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.

That's what I love about this hobby. Just about anything can be 'upcycled'. Yay for being green! Good luck with that little egg. I know the wait is going to be killer.

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

That's what I love about this hobby. Just about anything can be 'upcycled'. Yay for being green! Good luck with that little egg. I know the wait is going to be killer.

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Too true! I have a bunch of baby corn snakes right now and they are using old sour cream and butter containers as well as toilet paper rolls as hides. I've got at least 30 sour cream and butter contains for the BP babies too!

That's a lot of sour cream!!! Have you had your cholesterol checked lately? :P

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

That's a lot of sour cream!!! Have you had your cholesterol checked lately? :P

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haha! It is. I've been saving up for months, though. Feeding 7 grown adults who LOVE sour cream and recipes with sour cream in it causes those little containers to build up quick!

PS: my cholesterol is great! No problems there xD

Take what I say with a grain of salt. I was eating something with sour cream as I typed that :) No joke lol

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

Take what I say with a grain of salt. I was eating something with sour cream as I typed that :) No joke lol

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That's okay...I had a baked potato with sour cream with my dinner. ;)

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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.

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Had a similar situation with my solitary het pied egg which sadly has definitely gone bad - I'm actually a little afraid to open the tub to look at it now! It started with a little mold but lost it's veins fairly quickly and within a few days it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to go full term. My theory is that the egg actually died and went bad as a result, rather than the other way round. This was at about day 35.

From the pic you posted, the mold does look a bit scary, but overall it looks a lot more healthy than my dud egg! Really hope it goes full term for you; I'm sure you're doing all you can, and it is heartbreaking to lose an egg, but remember sometimes things just aren't meant to be - 1 egg in my fire clutch has lost it's veins completely after about day 25 - the egg looks fine to the naked eye, nothing I can do about it though :(

Yeah, I'm really hoping it pulls through. So far it hasn't died...and that's saying something since I've been fighting the mold for 2 weeks now .

Hope your persistence pays off! :D

I just thought I would give an update. The clutch is on Day 40 now! The moldy egg is STILL ALIVE! :banana: I have no idea how it's pulled through, but it hasn't gone bad on me. It looks awful, but it hasn't started to smell (other than the mold smell and that's if you stick your face into the tub) so I've still been incubating it. I take it out about every 3 days to wipe off mold. I can't see veins because the egg is completely covered in mold so I can't tell if the egg is good based on veins. If I had to guess, I would bet it's got veins or else it would have started to smell a LONG time ago! I've been fighting mold for at least 33 some odd days so I'm beginning to get a little more optimistic about it going to term. I have plans to cut it on day 53 or 54. I'm going to allow the remainder of the clutch will pip on it's own. The rest of the clutch looks as good as ever! Hopefully I'll start to see some dimpling this week as the babies get closer to hatching.

That's amazing!!! Good to hear the little guy's hung on this long. Only a little longer to go :) Sending good thoughts your way!

Fingers crossed for that little fighter!

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

That's amazing!!! Good to hear the little guy's hung on this long. Only a little longer to go :) Sending good thoughts your way!

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Originally Posted by WmHrbst

Fingers crossed for that little fighter!

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I'm really hoping this little guy continues to thrive! It may be a little small or weak, but hopefully it'll pull through. After all, it's lasted this long...what's a couple of more weeks?

I hope this ends well. Way to keep up with it. ;)