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Egg Emergency!!!!
The eggs are on day 36. I got home today to find the incubator wide open and the egg box on the floor. Im guessing the cat knocked the thermometer off the top of it and then the dog dragged the thermometer across the floor. The probe was attached to.the egg box and so the egg box took a tumble out onto the floor. I was so upset all I could do is put tje box back into the incubator and shut the door. I did see that at least one egg was busted and I stopped for two seconds to candle two eggs. They still had veins. Im pretty sure none will survive as it was a big tumble and.temps in the room are about 70-72. Last person to leave the house left at 8:30am. It was about 1:15 when I walked in the door. I know there is almost no chance they'll survive. My first ball clutch ever was a wreck too. Lost every baby. This would be my second clutch of balls ever. And.now it too is a wreck
I just don't know what to do. At this point im going to remove the busted egg and straightened up the egg box as.best I can unless you all think that unwise. Then put them back in tje incubator and pray.
Any advice?
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If the busted egg didn't lose too much fluid seal it up and put it back too.
You never know. It was only a few hours and not that far to fall. I've dropped clutches, colubrid not ball, and had them hatch with no problem.
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How do you seal it up? I took them out of the old egg.box.and set up a clean new one. 4 out of 5 eggs show veins. Even the busted one. One egg has very weak veins and most of them detached. I put them all in the incubator (but I didn't seal the busted one. It is a inch long slit.) It didn't lose too much. About 1/4 to 1/3 id say. I grabbed really quick pictures. Im going to try and post them up so you can get a better idea of their condition. I did not see any movement in any egg.
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Oh man I'm so sorry. I did that a couple months ago with beardy eggs. And I was pretty mad. Out of a 13 egg clutch 3 survived. You can make a band aid of sorts using possibly medical tape. You will just have to make sure the sides are completely dry. It may not survive, but eggs have been busted and rolled before and made it. Dont lose hope.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Hi,
What would be the best way to try and seal the damaged egg? Tissue paper and that liquid bandaid stuff?
I accidently dropped/ kicked an egg about 4 foot accross the room when I took them out to cut them and dropped it onto my foot. :oops:
It was obviously right at the end of incubation and it was fine - though I swear it gave me a look when I cut it open. :cool:
Does it work that the earlier in the incubation the less risk of damage as there is more liquid to cusion the embryo/ veins or would the larger embryo be generally more robust?
I would keep candling - any changes would take a few days to be easily apparent I suspect. I would also secure either the incubator or the cat and dog. :rolleyes:
Fingers crossed for your eggs.
dr del
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You may be okay. When driving across country I had the incubator slide and fall approx. one foot. I put the eggs back and hoped for the best, they were 1/2 way through the incubation process. I didn't think they would hatch but all the eggs hatched and the babies were fine. In addition, I could only plug the incubator in at night for five days, and during the day I would throw heat packs in the incubator but the temperature was in the low eighties during the day.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Oh how awful, I'm so sorry to hear about this. :-( However bad it may seem, I don't think it's very productive to argue over whether they're likely to survive or not. They either wont or they will. The best you can do is put them back in the incubator and hope. I wish you the best! And make sure the animals can't get to them this time :please:
If it's any consolation, I think they have a good chance at recovering if they weren't lying there for long. I've heard that turning them over isn't really as terrible for them as everybody thinks.
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I can say that I have had small holes in eggs before, primarily from me accidently tearing them. In those cases, if left alone, the hole seemed to crust over, and the eggs would re-inflate on their own. After thay crust over, I would apply Elmer's glue to them (this has been my egg treatment "serum" of choice for the last couple years). We have used Elmer's glue to stop water spots, keep them from spreading and stop mold growth.
With all of that said, I think that that tear is too large to seal solely with glue. Now, what I am going to share now, I have not done myself, but have heard of two cases were it was done. One was with a turtle egg and the other with a Ball Python egg. In both cases, a small window was cut in the egg to observe development. After the hole was cut, a piece of Saran wrap was glue over the hole. In this situation, I don't know if Elmer's glue would work, so I would probably try to use Super Glue. Either way, I would take a pair of cuticle (sp?) scissors and cut away the amniotic fluid that is hanging out (believe it or not, it does cut, as it is very visco-elastic in nature) and then blot dry the egg (too much pressure trying to dry it off will force out more liquid). Then cut a piece of Saran wrap to be about 1/4 " bigger in any direction to fully cover the split. The put a small line of Super Glue around the edge of the Saran wrap and stick it over the split. I personally think this will give you the best shot. It may not work, but I surely would try it.
