I need to share...

[spygirl]

So I feel the need to share with like-minded people. My fiance tries to understand and is great, but he just doesn't get it.

After Christmas, I was amazed that my female pastel was up to breeding weight. So I bred her to my male spider in Januaryish. Witnessed a total of 8 locks. I was ecstatic!

I watched and waited. Nothing. No ovulation signs or anything. She ate randomly, so I still had hope. Then we moved. I figured the stress of the move killed any chances of her laying. Oh well. It was her first year and all. I still had next time.

And then July 25, 2009 came. I went to do a water check and she was all coiled up. Like around eggs. I held my breath and checked. OMG!!! EGGS!!! I had an incubator on stand by for when I started breeding my button quail and got an egg tub ready. I pulled her off of 3 good looking eggs. Or so I thought.

I candled them and never could find veins. I shrugged it off to inexperience. Then the eggs started to dent. But my humidity was never below 95%?! my temps are perfect! Then they started to mold. Then they completely caved in.

I'm now convinced she laid slugs to begin with and I was in denial. I guess the move stressed her out to much. We moved sooner then planned, so it kinda messed up my breeding plans. The eggs are still in the incubator because I'm still in denial. I cleaned off the mold as best I could and got some anti-fungal spray as instructed. But my efforts were all in vain.

I will admit, I did shed a couple of tears when the eggs started going bad. I was so looking forward to bees. And momma is doing well. She is eating and acting normal. So thank goodness for that. But thanks all of you fellow snake lovers for listening to my tale of woe. Ya'll understand my pain.

[Hock3ymonk3y]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW That stinks...

[nixer]

not getting eggs at all is better than getting slugs
i wanted to see pics of a bee

[4theSNAKElady]

Aww Micah....big hugs for you. Next year will be better....I promise

[spygirl]

Thanks guys! I tried to explain it all to my fiance (ya know, slugs, morphs, etc.) and my disappointment but he just kinda patted my back. Oh well, he tries hard for someone who isn't a snake person.

I'm just glad momma is still doing well and eating. We'll try next year.

I'm so glad this forum is here. I'm not sure what I'd do without it!

[SGExotics]

Im really sorry to hear you lost a clutch, but just think about it... She will probably lay a clutch twice the size, maybe even three times the size next year with Healthier eggs! A Females first clutch is usually small, and sometimes they slugout... Here are some tips that i picked up from breeding this year.... (You may already know all this stuff, but might as well share in case.. Right?) Use Vermiculite (about 2-3" high"... Get egg crate and cut it to the size of the bin so the eggs arent directly touching the vermiculite... And since the eggs arent touching the vermiculite, you can go ahead and make the medium more moist than usual... And try to open the tubs up every day to let them get fresh Oxygen All of this worked out great for me, and i had a beuatiful healthy eggs up until day 53 when i cut the eggs

Good Luck Next Year!
~Brandon

[envy_ld50]

I think it's just part of the game. This is my first year to get eggs my first clutch was 8 3 of them had no veins and died like yours. I then proceeded to lose 2 eggs that had veins they just died for some un known reason.

[LadyOhh]

A Females first clutch is usually small, and sometimes they slugout...

No, its not...

This is a misstatement.

Yes, sometimes they do slug out, but just because they have a first clutch doesn't mean that they will have small clutches.

It depends on the female and the age/size of the female.

[LadyOhh]

I'm so sorry about what happened to your eggs.

It does happen with breeding. There is always next year.