Upside Down Egg Experiment

[SlitherinSisters]

I can't wait to see what you find from this! IMO nature isn't as difficult as we might all think it to be. I think the egg will turn out ok, we'll see

Does anyone know why reptiles are so different from poultry? We have incubators going all the time for turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, pheasants, etc. When you incubate poultry you must turn the egg 2-3 times a day if you want the eggs to hatch. I understand that the way reptile eggs and poultry eggs are kept warm naturally are very different, but why can poultry eggs handle being turned every day and reptile eggs can't handle being turned even once? If a duckling or gosling is turned upside down once it's out of the egg it will die within minutes.....but it can handle it in the egg???? I don't get it, I just follow the advice of BPnet especially when hatching reptile eggs I'm not saying that reptile eggs can be turned every day!!! I just find it strange that they are so different. They even incubate at about the same temp, it just varies a few degrees depending on the type of poultry!

[WingedWolfPsion]

Sure--bird eggs have to be turned so that the membranes do not attach to the inside of the shell, which can prevent the embryo from developing properly--but reptile eggs are actually 'designed' to do exactly that in order to grow properly.

I don't know why ducklings or goslings would die if turned upside down. I imagine it would be a combination of stress, and perhaps difficulty in breathing? Of course, in the egg, they do not use their lungs to breathe.

[SlitherinSisters]

Sure--bird eggs have to be turned so that the membranes do not attach to the inside of the shell, which can prevent the embryo from developing properly--but reptile eggs are actually 'designed' to do exactly that in order to grow properly.

I don't know why ducklings or goslings would die if turned upside down. I imagine it would be a combination of stress, and perhaps difficulty in breathing? Of course, in the egg, they do not use their lungs to breathe.

Thank you that makes sense......so weird. I wonder if nature made it that way because a snake can't exactly move the eggs around like a chicken can.

I didn't want to hijack the thread so here are some pics of my ducklings.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...94#post1093094

[PythonWallace]

Thanks for sharing this Tim. Your previous posts about how you manhandle your eggs made me feel a lot more comfortable when handling and candling my eggs, and now, trying an experiment like this to help all of us get a little better understanding of what's going on inside these eggs is great. We all owe you for your willingness to test the waters and share your experience.

[wilomn]

Cool experiment Tim. I too am looking forward to your results.

[waltah!]

Same here. I know that many people (myself included) have wonder if the egg that rolled away from Mom would be okay. Can't wait for the results.

[4theSNAKElady]

Wow Tim! Awesome stuff. This is something that is good, and interesting for all of us to know.

[patb201985]

i gotta say that is the best candling pic i have seen so far !!!

[muddoc]

Thanks for all of the compliments folks. I always enjoy doing little experiments, to learn a little bit more, and I find it selfish to not share the results with my favorite forum. Hopefully the next experiment will begin this week. I have another clucth of eggs due within the next day or two (a clucth that I can afford to possibly lose an egg), In this one, I will flip the egg after it has been in the egg box for 48 hours. As winged Wolf stated, it may not make a difference at all, however, I like to see things for myself (I guess I am just hard headed like the rest of the men in the world).

i gotta say that is the best candling pic i have seen so far !!!

Thanks Pat. What I didn't tell you, is that I took over 30 pictures to get that one, mostly because I have never taken a picture in the dark before, so it was a learning experience for me.

[muddoc]

I just wanted to post a quick update to the experiment. I just flipped the second egg. This is the egg that I said I would rotate after it had been in the incubation box for 48 hours. Actually, this egg has been in the box for about 56 hours (laid on July 5th), but I was at work for the 48 hour mark. I will now be posting updates on how both eggs are doing.

The first egg that was flipped immediately after laying is now at day 24 and looking completely normal.