one bad egg dilema...

[KRAZE]

Hey guys, ran into a little issue with a 9 egg clutch that came out on 4/14 and would like to get some opinions... I candled my eggs last night and there is one egg without veins showing. Normally I would toss it. However, in this case all 9 eggs were very well stuck when I got to them, the top egg I removed from the pile since it was sticking out of the incubation box as they were.

The one bad egg is directly in the center/under the remaining 7 surrounding eggs, and just started to grow some mold. A few of the surrounding eggs are fixed into a semi-vertical position, so after detatching them from the slug what should I do? Try and rest them on each other again to remain in that position? Or should I just leave the one bad one even with the little bit of mold and keep my eye on them daily (which I already do lol)

Ive had bad eggs before, just this situation seems very unique/difficult to get around.

Here is the way the eggs sit almost upright... i feel very uncomfortable letting them roll down to a position they will sit at if detatched, but could they roll down that little bit?


The black triangle points to the egg I need to remove. I think I counted 5 eggs directly attached to it. The egg on the very top (very lightly marked with a 1) has already been removed.


Thanks in advance!

[Dracoluna]

Honestly, I always left any infertile eggs if they were stuck to others. Not worth the risk of damaging the surrounding eggs imo. It also solves the problem of the eggs shifting positions. When I've done this because of the sticking issue and ended up with mold problems (doesn't always happen though), you can use some mouthwash and q-tip to wipe the mold off and it inhibits the growth to a point without damaging the babies around it. Then again, this has always been with corn eggs. You could probably prop up the other eggs with a a stress ball or any other round object. Even plastic wrap wadded into a ball would work if you do manage to get it separated.

[Peoples]

Typically you can leave the bad egg, just monitor it to ensure the mold doesn't spread [which rarely happens], if it begins to get smelly you can then remove it.
So the myth of turning eggs... Eggs can self correct if turned, tho it's not recommended to turn them.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The only good time to separate eggs is when they are first laid and the last few days of incubation, they will generally come apart very easily, in between it's always a BIG risk of tearing up the other eggs.

I would let it be.

[KRAZE]

So i let the egg stay, and I had to remove two eggs today and three other eggs are not looking good, they are really wet on the bottom side. That mold spread out of nowhere the past two nights and now the whole clutch looks terrible! I'll have pics posted tonight.

[Peoples]

Sorry to hear about the lost eggs, if you want to take the risk, you can try separating the eggs:

Here's how, use a piece of wax coated dental floss, and in a gentle sawing motion pass it between the egg spaces, if you do rupture any of the eggs keep some band aid on hand to patch the hole and monitor the ruptured egg.

Please note: Do this at your own risk