If you do try something, please keep us posted with updated shots, as I would love to be able to use this post in the future as a place to direct people with serious egg issues. Lastly, I would not worry too much about the fluid loss, as eggs are very osmotic, and the egg will more than likely absorb water to replinish most of the fluid it lost.
I hope that helps, and good luck.
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Will gorilla super glue be okay? Im going to try the plastic wrap. Would it be better to cut the window or just seal up the slit with the plastic over it?
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I don't imagine it will matter much whether or not you cut the shell. But I'd bet you'll be glad you did if you do so you can watch the baby inside.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if they all make it.
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Im not so sure about the egg with the detached/weak veins. We will have to see. Thank you so much to everyone here. You all are awesome! I'll update about the eggs as they continue to incubate. I did not cut a window as I figured the egg had endured enough. It was neat to see the baby inside. I got a good look at it. I saw the beginning of the eyes in the alien heads. So I think its a normal. I sure hope the plastic wrap works. I guess we'll see.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Dude those pics look like a cat eye peeping out of the egg. Looks pretty crazy. Anyway, good luck with the clutch! I hope they turn out alright. The seran wrap trick seems like it would probably be an awesome idea. Thanks for that one Tim!
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Wow, the first thing to do is get rid of the cat! haha
I'm really not a fan of cats... but seriously, great job on setting them back up. I hope they pull through for you!
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Hope everything works out! I'll surely be checking in for updates! Good luck!
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
My girlfriend asked me why I put a lock on my incubator (It's a wine fridge)...with only the two of us being in the apartment.
Well...we have 5 cats...
so you tell me why.
Good luck. Hope they hatch for ya :)
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Sorry about the mishap. Looks like you've got everything under control now, though. :) If you're going to use glue anywhere on the egg, I would use super glue gel. It dries really fast and there really aren't any fumes to speak of as soon as it's dry.
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I ended up using gorilla super glue. It had fumes and I hope everything is ok. A few of the eggs are developing detached veins and little blood spots where the veins once were. I've seen at least 3 embryos move, but im worrying about the loss of veins. The incubator is still warming up slowly. Its sitting at 84.5 now. Im going to.check on them in the morning and update.
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Wow, I would have been a basket case!
I think so far you have done everything exactly right. Just wait and hope. Babies are sometimes more resilient than we give them credit for. Nature has a way of planning for certain emergencies.
Gale
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wow!!! good luck, they could very well all hatch!!! and it goes without saying.. but keep us posted!!!
(and holy cow, I had to STARE at those photos of the open egg.. I could swear there is a giant eyeball looking out!!)
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best of luck to you man and I hope this second clutch will be better than the first one! I'm pullin for ya
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Xan Powers!
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Wow this had been a great thread! I will definately keep that super glue and Saran wrap method in mind just in case. That by far sounded like the best option for the split egg. I'm amazed at the resiliancy of reptile eggs everyday. Please keep this updated with especially the progress of the eggs and how the bandage seems to work.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
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It looks like you did a great job with the plastic wrap. I would not have used the Gorilla glue, as I would be too worried about chemicals possibly present in it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I normally do not open my egg boxes very often at all, but just in case, I would try to get the lid off twicw a day for the next few days, just to make sure all of the fumes have cleared the box. Otherwise, I think you will have some great luck with this clutch.
Good luck, and I can't wait to watch the progress threads. Lastly, is the last picture above the split egg? I ask because I see the dent in the end of the egg. It may not fully inflate if it lost that much fluid, but I still think it will be fine.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Yes that is the split egg. Gorilla glue was the only glue I had in the house. All of the eggs except for the split egg have plumped back up.
And I would like to thank you all for your encouraging word and advice! You have been such a big help. Not only in advice for trying to save the eggs but keeping me calm. I will update as often as you like. They have 23 days left but im sure it will take longer because of this.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Happy Birthday!!
