Bad Eggs and Embryos (Warning: Graphic Content)

[Mehelya]

Albert Clark, sorry, I could have worded that better. I've never bothered cutting bad eggs open before, because i worked mostly with colubrids and venomous species up until a few years ago, and their eggs aren't nearly as large as ball eggs... and they were removed within a few hours of her having finished laying them. And I watch the thermostat like a hawk, being a stay at home dad, I get that wonderful opportunity to stress every hour of the day while watching them cook... lol.

Strangely, after lots of misses over the years, you'd think you get used to it, but there's always that pit feeling when you see eggs go bad.

Thanks everyone for the sympathy. I'll try the pairing one more time next season, and see what happens.

Albert Clark, the pairing was these two (old pic from last year sometime, they're fatter than they appear. Amazing how a camera puts pounds onto a human, but takes them off snakes...):

Unknown lineage, but I liked their wonky patterns and wanted to see if they'd reproduce that in any way in their offspring.

Lord Sorril, I put in new electronics about 2 months before the first clutch was laid, and tested it during that time with analog, and separate digital thermostats and a temp gun throughout. Readings were well within parameters, and very low variance during that time, so I was happy to put them in the incubator. I've had two other clutches hatch successfully (minus the duds) in the same incubator already this season. But, I will recheck everything once the last two babies in there have had their first shed, and moved into their new homes.