Premie babies??

[Grizzabella]

I have had a clutch of 29 Veiled eggs incubating for about 6 months now, and the other day one of the eggs was slit open, but there was no sign of any baby. Curious, and thinking it was just infertile, i opened it up to see a baby (!) that was definitely not ready to hatch, it was pink and there were no signs of scales, but it did have claws and it was moving (thats when i started feeling really really horrible!) Most recently, (last night) i checked on them again and another one had done this, i left it in and it seems about the same, i dont know if he's even alive in there!
Has anyone ever heard of this before? Their temps are about 78 and humidity is between 60 and 80...
could they be under-calcified or something? some help would be greatly appreciated, i just lost their mum to egg-binding and i dont want to loose her young-uns too

 

[kinyonga]

There have been cases of eggs "bursting" before they should. One reason for it can be that the eggs grow too big due to incorrect humidity in the substrate in the container.

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

kinyonga ..if you dont mind me asking.. in your opinion what is the correct range of humidity?

 

[Grizzabella]

thanks

Thanks for your help, i'll try to keep the humidity in check.... its such a bummer to loose two so close together though.
Any hope in keeping the eggs or i should probably just chuck him?

 

[kinyonga]

Never give up on an egg until its definitely no good. Some pretty strange eggs have been known to hatch.

IMHO, for veileds, the vermiculite should be moist enough that you can only squeeze a drop of water out of it when a handful of it is squeezed. You will still get beads of moisture on the sides of the container that they are in (and on the lid for that matter)...but I have never had a problem with veiled eggs splitting before they are hatching.

 

[Grizzabella]

makes sense...

I am incubating in sterile sand not vermiculite, so the eggs are halfway buried and then the tops covered with moist orchid moss; my guess is the sand just isnt holding the moisture like it should and it is just collecting in there... ive left him in there and will until its an obvious no go... poor guy
thanks for your help

 

[boothy]

thats your problem there , take that moss off the tops of the eggs so they can breath, and yes the sand wild hold enough moisture for the eggs to hatch just make sure your moisture level is the same as your sand level , so where your sand sits is where your moisture level should be or just a lil higher any more like build up on the tops lids is to much humidity for them , but please take that orchid moss out of there ASAP! that way to much moisture for them thats why they are piping at an early stage as stated befor they are sucking up so much moisture that they are just bursting so try leaving them alone for about a week and check up on moisture levels every other day and mist the tops of the containers when needed this should be plenty of moisture for them but hope everything goes well for you and keep working hard and reasearching like mad and you will be hatching babies like you wouldnt believe

 

[chamlover]

IMO we have hatched numerous clutches throughtout the years and though we are by now mean "expert" we have had excellent luck with all of ours. Hubby says that your problem might also be that you have too much of a variable with your humidity levels. It should be maintained at 75-80%. I know you mentioned you have it in sand but what kind of container do you have that in? Is it in an incubator?

Debby

 

[Grizzabella]

thanks for everyones help...

yes the eggs are buried halfway in sand in a plastic dish (the kind used to put under plants so the water doesnt get on your floor/desk) and that dish is then inside of a chick incubator (no im not turning them) with a temp of about 77 degrees. to maintain humidity i was using a spray bottle, and putting water directly into the sand (but not over the eggs) and putting dishes of water beneath the wire supporting the dishes of eggs. (sounds confusing i know )
Also i kept the incubator covered so the eggs remained in the dark.... not sure if that matters. Despite all of this the humidity never got much above 80%, and i took measurments from right between the eggs.