I hope they all turn out fine for you. My fingers are crossed!
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Laying some plastic wrap over the torn areas is a fine idea. I'd do that and that only. I'd not use any of those "liquid skin" preparations you originally mentioned on such a wide area. When I've used that stuff on myself, it stings and it smells like a solvent.
As people have said, the eggs are going to hatch or they're not. My policy is to let nature take her course, so I leave in place everything except slugs or those that eventually turn wet, blue and smell massively bad.
I once did an experiment on a large clutch of Burmese python eggs where I (admittedly carefully) rotated eggs in various ways throughout the incubation period every three days. Of course, unlike you, I didn't bounce them off the floor :P Hatch rate was not adversely affected.
Good luck.
edit: Sorry, I see that it was someone else, not you, who mentioned the possible liquid band-aid treatment.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
No. I didn't kick the cat. She's old (18) and very clumsy. I have secured the thermometer cord and the incubator door though. The eggs are looking okay. Temperature is back up to normal. (88) I aired out the tub several times and the fumes are gone. At least 3 eggs have embryos moving around:cool: slightly. I think I'm going to try to leave them alone as much as I can. I don't want to bother them too much.
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AAAHHHH!!!! I feel so bad for you! This year is my first clutch ever and I lost one egg(small boob egg) and I felt so bad! I could only imagine how you feel! I would put the incubator in a seperate room that you can close the door on when you are out! All you can do now is hope and prey! Fingers crossed! I wish you the best of luck! :(
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Just an update on the clutch. The incubator is running steady at 88.3-88.5. I candled the eggs just now and 4 of the eggs have great veins and the embryos are moving around inside. One egg I think is done for. What little veins it had are gone. Its pretty much white on the inside with a red blob in one side which I'm guessing is the baby. I'm leaving the egg in there until it actually starts to go bad but I'm pretty sure the baby in that egg is dead. It was the egg that was covered completely with vermiculite.
The egg with the plastic wrap is doing well. Veins are good and strong, and I saw it wiggle. The plastic wrap is holding well and I will snap a picture or two to show you the progress. Water is condensing on the inside of the plastic wrap. I'm glad its holding in moisture but is this okay for the egg? Let me go snap a picture of the egg's progress really quick.
And again, I really want to thank you all for your help. It has been an interesting week for sure. I THINK my pinstripe female ovulated on the 12th, and the fact these eggs (well 4/5) have survived this.....wow what awesome birthday presents. :D
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What a great thread. I am glad they are doing well for you. Please take more pics as they progress.
Sending some good vibes your way!
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Because of their tumble out of the incubator and sitting at 70 for possibly a few hours will they delay their hatch date? They are on day 42. Only 19 days left. Should I cut the eggs at day 60? Or just wait and see what they do?
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Hoping you end up with a few healthy little ones in the end! You did a bang up job with that torn egg. Great advice was given as well. It was unfortunate that it happened, but is a good thread for us other newbies when it comes to clutches! Thanks for sharing with us!
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny
Water is condensing on the inside of the plastic wrap. I'm glad its holding in moisture but is this okay for the egg?
I think the condensation is a testament to how well the seal is, which I think is good. The only bad thing I could think of in regards to this, would be not allowing the egg to breathe, but there is still plenty of porous egg surface left to breathe, so I don't see a problme here. My only other concern would be that the condensation on the inside of the plastic wrap may come into contact with the egg shell that is behind the glue line. This could possibly deteriorate that part of the shell, and thus cause a problem. However, I think you are close enough to hatching that if it manifested, it would still be close enough to save the hatchling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny
Because of their tumble out of the incubator and sitting at 70 for possibly a few hours will they delay their hatch date? They are on day 42. Only 19 days left. Should I cut the eggs at day 60? Or just wait and see what they do?
