twice a day, mine haven't even started dimpling....well 2 a little bit

[qinw]

why is there a marking on each egg?

[llovelace]

To mark the top, cause you don't wan't them rolling around

[Lolo76]

why is there a marking on each egg?

To mark the top, cause you don't wan't them rolling around

Yep. The clutch was laid in a pyramid shape, with only one separate from the rest... you don't want them being jostled or turned, so it's always a good idea to mark the top. Some people number each egg, to keep track of who's who - but since I'm not making hets or combining clutches, I figure it doesn't really matter!

[Lolo76]

P.S. Thanks for the replies, and I'll start checking them daily after this week... I can't wait to see them out!! Should I remove the glad-wrap and/or lid at any point, or just leave the tub as is?

Btw, I went back to sleep shortly after posting this thread, and had a dream about them hatching. The first one came out looking normal, but full of attitude - and I had to wear a gardening glove to handle him/her. Then the others popped out, and had really weird patterns & color... almost like they hadn't finished developing, and were missing pigment in areas. One also looked like a super cinnamon, which really would be a shocker for this clutch! Guess that was my new-mom paranoia coming out, since I am getting anxious to see what's inside.

[llovelace]

The wrap comes off around day 45, then just the lid on

[Lolo76]

Cool, thanks! I took off the glad-wrap today, since it's day 45... the moldy egg looks like a science experiment, but isn't affecting the other eggs so I'll leave it alone. Everyone else looks good, a little more dimpled than I'd expect at this point, but lots of movement and pattern in each. I candled the eggs again (can't resist, LOL), and saw even more pattern on that separate one - lots of evenly spaced black stripes, but I have no idea what that means. It almost looks like a spider, which would be somewhat possible as she spent 2 nights with him. Anyway, thanks again for the tips & I'll let you know when they pip!!!

[Lolo76]

P.S. I'm not planning to cut them at ALL, since I'm too paranoid about messing up (cutting into the snake or doing it too early). But if only some of them pip on their own, how long would you normally wait before cutting the rest? Also, there is one egg buried under the rest, and I'm concerned the baby won't be able to emerge... can they figure that out, or will I need to separate the eggs when they start to pip?