Bad egg :(

So, my first clutch is on day 20 in the incubator and I've been fighting mold on one egg since probably day 7. It's gotten worse and I've tried all the tricks: anti-fungal powder, glue, etc. It's also dimpling pretty bad. and I can't tell if I see veins because of the mold. I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose this egg. It hurts...especially since this is my first clutch. However, the rest of the clutch looks perfect and candles perfectly. The moldy egg is not touching the others so I feel a little bit better about that.

Does any one have any pictures of their uggliest eggs that somehow, against all odds, hatched? I need a little bit of hope. I've still got the egg in the incubator and I plan on fighting the blasted mold until the egg begins to smell. However, I just need a little boost of hope to keep me going.

Aww I'm sorry about the bad egg. Hopefully the little guy pulls through for ya!! Thank goodness the others seem to be doing well. Was the egg pushed out by mom when she laid them or anything?

Can you wipe the egg off and candle it again to see how it stands? How is the smell?

There are two types of moldy eggs, those that candle good and have high chances of going full term and those that no longer have veins (those will develop a very foul smell), those are obviously dead.

It's sad but it happens, the more clutches the more likely you will be to encounter slugs, eggs dying and worse. Sometimes some eggs are just not meant to be, I had clutches where all the eggs but one went bad so it happens for no apparent reasons.

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

Aww I'm sorry about the bad egg. Hopefully the little guy pulls through for ya!! Thank goodness the others seem to be doing well. Was the egg pushed out by mom when she laid them or anything?

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Nope! Mom had all 11 wrapped up tightly.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Can you wipe the egg off and candle it again to see how it stands? How is the smell?

There are two types of moldy eggs, those that candle good and have high chances of going full term and those that no longer have veins (those will develop a very foul smell), those are obviously dead.

It's sad but it happens, the more clutches the more likely you will be to encounter slugs, eggs dying and worse. Sometimes some eggs are just not meant to be, I had clutches where all the eggs but one went bad so it happens for no apparent reasons.

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The egg has no foul odor. It's still a good egg based on smell alone. I wiped it down good, candled it, and gave it another coat of glue on the effected areas. I -think- I see pretty red veins, but it was very hard to see. So far I'm pretty sure the egg is still fine but it just has me worried based on it's appearance (both the mold and the dimples).

Here's a picture of the egg. I just put another coat of glue on the effected areas so that's what's shiny...it's not water. I've also got the tub slightly elevated on top of one CD case so the water drains down the press-n-seal and not on the eggs.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/4853/ojx3.jpg

Well it looks bad but I have seen worse, the only thing you can do is keep wiping off the mold the best you can and wait and see.

At day 52 if everything is still looking up (having veins) I would go ahead and cut the egg open rather then wait till it pips on it's own.

Nice clutch and congrats! Sometimes those eggs make it, just continue to candle it once in a while. Best of luck!

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Well it looks bad but I have seen worse, the only thing you can do is keep wiping off the mold the best you can and wait and see.

At day 52 if everything is still looking up (having veins) I would go ahead and cut the egg open rather then wait till it pips on it's own.

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How often do you think I need to be opening up the tub and checking on it? I want to stay on top of the mold, but at the same time, I don't want to compromise temps for the other eggs. A friend suggested I put it in it's own tub with vermiculite. I can certainly do that if you think that might be best.

I would put it in a deli cup on it's own, check on it every other day see if the mold keep growing, if it does wipe it off.

Hopefully it will hatch out for you, I do not remember who on this forum but I remember someone hatching some VERY ugly eggs that most probably would have never thought would have make it.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I would put it in a deli cup on it's own, check on it every other day see if the mold keep growing, if it does wipe it off.

Hopefully it will hatch out for you, I do not remember who on this forum but I remember someone hatching some VERY ugly eggs that most probably would have never thought would have make it.

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Alright. I'll do that. I'm going to say a little prayer (and I'm not big on praying) that this little egg makes it. If not, this will be my first lesson in the pitfalls of ball python breeding.

I didn't have any deli cups without holes punched in them...so a cool whip container will just have to work! The egg has been moved to it's own container...now the wait begins.