Help please! *urgent*

[fugymugy]

I managed to go a whole 16 days with my first clutch without anything going wrong.

I've got a clutch of 5 eggs, and two seem to be extremely full of egg goo(?) to the point that they feel solid, today, i opened and the incubator, and the bigger of the two has started to collapse, initially i thought it was a humidity issue, as i'm using Hatchrite and have had to add water once already, however, as i lifted the egg out to candle to make sure every thing was still good inside, i've seen that a weak spot on the side/top of the egg that was facing away from me has literally started to split from the pressure of the egg goo. The baby is still very active, more so now that it seems to have less resistance. you can see part of the baby in the photo

anyway, i've cut away the ripped area of the shell, and the rest of the weak spot, (wasn't as big as it looks) and wrapped the egg in cling film, not completley but just enough to make sure it doesn't come lose. if anyone has any recomendations on how to make sure everything goes as well as possible for the little guy/girl i'd be very grateful! Thanks!

[Tigerhawk]

First how old is the clutch. Second take the plastic off of the egg. You are covering to much of the egg, to the point that it may cause the egg some problems. This may sound a little crazy. Get a band aid that will just cover the hole. That way the egg can exchange air in a normal manner. I'm sorry this happened to you. Be sure to monitor your humidy, as close as possible. Please let us know how things work out for you.

[bondo]

Too bad you pulled that piece off. You can repair an egg with liquid band aid but you would need the missing piece. Is the clutch only 16 days old?

[Tigerhawk]

It looks a bit older than sixteen days old. I may be wrong, however I think that I see something in the egg. Also the egg looks very deflated. If they are near term, he my just want to loosen the plastic wrap from around the egg. Then just leave the hole covered.

[fugymugy]

Nope, they're as of now 17 days old, i was checking the mother every day for eggs. i think its a bit deflated from me handleing it to get the Wrap/ band Aid (which is now on) and loosing some goo. And there wasn't any shell to glue back into place, it had been forced apart and it was just a hole. You can definitley see the Snake inside, it seems to be resting right where the hole is, so hopefully it won't decide to go for a little wander out of the hole for another 39 days. All the others are doing fine, i'll candle later tonight (uk) and see if he/ she is still moving. is there anything i can do to help stop any Bacteria or anything getting in and stopping the egg from drying out?

[Tigerhawk]

Number one, and this will be hard stop candling the eggs. You don't need to handle the eggs often. Keep the humidity high. And that may help keep the egg from drying out. So don't open the container every day or several times a week. If the egg does develop a fungus,you can put a little foot power on the egg. With out getting it in the egg. The less you handle the egg the better. Keep us posted on your progress.

[fugymugy]

I candled them everyday for the first 3 days, but now im limiting myself to once a week haha, the only reason i've done so tonight and last night is to make sure the baby hasn't died, and they're still wiggleing around in there! im quite glad i did candle them yesterday, otherwise i'd never have been able to stop the leak. Thankyou to all of you by the way!

[grcforce327]

I candled them everyday for the first 3 days, but now im limiting myself to once a week.!

Finally,you admit to the problem. Leave the damn tub alone!

[fugymugy]

i was like a kid at christmas! honestly though, this has made it so much harder to not want to check on them! only another 6 weeks to go.

[Tigerhawk]

I know it's hard. However the eggs are going to to do what they do. In other words, there is very little that you can do for them at this point. Just let them be. You can actually do more harm,than good by messing with them. It's hard for me to stay out of the incubator too.