Whoops... my roommate messed up!

[Lolo76]

I just got back from a week-long vacation, and had left my roommate in charge of the snakes & eggs... I told her to "open the incubator once every 1-2 days to check temps/humidity," and she misunderstood that as opening the egg tub. When I checked on them last night, the two that are above the substrate (due to their natural position) have some dimpling, but the others are fine. She said she only opened it like 3 times, but I did notice the lid wasn't securely shut when I got home. Whoops!

I'm using Hatch-rite as my substrate, so I'm wondering if I should add a little water? Or should I leave them alone, and hope they'll plump back now that somebody isn't opening it regularly? I want to check them again later tonight, to candle the eggs and replace the glad-wrap on top... so thought I'd ask about adding water now, so I don't have to bother them again for the next week. I hope she didn't screw anything up permanently!!

[Lolo76]

One more question... should I try to get some substrate on those top eggs? They were laid in a pyramid shape, so I could only get the bottom (and one lone) eggs really IN the substrate - unless I separated them, which I obviously didn't want to risk doing.

[davidnizmo]

they will be fine i had some stuck together this year and were not that far the vermiculite and all hatched fine no problems maybe add a little water in the corner of the tub

[Lolo76]

Thanks for the response! I did add a tiny bit of water that evening, and most of them look fine now... but that top one still has me worried, as it's fairly dimpled/collapsed at this point. Should I add more water, or assume that's as much as it'll plump back up? I will try to get photos, since I'm concerned this egg won't make it being that collapsed.

[CoolioTiffany]

Thanks for the response! I did add a tiny bit of water that evening, and most of them look fine now... but that top one still has me worried, as it's fairly dimpled/collapsed at this point. Should I add more water, or assume that's as much as it'll plump back up? I will try to get photos, since I'm concerned this egg won't make it being that collapsed.

I'm sure the egg will be fine, just make sure your temps and humidity are spot on and it should pop back up to normal

[Lolo76]

I'm sure the egg will be fine, just make sure your temps and humidity are spot on and it should pop back up to normal

I hope so! Temps are pretty stable at 89.4-89.6, and humidity is staying around 100 with the hatch-rite... did you see the photos I posted on my other thread?

[Jason Bowden]

In my experience, if they dimple, they stay dimpled. At least to some degree. I have lost an egg or two from extreme dimples early. On the other hand, I've found that the eggs that dimple early are the first to pip.

I hope your eggs will be fine and wouldn't worry at all about the ones that aren't dimpled badly.