Moldy Egg

Ok, so we are on day 30 for our first ever clutch of eggs, and I would truly appreciate some advice... The clutch consists of 7 eggs, 6 attached together to form 1st layer, with 7th egg sitting on top of 2 on 1st layer. All eggs fertile at time of placement in incubator. Top egg began to decay w/in first 5 days, so we followed advice of simply leaving it alone to avoid possible damage to 2 bottom eggs if attempt made to remove. The egg has decayed/molded over the past 30days without affecting the lower level eggs, but I am now beginning to see "moist" spots on the 2 eggs that it is resting on. I have wiped mold off top egg from time to time, but am now concerned that if I leave the entire egg there, it will ruin the 2 lower ones. All of the 6 eggs in the lower layer show good veins at this point. I am thinking of cutting away the top egg, and drying as best I can in order to reduce amount of moisture it produces. I wondered if this would be a better alternative than to try to separate eggs w/ dental floss. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my 12 yr old son's first attempt at breeding, and I don't want Mom to be the one to mess it all up...

Check out this thread starting at post #55

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...t=70193&page=6

It may be of some help to you to see what was suggested to another BPNet member when they had a moldy egg stuck on top of two good ones.

In my opinion, the moldy egg will not harm the rest of the eggs. Their shell covering protects them. However, touching from human hands, oils and wiping them can remove or dimish their eggs natural protection.

I have incubated a clutch of eggs that had one mold. The rest of the eggs hatched without incident. I did not bother any of the eggs except to let air circulate from time to time.

This is one option. Someone else may have another.:)

Thanks for the info, I'll take all I can get from people with much more experience that we have. I must say that even with all of the "bumps in the road", this has been a fantastic experience to share with my son... I just don't want to do a major "oops" and mess it all up... I've been leaving it alone and just watching, but now I'm getting nervous. I do have another quick question... Do you think that simply dusting it with the anti-fungal powder first might help. The "bad egg" doesn't smell, and all of the fluid appears to be remaining inside, it's simply the outside moisture that is causing the trouble.