First clutch, opinions?

[John1982]

I don't know if it's because this is my first clutch of eggs or something I'll go through every time I breed my pythons but I've worried like crazy all day, every day, since they were laid. She laid the clutch sometime between June 11-12 and I temperature shot the eggs at 87 degrees when I found them on the 12th. I cranked up my reptibator and setup an egg box. What I worry most about is the fluctuating temperature on this incubator. I've got a probe in with the eggs and managed to keep it between 87-89 degrees by adjusting the reptibator a degree every morning and evening - the reptibator reads 96-97 but I trust the probe and the temp gun I shoot the eggs with more; I've been sticking with the average of their temps(temp gun shoots 1 degree lower than the probe). At night is when it's actually the warmest and I've caught it twice at 90 before my manual lowering of the temperature, the lowest I've had before going up a degree was 86.5. Also I don't trust my hygrometer but from what I read the eggs would start denting if it got too dry? I check them so much I'm just trying to keep an eye on the eggs and add a bit of water in the corner of the eggbox if they dent too much. I'm too paranoid to pick up an egg to candle it so I'm just playing the waiting game with fingers crossed. I took a picture of the eggs tonight, they're 39 days in the oven now and was wondering if they look good to you. I have no idea what bad eggs might look like after this long and any opinions would be greatly appreciated. The one on the left was pushed out of her coils, it looked good though so I just put it to the side of the others. None of the eggs had adhered to each other by the time I pulled them, does this mean they were freshly laid or does that have nothing to do with it?




I'm definitely making my own incubator next time, this thing is giving me a heart attack every time I leave the house for more than a few hours at a time. It's a great learning experience for me and I'm excited just to have gotten to the egg stage at least, maybe beyond! Thanks for reading my rambling post, hope you all are have a great year.

John

[coldbloodaddict]

They look fine.

[Jay_Bunny]

They look fine to me. Bad eggs usually start to get wet or mold and yours still look white. You could candle them and check for veins (press a strong flashlight up against the egg and if you see red veins, they are still good.)

I wouldn't worry too much over fluctuating temperatures. My incubator temperature fluctuates between 87 and 89 and so far my eggs are doing fine. One clutch is on day 19 and all eggs have strong veins. Don't add any water to the substrate unless you see dimpling in the eggs. Also, with them being on day 39, you may start to see them dimple a week or more before they are due to hatch.

[PghBall]

I think they look fine. Just air them out once a week you should be fine.

[llovelace]

They look fine to me also, but double check the bottoms to be on the safe side, make sure that the substrat is not too wet.

[WingedWolfPsion]

They look great. Make sure temps don't go over 91 at any point, as that can damage the embryos. Keep them above 86 at all times, too. The fluctuation range you describe won't do any harm.

If an egg dies, it will dent, then discolor and turn slimy on the outside, and firm on the inside. Your eggs are nice, plump and white--they are alive.
When they get close to hatching, don't panic--often (though not always), they will dent like crazy, sometimes a couple weeks in advance, and then start to sweat just before they hatch. The last few days before hatching, the embryo grows like crazy, and you can actually feel the snake inside the egg just before it pips.

[John1982]

Thanks all, helped put my mind at ease.