Not Sure What is Going On. PLEASE HELP

My first clutch was a P Het. Albino x P Het. Albino laid on 8/7/15. I have lost 3 of the 6 eggs due to mold and rot. We are at the 60 day mark and the other 3 healthy eggs have dimpled like crazy but have not hatched. Every time I candle the eggs I am seeing strong veins in all of them. My heat in the incubator has been between 86 and 88 the entire time, the humidity in the incubator has been about the same. I have lightly misted with room temp water as the medium has appeared dry. Is this normal when will they hatch? What should I do?

My second clutch was Piebald x P Het. Piebald laid on 8/17/15. I have only lost 1 of the 6 eggs in that clutch. The 5 eggs remaining in this clutch have started to dimple and still have strong veins when candled.

How can I save these remaining eggs? What do I need to do? Please Help

I was incubating at the same temps this year. All 4 of my clutches pipped near the 60 to 61 day mark. If they are heavily dimpled that just means that the snakes are absorbing some of the material inside and will be pipping soon. I know it is hard to wait but totally worth it when the first head shows up. Best of luck.

Thanks RLDITMARS. Just worried with these being the first clutchs and not knowing what to expect or what to do. I was also not sure if I was doing things right. Really looking forward to hatching out the first clutches. Hoping for the good odds. Albinos and Pieds. Fingers crossed.

Make sure you are misting the substrate, I usually just pour a little water in to each corner of the tub if the tub starts to dry.

Thanks Pit. I have been misting the entire tub eggs and substrate. I wll do the little in the corners like you are suggesting now.

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Originally Posted by Drake Moonslayer

Thanks Pit. I have been misting the entire tub eggs and substrate. I wll do the little in the corners like you are suggesting now.

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Yeah you definitely don't want to get the eggs wet.

Last year I incubated at 86.5*F and had pippers on day 65.

Misting the eggs might be your mold problem.

I agree that misting the eggs is probably why youve been losing eggs. Its usual to lose healthy eggs due to mold unless they are repeatedly getting wet. While you do want high humidity in the tub you want the eggs themselves to be dry.

I have a feeling the moldy eggs were probably infertile in the first place. Mist the substrate and the sides of the tub. A little water on the eggs isn't a big deal. Just gotta be patient.

Thanks to all of you. I am just panicking due to these being the first 2 clutches. I am so looking forward to seeing them hatch out. I am really hoping to prove out at least one if not all of the Possible Hets. with these eggs. I have already adjusted to make sure that if I need to mist again it will just be the substrate that gets misted not the eggs themselves.

Is there any point where I would see the snake moving in the egg when candeling?

If that is the case with the eggs not being fertile why would I see strong veins all throughout the eggs when candled. Can an unfertile egg still show strong veins?

I'm must not have caught that. The ones that wen bad had strong veins?

I have lost 4 out of 12. 1 I did not see veins on. The other 3 had veins but molded. I put a little athletes foot powder on mold and both of those eggs rotted.

I hope you don't take this personally, but this is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. How in the world you got to having eggs without the knowledge not to mist them is perplexing. If you put enough water in the vermiculite (or whatever your using) and seal the lid well enough you shouldn't need to be adding any water at all during the incubation. My guess is you have multiple problems going on with your incubation technique. Long story short you need to get on these forums and you tube and put in the hours researching. As for the eggs you have going right now, my recommendation is to cut them. Even if you cut eggs a week early they will be fine. just cut a hole or flap in the top and then put them right back in the incubator. My guess is your temps were low and obviously your humidity was fluctuating, which stunted the growth creating longer incubation time. I incubate at 89 degrees with 99% humidity in my tubs (dry eggs) and they hatch on day 55.

I have done quite a lot of reading on the site and have gotten info from some local breeders as well. One of the local breeders told me to mist over the eggs and medium. As stated this is my first clutch and of course I am still learning and just very nervous and anxious. I appriciate any constructive advice that will help me along the way. Now I know that the person I was going to before was not giving good advice.

So as far as cutting the eggs how do I safely go about doing this as to not hurt the baby snakes inside? Any guidance on this would also be appreciated. Thank you

Candle the egg and find a spot that doesnt have as many veins. Try to avout cutting veins. Cut very shallow and just a small flap.

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Originally Posted by Drake Moonslayer

I have done quite a lot of reading on the site and have gotten info from some local breeders as well. One of the local breeders told me to mist over the eggs and medium. As stated this is my first clutch and of course I am still learning and just very nervous and anxious. I appriciate any constructive advice that will help me along the way. Now I know that the person I was going to before was not giving good advice.

So as far as cutting the eggs how do I safely go about doing this as to not hurt the baby snakes inside? Any guidance on this would also be appreciated. Thank you

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YouTube has many videos of clutches being cut.

Honestly I wouldnt cut the eggs. New breeder already having issues plus a lot of mold already being around the eggs from the ones you lost sounds like a bad combination to me. You dont need to cut the eggs, Id suggest just leaving them alone.

They are on day 63, "dimpled like crazy" and have had issues. I still say cut them. also some pictures would really help :) BTW aalomon, I just checked out your Facebook and LOVE your collection!!

Thank all of you for the advice and assistance with this. BrianDallek I did take the advice from you and PitontheProwl in cutting the eggs.

First I turned up the temp a little currently sitting at 88.
Second I did very carefully cut the eggs making sure to avoid veins I believe I may have hit one vein on one of the eggs.

I checked the clutch just a few minuets ago to find one pipping

Pictures will follow shortly. Thanks again to all of you. I am very nervous as I stated in the beginning these are my first and second clutchs.

[IMG]http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file..._pip_thumb.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...eggs_thumb.jpg[/IMG]

Well you got at least 1 baby, that's good.