Some breeding woes!

I like to post up things that many see as bad luck or problems, in hopes of helping someone out in the future with a similar occurance. I have 2 lessons today, and I will follow up on these 2 issues as they develop over the next 2 months.

First up is incubation temps. We do incubate our eggs at 89.5 degrees, plus/minus. However, this Thursday morning, at about 9 am. Monica kept in touch with me throughout the day to keep me posted on the incubator's internal temperature. By 2pm, we still had no power, and the incubator and egg boxes were all about 80 degrees. Up to this point, I hadn't pushed hooking up the generator, as I know from past experience that a generator will not run a proportional thermostat, at least a Helix DBS 1000 (we use a Helix 1500 watt system on the incubator). Well, the plan was to hook up the generator, and plug the flexwatt right into the wall, and unplug them when the incubator got up to temperature. Low and behold, the Helix 1500 watt system runs fine on the generator.

So, I will keep everyone posted on how the clutches that dropped to 80 degrees do over the next 60 days. I believe that they will be fine, and calculate that they were in the bator at less than 88 degrees for about 2.5 hours.


Lesson 2 was a hard one to swallow. We had a clutch that was laid (not sure if it was yesterday or today, because she was 4 days early) of five eggs. Well, I typically seperate my eggs prior to putting them in the incubator. Well I got 3 eggs away from the bunch, and accidently ripped one of the last 2 eggs while seperating them. As soon as I saw a bit of fluid, I immediately stopped seperating them, and was able to stop the leak by pushing the other egg back over the hole. I made a few calls, and got some good advice from Sean Bradley (I was not able to do this, but thought it might help someone one day). Sean said he had a similar problem once, and cut a piece of eggshell from an egg that had just hatched, and glued the piece of eggshell over the hole in the egg using some Liquid Band-aid. Well, I can't use this approach, as I am scraed to try and remove the egg the rest of the way without ripping the other egg more. If I attempt to see the hole, more fluid leaks from the hole due to the top egg putting pressure on the egg with the hole.

So, the plan for now is to watch the egg over the next week or two. Hopefully, the small amount of fluid and the other egg pushed back over the hole will help to seal it up. However if the egg appears to be deflating, I have a plan. My plan involves using some Elmers glue to seal the hole. I am figuring that since kindergartners can eat Elmers glue (LOL), it is probably same for an egg and unhatched snake. I am thinking that it is not very toxic, and I know that it doesn't have any smell to it.

Well, as much as I am nervous about both of these events, I will pass on the updates in this thread. Hopefully I can post good news, as I would like for everybody else to know what to do if something like this may happen to them in the future.

Thanks for reading my babble,

Sorry to hear about that torn egg! What a total bummer! :(

Could you elaborate more on the inability to run a helix off of a backup generator? This is news to me, as I always assumed that the power coming out of a generator was just like it had come out of your wall outlet?

JonV

Good read Tim, and Good luck with all the eggs!

Good luck Tim.. I actualy had one rip last year. It was stuck to the bottom of the bin, I didnt realize it until it tore. There was just a little buble of clear fluid. I put on a tiny bit of liquid bandage and she hatched out fine!

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Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

Sorry to hear about that torn egg! What a total bummer! :(

Could you elaborate more on the inability to run a helix off of a backup generator? This is news to me, as I always assumed that the power coming out of a generator was just like it had come out of your wall outlet?

JonV

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The power coming out of a generator (at least mine, since it is not a very high dollar generator) is too dirty (i.e. too many pressure surges). The Helix DBS-1000 has too many built-in error codes to run of a generator. The Helix 1500 watt has no error codes, and I think this is why it will work on the generator power. Maybe some have had better luck than me, but I tried to run all 12 of my Helix DBS-1000's in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, and was never able to get them to work.

I hope that is explaination enough. Let me know if you need me to expound more.

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Originally Posted by JASBALLS

Good luck Tim.. I actualy had one rip last year. It was stuck to the bottom of the bin, I didnt realize it until it tore. There was just a little buble of clear fluid. I put on a tiny bit of liquid bandage and she hatched out fine!

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JAS, thanks for the positive news. I unfortunately can't get to the hole, since the other egg is in the way. However, I think it will seal by itself (between the internal fluid and the other eggshell, something will seal closed I believe). I did poke a hole in one last year with a pencil while marking the eggs at day 42, but it closed right up and hatched out fine. We'll see.

Thanks again for the comforting news.

Scary about the torn egg. I hope it is ok.

I'll be looking for the updates.:)

Good Luck Tim..
Kevin Stoltz
www.kmsreptiles.com

Thanks for information about that backup generator, Tim. I had no idea about the DBS-1000 not being able to be controlled by a backup. I wonder if a "power conditioner" used for high end electronics devices could help or maybe a higher dollar generator (as you mentioned) ?