I would not expect that short of a period of cool incubation temps to affect hatching. If anything, it woula push it back one day. Please keep us posted (you have done a great job of this so far), but the updates are definitely registering in my mind, and helping me to devise a plan of attack for the next time this happens (in the event that the process could be tweaked a little)
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The split egg sprung a leak today. I pulled the egg box out and opened the lid and without even touching the egg, a drop of liquid came out of a small hole in the plastic wrap that had not been glued down. I gently wiped the liquid off the egg and glued the hole down. Other than that, the baby is still moving around and veins look excellent. The other 3 live babies are as if nothing had happened. They are moving a lot and their veins look good and strong. I have no doubt these will hatch. When they do, I will be posting up pictures of the outcome.
The 5th egg had a small patch of fuzz on it and appeared a little damp. I blotted (gently) the surface of the egg to remove any moisture and removed the fuzz. So here comes a few questions. When I was incubating my first clutch of ball python eggs, the ones that died basically became opaque on the inside because the fluid inside became "cooked". This egg, while it has no visible veins, is not opaque yet. I do see a dark blob to one side that has hints of red. I'm assuming this is the embryo and yolk. Without veins present, and no movement that I can see, I am assuming the embryo is dead. There has been no movement since the accident. How long will it take before the egg "cooks" in the incubator? Other than the fuzz on it, it hasn't gone BAD. It just sits there, unmoving, with no veins. I don't want to remove it in case of the very very tiny chance the embryo is still alive. BUT, I don't want this fuzz spreading to the split egg either. Anything I should do?
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I am glad to hear you made okay pretty good! Fingers crossed on some healthy babies! If its growing fuzz which is mold then it probably is gone!
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What a great thread in spite of your losses. Your doing great at this. My nerves would probably be shot :) I can't wait to see the babies.
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Don't worry about the mold on the one egg. Assuming the split egg has a healthy living animal in it, the mold will not spread. So long as an egg is healthy, it fights the mold on it's own. I have had eggs go bad and mold up as quick as 10 days into incubation and left them attached to other eggs the rest of the 50 days, with no ill effects. Leave it in there until the end, to give it a fighting chance.
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Today is day 45. The four good eggs are moving around a lot more. If I positioned the light just right I saw pattern on two of them. I'm pretty sure one is a spider! Now that the plastic wrap was re-glued down, it is holding extremely well. No more leaks and the baby is doing well.
Not much longer to go! Now, the baby with the plastic wrap on the egg. Should I be worried about it trying to pip through the plastic wrap or where the glue is? Or will it figure out that it needs to cut through the side of the egg?
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Hi,
I would have thought that, when the first one pips, you could just cut the plastic wrap?
dr del
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Yea, that makes sense. :P
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The bad eggs insides used to be almost clear with a red blob to one side that was the embryo and yolk sac. Now the entire inside of the egg is a deep red/pink. I saw the tiniest vein (it was maybe 1cm long and very faint) but I don't think it means anything. The inside of the egg seems to be getting darker, and I feel like it is probably beginning to cook. If it is dead it has been that way for 10 days now. I'm not sure how long it takes them to become solidified inside. I was thinking of cutting a small slit in this egg on day 50 (if it has not already become completely opaque) just to see what's going on in there. I'm incubating between 87.5 and 88.5.
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Re: Egg Emergency!!!!
Wow. This is a such a great story. Showing how resilient the little eggs are. I really hope everything turns out. Good luck in the next few days! I'll be waiting for a pipping photo. :)
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What an interesting and informative thread! We are all rooting for healthy babies to pip.
The saran wrap was truly inspired, and life-saving. I wonder how Tegaderm would work in a situation like this. It is a semi-permeable transparent adhesive wound dressing that can be placed right over an open wound.
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:') This thread is so full of hope and information! Sending good vibes to the little guys, and can't wait to see them!! (will you be selling any...? ;) )
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I've decided to cut the bad egg open today just to see what's going on inside. If the baby inside is obviously dead, then I can go ahead and throw the egg out. On the very off chance the baby is still alive, then at least I know. I'll be doing this as soon as my phone charges so I can take pictures of what I find. If the baby is indeed dead then it died on the day of the accident or day or two after, so the age will be roughly 36 days into incubation. I will be posting pictures here of the inside of the egg and the baby if it is indeed dead.
So that is a WARNING that this thread will contain possibly graphic pictures of the inside of the egg. I don't know if I can change the title of the thread to warn about this, but here is a warning!
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