Seeking urgent advice: Larvae in egg

[SaintTawny]

6 healthy eggs laid 5/15, after 65 days of maternal incubation my SO cut one to check on the babies. That was Saturday, 7/19. Between the SO and myself this egg has been checked at least 3x day, and as of around 11AM this morning the egg was fine. However, about 15 minutes ago my SO was checking on the egg(s) before bed and noticed small larvae inside the egg flap. The neonate is still responsive to stimuli. This egg has been kept at the same temperature as the rest of the clutch for the past 5 days, but in a small tupperware container with a couple pinholes in the lid, on a bed of sphagnum. I attempted to take pictures of the larvae, in case they're useful in identifying and remedying. While we were taking the pictures, a couple of the larvae crawled up the lip of the egg.

While I don't intend to cut any eggs "just to see", I felt it was necessary in this case because the incubation was going so long and I wanted to be sure they were alright. Of course, now I regret that decision, and will be waiting even longer next time if it comes to that, but what can I do to prevent this in the future?

Most importantly, what can I do for this baby?


Larvae on the lip of the egg to the right, and just inside near/under the top left cut corner.




Larvae at the top right (center) corner of the cut.

[SaintTawny]

For now, I've removed as many of the larvae as I could without disturbing the neonate. I was able to remove a total of 8 larvae, although there were 1 or 2 more that I could see but not reach without feeling as though I would bother the baby. Close-ish picture of the larvae below, in case anyone can ID.

[rafacacho]

Are those fly larvae?

[SaintTawny]

Possibly? They look most like gnat larvae to me, although I'm far from an expert. The frustrating thing is that I haven't seen a single flying insect in this house in months.

[Casey Hulse]

They are probably Phorid fly, I have seen them get in eggs before. Do you use crickets, they often come in on the egg crate. I have not seen them get in the albumen. I would use Q-tips and keep them swabbed off as best you can. If they get bad, I would take the baby out of the egg, clean it, and put it in a deli cup on moist paper towels in a warm spot. I would also use an incubator next time. Good luck.

[Casey Hulse]

put a small cup of 1 part water, 1 part cider vinegar, and a drop or two of dish soap near the enclosure. if they are phorid flies, they will seek out and then drown.

[SaintTawny]

I don't feed crickets to any of my critters, the gargoyle gecko stubbornly refuses to eat them. On occasion I'll bring home a few live prey from the pet store for my stubborn eaters in an empty cricket box, although it's been a few weeks since I even did that. I'll try setting out bait as you suggested, so far I haven't seen any flying insects, but the larvae must be coming from somewhere. I removed the sphagnum moss and placed the egg into a new tupperware which I scrubbed, rinsed with boiling water, and lined with paper towels, just in case the adults are hiding somewhere I can't easily see in the moss.

[Freakie_frog]

Those are the fruit fly or gnat or albumin fly larvae the flys are attracted to the clear albumin in the egg. It's one of the risks of clipping eggs early. Be mindful they will and have in my experience killed snakes in the eggs. Try and get them out as best you can and then don't expose the eggs to the open air again till the babies start crawling out.