is it normal for eggs to lose mass during incubation?

[SquamishSerpents]

when our 6-egg clutch was laid, it weighed 401 grams. as of today (day 46) the clump of eggs weighs 359 grams?

is this normal?

[snakeman13]

Yes.....As the egg developes and gets closer to hatching,
it developes an air pocket for the snake.

[SquamishSerpents]

ah! something very simple, and very interesting!

[muddoc]

Yes.....As the egg developes and gets closer to hatching,
it developes an air pocket for the snake.

I have never really experienced an air pocket in any egg that I have ever cut. However, I can tell you the the egg does release water closer to hatching, which is why the eggs "dimple". This osmotic movement of water is also why the temp tends to increase in the last few weeks of incubation. The release of water is believe to soften the shell near pipping time to make it easier for the snake to cut the egg.

I don't have time to find it right this minute, but I did a study last year where I weighed an egg every week during incubation, and weighed the egg shell, snake and remaining fluid in the egg, in an attempt to back calculate how much water moved in and out of the egg throughout incubation. Search for threads started by me, and you should be able to find it.

Hope that helps,

[SquamishSerpents]

i would love to see this study you did! it's all very interesting.

this is my first year with ball breeding, but i know i sure get excited when my corn eggs dimple! usually means hatching is less than a week away!

[muddoc]

i would love to see this study you did! it's all very interesting.

this is my first year with ball breeding, but i know i sure get excited when my corn eggs dimple! usually means hatching is less than a week away!

I found the thread with the study in it. I attached a link below.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=72720

Hope that helps,