Why are the babies dying from this clutch?!?! PLEASE HELP

[gerhartrx]

Or try a hydroponics store. They also sell them in large quatities. Good luck!

 

[MusicCityExotics]

thanks, tried three home depots in my area. None have it! I cut one of the large white ones open. Beautifully formed baby, zero yolk, and not alive. This one had not sweat nor did it shrink. I will leave the rest alone, but fear this is an indicator for the whole clutch. I also used a good vitamin supplement along with the calcium.

 

[Seeco]

Woah that baby might be alive you need to give it some time!

 

[MusicCityExotics]

It has been an hour with zero movement. Eyes closed, and even tried lightly misting it. No signs of life at all.

 

[gerhartrx]

Hey I googled hydroponic stores in Nashville and found this store. I bet they can help you with the vermiculate:

All Seasons Gardening and Brewing Supply Co.
924 8th Ave South
Nashville, TN37203
615-214-5465

 

[MusicCityExotics]

THANKS SO MUCH!!!! You guys are great!!!!

 

[Seeco]

If you are cutting the egg open you are "hatching" the animal before it would have naturally emerged. One hour is not very long. Unless its tongue is hanging out or the eyes are open and lifeless then you may still have a live chameleon. It is just "getting ready" to emerge.

Do not mist the neonate. That would be like dumping a bucket of water on a premature infant in an ICU.

 

[Seeco]

This is simply not correct. My tupperwares are as airtight a brand as I can get them and they loose no weight during incubation. I do not "burb them regularly - I only open if there is a problem with an egg or if eggs are hatching. A professional I knew at one time who has studied lizard incubation and published her research for many decades now used airtight sealed containers for many experiments to determine success under varying conditions such as differing CO2 levels and moisture content. Sealed containers were mandatory for these sorts of experiments. If gas exchange occurred it would have skewed the results...

edit- that's not to say they don't need air. Of course they do. But in most containers the air is enough to last until post hatching.

Undoubtedly a species that incubates much faster than a chameleon. Lets see this article. Lets also see what container you use. Why on earth would you never open your container?

Oh, I know -- its not airtight!

Oxygen is the main ingredient that makes the egg go from a pile of goop into an animal with a skeleton, tissue and a brain. Don't jump in my face and then adjust your argument with words like "as airtight a brand as I can get" (did you ever consider that my brand is more airtight?) and "in MOST containers the air is enough". Jeez.

 

[Ethen44]

I do have some small pinholes at the top of the incubation container (the rubbermaid bin) for ventilation. With the humidity at 80-85% would the eggs still dry out if something did go wrong with hatchrite? I purchased it because it came highly suggested, and vermiculate is not readily available in my area. I went to all the hardware stores and garden centers. If this is the case, is there anything I can do at this point to fix it?

This is me just speculating, but I see a potential problem. If your incubator says the humidity is at 80-85%, couldn't that be different than the humidity within the Rubbermaid container? I would presume that it would vary. Would there be any harm in taking off the lid of the incubation container?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

See how swollen the top of the head looks in the first picture in the original post?

I had this same problem for an entire panther clutch, and it was from the incubation medium being too wet. They basically swelled like a grape, I would imagine it caused brain damage and death.

It's a difficult balance to maintain over the 7-8 months it takes for them to hatch, you gotta be diligent with keeping it the right moisture level in the media itself, not just the humidity.