EMERGENCY HELP!!! - Quiet Tempest, I need you.

[AwBaillie]

Temp and humidity look good.

Like Muddoc said, with all the red veins, unless they have a tangled umbilicus, they should be alright.

Just sit back and wait, its about all you can do. We had a clutch last year, that took another 18 days? give or take after the first one pipped. So sit back, relax, and wait for them.

[zues]

If you think the eggs are to dry or to much leaked out when you were messing with add water. I used bottled water just make sure the temp is close to the egg temp. They look fine.

[anatess]

Okay, this is really crazy. I find myself checking the bator every hour. I can't help it. So, my husband and I cut a hole on the top of the cooler and put plexiglass on just so I won't keep opening the thing.

So, now I have a problem - the humidity bumped up to HI (as in, the accurite thermo/hygro can't measure it anymore it just says HI - so it's probably at 100%). Moisture is developing on the lid of the eggbox. Now, I know these guys are already pipped so it is probably not too bad if water "rains" on them some because I was squirting saline solution on them just yesterday....

I'm thinking of putting press and seal over the box but then I'm thinking... these guys need air. What to do? ARRRRGGGG!

There's gotta be a college course on this!

[dr del]

Breathe!

No press and seal, open the eggbox every day for air transfer and to check everything is still ok - if the eggs look as though there is a skin forming on the fluid or it seems cloudy spritz with saline ( I used tap water myself ) again to flush them out slightly.

The humidity might simply be because you are lowering the incubator temp by opening it so much meaning the egg boxes are slightly higher temp than the surrounding air.


dr del

[anatess]

Thank you, Dr. Del.
It's getting worse. I'm looking through the window every 5 minutes seems like. I put the bator next to my office desk so I can work.

The eggs look really ugly. I look at all the recent pip'd pics up on this forum and they all look pretty.


Moisture on egg-box lid that I'm talking about:


Emergency incubator (suprisingly gives out a very steady temperature - I looked at the temp history and it only varied by 1 degree). The egg-box is on tightly capped water bottles that are on a UTH that is stuck to a sheet of polycarbonate inside the el-cheapo styrofoam cooler. Good thing I only have 5 eggs. It wouldn't fit anything else.

[dr del]

Hi,

It almost looks as though the cuts went too far down the sides of the egg and let a lot of the egg white out which has left them looking a lot more deflated than most you see.

When you cut it's best to go along the top of the egg to avoid that happening.

I would mist every day and that will also take care of the air requirements of the hatchlings.

I really don't think the humidity is a problem at this point.


dr del

[Quiet Tempest]

I am sorry I didn't see this thread. I don't know how I missed it!

This far into incubation, I really don't know what would cause the mother to neglect her clutch. My eggs didn't start pipping until day 59 and day 56 and the females still lingered in their "nests" with babies crawling around them.

The babies in eggs should be fine so long as temps and humidity remain within the same levels that they had when their mom was tending them.

[J.Vandegrift]

Good luck. I sorry to say it, but those eggs were really cut poorly. Next time just a little slit on top is all you really should do. I make a little wedge shaped cut so I can lift the flap and then fold the flap back down after taking a peek. Hopefully your eggs are close enough to hatching that it won't make a difference.

[anatess]

Good luck. I sorry to say it, but those eggs were really cut poorly. Next time just a little slit on top is all you really should do. I make a little wedge shaped cut so I can lift the flap and then fold the flap back down after taking a peek. Hopefully your eggs are close enough to hatching that it won't make a difference.

You're very right. I cut it across instead of long-wise using kitchen shears - the only thing I had handy! I don't know why I did it that way except that it's how I always crack an egg for breakfast.

It wasn't so bad (okay, so it was still bad) when I first cut it but then I poked around the insides of the egg trying to see if they're moving so they all slit all the way down the sides. At that time I thought the eggs were goners.

Ahh... amateurs! Grrrr. I was getting complacent with the "natural birth" thing that when mom left the eggs I just panicked.

[anatess]

I am sorry I didn't see this thread. I don't know how I missed it!

This far into incubation, I really don't know what would cause the mother to neglect her clutch. My eggs didn't start pipping until day 59 and day 56 and the females still lingered in their "nests" with babies crawling around them.

The babies in eggs should be fine so long as temps and humidity remain within the same levels that they had when their mom was tending them.

Tempest, I really don't understand it either. There was no warning of any kind. Everything was just trucking along. I was getting antsy because it was already 59 days and nothing was happening. I woke up on day 60 and mom was not with the eggs. She was curled up on the non-heated end of the tub - without a hide. I'm like, hmm... that's weird. But, I wasn't worried or anything, I just thought I just caught her on a rare moment that she wanted to cool down. Came home that night and she wasn't with the eggs. I put her back in the egg box. She went and curled up for a few but then left again. The really wierd thing is - for the past 59 days - you couldn't go near her without fear of getting a good tagging. She was some mean momma! But that day - she was like normal temperament again. We picked her up, put her in the egg box, she wasn't doing the S-thing at all. She crawls out of the egg box, we pick her up like she's the pet we've had for the past 2 years. Really, really wierd. It's feeding day for her on Friday. We'll see if she eats. I'm thinking I should just go ahead and schedule a vet visit.

Sorry that I couldn't give you guys a happy-ending maternal incubation story.

P.S. When do you guys schedule the first vet visit for the babies? After first shed? After first meal?