Eggs Gone Bad

[IrishBalls]

First time breeding. Female laid 8 healthy looking eggs 20 days ago. I did candle them and they all showed veins.

They have looked perfect up until I checked today. The 4 covered in mold are not showing any veins (the loose one even has some goo on the bottom). The other four have strong veins.

[https://imgur.com/a/HjZGyo4


I have been incubating in a make shift polybox incubator.
At 89 degrees and 99% RH. The shoebox the eggs are in is loosely attached. So not airtight. I have a fan and an airstone circulating + bringing in fresh air. To the best of my knowledge the temperatures have not fluctuated much nor the humidity.

The only problem I had was a small amount of condensation on the lid. I raised one edge so I don't think the eggs where dropped on.

Any ideas of what could of gone wrong? Does it sometimes just happen or is it always down to the incubator/me?

Is there anything I could do to increase the chances of the others surviving? They are all stuck together bar the one. Should I try separate?

[Lord Sorril]

That sucks!

You have a few wet spots on the eggs from condensation, but, that is minimal concern.

Possible Reasons for egg loss in this situation:

1. Temp. Spike in your incubator. Very possible if using on/off thermostat set for 89F--still possible if using a proportional thermostat set for 89F (top edge) and your incubator ambient outer temps are not stable.
2. Eggs started to develop in the enclosure and were jostled/rolled (by you or from mother snake) from their original position prior to being placed in the incubator---Not likely an issue if you check every day.
3. Many eggs were duds from the start---always possible.
4. Genetic combination from parents proved lethal during development---always possible (especially with multi-generational inbreeding).

I would lower the set temp. to 87F. Of course toss the separate bad egg and then leave the other three bad eggs attached to wither away-they might not smell great...but, it is safer than trying to tear them off.

Best of luck with the remaining eggs!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Just like not all pairing will produce eggs not all eggs are meant to be, some will die at various stage of incubation than once they do they will start to mold. Nothing you can do it's just nature and trust be it's better to lose your eggs than have hatchlings come full term crawl out and die.

I would assume if you add condensation dripping you would have noticed early on before the point of no return and do something about it, additionally if that was the case your entire clutch would be a total loss by now (water would not likely just drop on some eggs and not the others.)

[IrishBalls]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I would of thought it was quite normal that some don't make it regardless of looking perfect and with the right conditions, but when I see breeders say they have a 100% hatch rate it makes me wonder if I done wrong.

And the fact 4 went all at the same time.

If they were goners from the beginning would they have had mould almost instantly?

[IrishBalls]

I have discarded the bad separate egg.

The other three bad are stuck to the 4 good. They have a lot of mold on them. No mold on the good.

I've read conflicting advice about separating or keeping them together. Will the abundance of mold eventually affect the good? Or will they be okay once they stay viable?

[Lord Sorril]

Will the abundance of mold eventually affect the good? Or will they be okay once they stay viable?

Should be fine since you are suspending the eggs above the substrate/water. I use the same method. I've never had enough mold spread from a dead egg to kill a viable one by the hatch date. However, I can think of an unlikely scenario in which an egg with a moderately sized window (thinning of the shell allowing visibility inside) was directly touching a dead egg--in this case I may be concerned because the shell armor is gone.