Good luck with the torn egg,

JonV

I actually just did some checking and can't seem to find the Helix 1500 watt system anywhere. I checked their website and they have the users manual for it, but no thermostat.

Anyone have more information?

JonV

Tim,

Thank you for sharing your two events and what's been going on, it's good that others can learn from these events as well.

I do have a question though - is there a reason that you choose to separate your eggs? Being a newbie this year, I just left the clutch attached as I was too worried about what happened to you happening to me. When I say is there a reason, I mean - is there a benefit to doing so, or is this more of a personal preference?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Tim,

Thank you for sharing your two events and what's been going on, it's good that others can learn from these events as well.

I do have a question though - is there a reason that you choose to separate your eggs? Being a newbie this year, I just left the clutch attached as I was too worried about what happened to you happening to me. When I say is there a reason, I mean - is there a benefit to doing so, or is this more of a personal preference?

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Robin,
Mostly it is a personal preference. However, this was a five egg clutch, and I am using some new incubation containers for the smaller clutches. Being a smaller clutch, I wanted to seperate it because of " head room" in the smaller boxes. My mistake came in seperating a clutch that could have been laid 24 hours before me finding it. Typically if you find a clutch within 2 to 3 hours of laying, the eggs come apart easily because they haven't "melded" yet (that's my word for it). I do not believe it is mandatory to seperate them at all, even if you are a "cutter", because they seperate very easily around day 50.

Hope that helps,

Yes it does, thank you Tim! I'll be watching for updates on this egg and rooting for its survival! :)

Tim Good luck with the torn egg.

I think the eggs that got to 80 degrees will be fine. The air temp will drop much faster than the fluid in the egg will. Good luck to you this season. Looks like you are going to have a challenging one.

Thanks Thomas. I am pretty sure the eggs will be fine. The season should be ok though, as the challenge of the season is just starting. We only have about 25% of our production in the bator so far.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Tim...I'm sure they'll be just fine...
BT

Thanks Brother. I think all will smooth over.

Man Tim my brother, I'm sorry to hear this, but I'm sure you'll do the best you can to keep that egg going.

Good luck with this bud!:gj:

Thanks Charlie. I think they'll be fine.

Tim,

As we said the more you have the more you learn right. I like Robin was afraid to seperate my first clutch because I had heard of them ripping and didn't want to risk that. I think it is so great how they just seal back up when left to their own devices.

Best of luck I hope that one eggs gives you something totally kick ass. :D

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Tim,
Best of luck I hope that one eggs gives you something totally kick ass. :D

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Hopefully an Enchi female. That's what I'd like to see in there.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Hopefully an Enchi female. That's what I'd like to see in there.

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Wouldn't we all.. :please::please: Best of luck to ya Bro.

Fascinating read Tim, good luck with the eggs.... I'm off to get liquid bandage today myself for my booby eggs.

I think the ball python egg is much tougher and more durable then people may think.

Scott, they sre definitely tough. I know from experience. I have done all sorts of things with eggs that aren't meant to be done. I have faith in this one.

Thank you for sharing this with all of us. It is great when people are willing to share things like this so that others may learn from it.

I hope all of your little eggies hatch into wonderful little snakies! :D Looking forward to updates!

thanks for the post and I wish you well with both clutches.

Actually Steve, there were 8 clutches in the incubator when we lost power. However, thanks for the well wishes.

Mike and I are rooting for your eggs Tim, both the ones exposed to the temperature drop and the ripped one. You've had quite the challenges lately but I'm crossing all the crossable bits that it all works out for you and Monica.

Thanks for sharing not only the triumphs but the challenges of breeding these snakes.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

I know from past experience that a generator will not run a proportional thermostat, at least a Helix DBS 1000 (we use a Helix 1500 watt system on the incubator).

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Have you tried putting a UPS between the source and the thermostat? I've been considering a 2kw APC unit for our racks and the incubator I'm getting ready to assemble.

Hey Tim! Sorry to read about those problems... but I think you're right, I'm sure the egg will be fine. Especially with such a good egg mom & dad watching it! As for the temp drop, we lost power 2 or 3 weeks ago, and the egg boxes dropped to 82 degrees for a few hours... one of the clutches hatched fine, and the other that dropped to 82 is due to hatch within a week... (All candled with movement) so I'm sure that the unfortunate temp drop didn't effect the eggs here. Having just had an outage here, I'm confident yours will be fine as well! When I called the light company for the third time in a rage... I told the operator, "When is the power going to be back on??? I have EGGS in the INCUBATOR"!!!!! She responded in a very monotone voice, "Mam, I don't know what that means"... Almost made me smile!


Keeping everything crossed for ya! :)