Why weigh eggs?

[JohnNJ]

Why are the eggs weighed before they go in to the incubator? They don't get weighed again so what's the point. Is there a weight range or average per egg that you're looking for? What happens if the weight is off?

Thanks.

[RichsBallPythons]

Ive never weighed a egg in my life

[Royal Hijinx]

Some folks do track an average egg weight for the female. I am not sure if that information is used in a meaningful way, but it is another variable to track.

[ClarkT]

I'm not sure it's for anything other than curiosity or averages. It may only let you know how big the babies may be. Obviously, a 45 gram egg is going to yield a relatively tiny baby, if it even makes it. Other than that, I don't know why...I like the info, though.

With ultrasounding our females, I'm hoping to use the egg size/weight information to try to track some things. I'd like to track follicle size right before ovy vs. egg size/weight. Also, I'd like to track/compare that as a ratio to the weight of the female when she stops eating, or around ovy time, vs. that ratio to the weight of the female right after laying. Wouldn't mind tracking the "starting to develop follicles" stage weight, too.

One thing I'd like to know is the weight/size of the new egg vs. its follicle right before ovy size. Then, I'd like to compare that to the age and weight of the female, taking into account the number of follicles, too.

[dr del]

Hi,

Some people keep track of the weight of the egg as a guide to whether their humidity is right or not.

Others weight them simply to keep track of the average weight of egg the female is laying - if she bred three years in a row but the third years eggs were significantly smaller it might indicate she would be better being rested the third year intentionally so that she could rebuild her reserves.

Others are simply curious.


dr del

[SlitherinSisters]

I don't really know. I only weigh them for fun.

[kellysballs]

I weighed them to see if there was an average % of egg mass that became a hatchling.

You could also weight them to see if your females are producing more eggs as they get larger or if they are producing the same number of eggs that get larger. (this is called "The fractional egg hypothesis". This hypothesis is pretty cool and there is a research paper by Neil B. Ford and Richard A. Seigel from 2010 in Herpetologica that explains it.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I don't keep much datas on my animals I don't track meals or shed however I track breeding datas such ovy, date on which clutch is being laid, number of eggs and weight of the clutch, those stats allow me to see how females progress over the years.