Unexpected Eggs

[santino34]

Hi guys. This is my first post and I want to say hi before telling my story. I am 46 and I have had the same BP since I was 21 and in college. Her name is Eptius and I have NEVER had her near another BP or tried to breed her. I have had her in several types of different cages over the years, but I recently put her in a critter cage with a plastic hide rock after my family moved to a new home.

My mom had been fighting cancer since last year so I had been very busy with trips to NW Indiana all Spring. I hadnt been able to pay Epty much attention. All I knew was that she wasnt eating and had 2 sheds very close together. I also didnt see much of her because she was spending a lot of time in her hide rock. My wife kept telling me that she thought something was wrong with Epty, but I just thought she wasnt hungry.

My mom passed during June and I didnt see Epty until well after the funeral (about 1.5 weeks). One Saturday, I lifted the rock off her to show her to a friend. Words cannot describe the shock I felt when I saw her coiled around a clutch of eggs.

I scrambled and did some fast research. I learned about parthenogenesis and ordered an incubator. I decided to incubate them myself because I really wanted Epty to eat again. Now let me just say at this point that I really had no idea what I was doing. I started with a clutch of 6 eggs, but 2 dried up and rotted. I kept the temp at about 89-90, but I had a problem with the humidity for a weekend while I was out of town.

On 08/19/10, the first one started to come out. Number 3 came out last night, but #4 appears to have died in the egg. It was fully formed, but for some reason it died. #1 and #3 appear to be perfectly normal. In fact, #3 snapped at me twice tonight.

The one that I dont understand is #2 because she appears to have been born with a birth defect of the eyes. The eye covers are HUGE and my kids have affectionatly named her Bugsy.

What exactly is wrong with her eyes and can she survive? Should I take her to a vet? Also, what are the odds of Epty doing this again next year? Thanks in advance.

Here are some pics of my journey.

EPTIUS


THE INCUBATOR


THE EGGS


THE BABIES


#1


#2


#3