Egg Washing?

I ran across this post today on FaceBook about washing and disinfecting eggs before putting them in the incubator. While I had heard of washing off the mother (to remove the scent of the eggs, encouraging to go back on feed), I hadn't heard of washing the eggs and was wondering if some experienced breeders would like to comment on this and post if they do this as well.

Gourmet Rodent - Egg Washing

I do not wash eggs. I do not touch them except to weigh them before they go into the incubator and to put them in. and I wear gloves wile doing this.
I want as little contact with them as I can have to reduce the chances that they could catch anything from me

Never have and I can't think of any breeder I know ever doing so. Usually eggs mold if they go bad however even if one or two eggs go bad and mold the mold will not affect healthy eggs.

That's going through a lot of trouble for something others have done for decades without doing so IMO

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Never heard of that before. I do try to remove as much of the bedding from the eggs to try to prevent mold in the box. I do it gently and a little bit is no big deal. I do give mom a bath in luke warm water though. I also give her tub a good wash. For the most part, they go back to feed within a couple days.

I actually thought this might do more harm than good because egg shells and membranes are not impermeable. Wouldn't dipping them in chemicals allow some of that chemical to pass through?

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I believe that would be true.

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Originally Posted by SmoothScales

I actually thought this might do more harm than good because egg shells and membranes are not impermeable. Wouldn't dipping them in chemicals allow some of that chemical to pass through?

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Same reason I don't buy chicken eggs either LoL

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Originally Posted by SmoothScales

Gourmet Rodent - Egg Washing

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It pays to consider the source....;)

I've heard of this as a way of treating turtle eggs as a way to make sure they don't have salmonella, I can't imagine it actually working and I don't see any reason to do this with ball python eggs. I think it would cause more harm then good.


Hmmm, wasn't there a frozen rodent dealer that was sued several years ago for selling mice with salmonella? Who was that?

I think washing ball python eggs is not only unnecessary but dangerous and risky to egg development. Everything we have been taught as breeders is to make sure the eggs don't get wet! I have to think that eggs laid straight out the females birth canal is essentially aseptically clean and devoid of contamination until they hit the substrate. So any washing would be detrimental to egg integrity and health. :colbert: