Help with eggs

[Ladybugzcrunch]

If you can, I would check the bottom of the eggs. Sometimes if the bottom gets wet the top will show signs of deterioration.

[dawnskies]

Thank you lazybugz, will check for that, they are on a grate so hopefully they arent getting wet through that

[Zach Cedor]

Any updates on the eggs?

Sent From My Man-Cave

[FireStorm]

I have not had the issue you are having with the wet spot, but I have seen other people post about it before. I have heard of people putting liquid bandaid, super glue, or elmers glue on the wet spots to stop them from spreading. I will try to look up an old thread for you.

4 degrees is kind of a lot of fluctuation (maybe enough to have caused condensation to have formed on the eggs themselves, depending on the humidity?). Just a thought, since it really does look like they got wet somehow. I'm not sure how your incubator is set up or what kind of thermostat you have regulating it, but it might be helpful to add some bottles of water to act as a heat sink and help keep things stable. We allow all our females to maternally incubate now, but we used an incubator for several years, and still keep it up and running in case we have eggs that repeatedly roll out or females that won't stay on eggs. We usually have less than a degree of fluctuation with the water bottles added.

[FireStorm]

So it turns out the thread I'm thinking of is on another forum...not sure if it is ok to post the link here or not, so I'll PM you.

[Pythonfriend]

i think its dropping down from above.

BTW, condensation is only sometimes caused by temperature variability, generally its caused by a temperature gradient. as in: it evaporates where its warm and condenstaes where its cold. and when the humidity is very high, even a slight gradient will cause the effect. so when you heat from below and the top is just 1 degree cooler, you get the drops.

if im right and its dropping down, then water bottles or a better thermostat wont necessarily help. large temperature swings are not good, and water bottles help with that, and a good thermstat wont allow large temperature swings. if the incubator temperatures swing around like crazy, whenever the egg box is warmer than the rest of the incubator, you get some condensation.

you can try to get rid of the temperature gradient. you could try moving the heat source all the way to the top, and then use little fans to evenly distribute it. basically, figure out what the problem with the incubator is, why there is a gradient, and fix it.

a different idea would be to keep the drops from reaching the eggs. like, tilt the egg box by 15 degrees, so that the drops run off sideways instead of falling on the eggs. or make it so that the lid of the egg box is tilted.

but that all assumes that the pictures are not fooling me, and that there is water dripping down.

"There have been some temp fluctuation with about 4 degrees, and we have been keeping the incubator set at 86 degrees as in the egg box temps are 89-91."

thats enough of a temperature gradient for condensation. 90 inside the egg box, 86 around the egg box, thats only possible when the incubator recently used to be at 90 degrees and just dropped down to 86. or when you use two different imprecise thermometers to make these measurements. if the temperature is generally constant, you get thermodynamic equilibrium, and you get the same temperatures everywhere in the incubator.

[dawnskies]

The eggs are further deteriorating. I dont think there is much hope at this stage, starting to brown and dimple a bit , eggs are not getting wet from outside sources, ie tub, condensation, etc. Temps have been stable, not sure we had enough humidity, unable to get it up higher than 60%.

[DooLittle]

Did you have press and seal on the tub?

[dawnskies]

no, and I was incorrect on the humidity # apparently it was at 98%, honestly dont know what to do with them in their current condition. Leave them in there for now, is my guess. Not very hopeful though. I just cant honestly fathom what went wrong, as soon as we noticed the conditions at day 4, I have been trying my best to figure out what went wrong, temps were a bit high those first 2 days but was rectified from that point on. and of course I am to blame for their condition according to one, I set it up exactly as the big breeders do, I did my research on what needed to be accomplished for their conditions and they were met with the exception of the 2 days with mom (as she surprised us early with the eggs) and the 2 days with the off temps. After that all conditions were set as needed. Quite the disappointment as this is one of the clutches of the season I most wanted.

[Ladybugzcrunch]

no, and I was incorrect on the humidity # apparently it was at 98%, honestly dont know what to do with them in their current condition. Leave them in there for now, is my guess. Not very hopeful though. I just cant honestly fathom what went wrong, as soon as we noticed the conditions at day 4, I have been trying my best to figure out what went wrong, temps were a bit high those first 2 days but was rectified from that point on. and of course I am to blame for their condition according to one, I set it up exactly as the big breeders do, I did my research on what needed to be accomplished for their conditions and they were met with the exception of the 2 days with mom (as she surprised us early with the eggs) and the 2 days with the off temps. After that all conditions were set as needed. Quite the disappointment as this is one of the clutches of the season I most wanted.

Last season I lost my most anticipated and valuable clutch. This season I lost my first clutch very similarly to your experience. This season my eggs got wet from the bottom very early on and died. I used egg crate but the eggs formed to the crate and ended up touching the substrate ever so slightly. Last season my girl laid early while I was out of town and the eggs went bad in her tub with her (very stinky mess). We all have clutches go wrong but it makes up for it when you get a live clutch and they all thrive. Good luck to you.