Day 60 at 86 Degrees

[Neon Aurora]

Okay, well, I've had three clutches so far and 5 out of the 6 eggs didn't turn out. I was incubating at 86 for mixed, but I think I will switch to females because I think I might have an easier time with it once this egg hatches.

Anyways, I just have the one good egg. It looks perfect. It has grown, no dents, candles dark, and feels weighty. But it's day 60 now at 86 degrees and it shows no signs of hatching. No denting or sweating or anything. Should I be worried?

 

[ManReptile]

I've had eggs that just sit there forever looking perfectly fine and never hatch. Sadly even fertile ones don't hatch.

 

[Neon Aurora]

That is rather disappointing.. I don't really understand why this is happening to me. My humidity is at a steady 88%, temperature at a steady 86 regulated by a herpstat. Every egg except for this one collapsed hours after being put in the incubator, even though they are all clearly fertile and my conditions were good. And then this egg is big and beautiful and perfect and won't hatch!

Any ideas why this is happening to me? Everything seems to be in order. Is it because this is my female's first season?

 

[acpart]

Hard to know. I'm having a lousy season as well. Fertile eggs are collapsing or not hatching. My first leo hatchling died after 3 days for unknown reasons. My last bad season was in 2008 when a lot of us were having problems. Hope it gets better.

Aliza

 

[Neon Aurora]

Ah, I see. I guess it just happens sometimes. Disappointing, but oh well. Hopefully I'll get at least one or two to hatch this season..

 

[AcidicAngel]

I'm not having the best season either.
1. Our DB girl has laid 5 eggs total so far, all seemed fertile when laid but one went very clearly bad at just over 4 weeks in the incubator, the other four seem healthy for now but I guess we'll see.
2. Our Ember girl has laid two eggs total, one fertile, and seems to have stopped producing already after only one clutch(been over 5 weeks since that clutch was laid and no signs of eggs in her).
3. Our Mack RADAR girl has laid four eggs, all slugs...

We have another female who was paired on Monday, she laid last year too so I know she normally takes just under or just over 4 weeks to lay her eggs and hopefully she'll give us good eggs. Last year was first season for her and us and she gave us 4 fertile eggs and 4 beautiful hatchlings(3 still here lol). So here's hoping things pick up for everybody!

 

[Neon Aurora]

Yes, hopefully all of our seasons improve. =) I'm pretty sure this egg isn't going to hatch (I'm incubating anyways, you never know), so I switched everything around. I changed my incubation medium from Hatchrite (really didn't have much luck with it, apparently) to vermiculite with the 1 to .8 ratio, I'm using better sealed containers, and I lowered my temps to 82 F. Clutch number four should arrive any day now, so hopefully they will do better than the others.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Clutch number four arrived last night. So far so good in the vermiculite. The first three clutches began to collapse just hours after being placed in the incubator (except for the first egg, which is still incubating even though it probably won't hatch), but these ones haven't started to collapse and they've been in the incubator for 6 hours now (I'm just looking through the lid, not disturbing the eggs or incubator), so hopefully they go well! I know 6 hours is really nothing, but it is an improvement from the first five eggs. Hopefully it was just the Hatchrite. I won't use that ever again if these two eggs in vermiculite hatch where the other six in Hatchrite failed to. After my last failed season due to my laying female developing gout and being put down, I am desperate to hatch out a few babies this season.

Wish me and clutch number 4 luck. =)

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I never measure the humidity in my incubation containers but make sure to carefully measure the perlite/vermiculite at a .8 ratio with water and use Glad Sandwich containers - any brand will do but I've found the cheaper store brands don't have a tight enough seal for my liking tho I've never tried to use them so I go with name brand containers. I don't poke any holes at all in my containers and make sure they are airtight. If I'm incubating above 85 in a hovabator-type incubator I bury the eggs a bit deeper than I do at lower temps since I've found the air has a tendency to dry out closer to 90 (I always do 82 or 88 tho). That's about all the advice I can think to give. It could be your female or there could be some strange lethal mutation going on with your pair but I find it hard to believe that it could be affecting all of them. Best of luck with the latest clutch!!

 

[AcidicAngel]

Our Ember girl laid another two eggs yesterday on day 41 after her last clutch(literally one day off 6 weeks) lol. Happy about this but did worry me for a bit! Our Mack RADAR laid two more eggs on Monday but they look very hit and miss so not convinced yet whether they are fertile or not...

Hope your latest clutch goes well!

 

[Neon Aurora]

DrCarrotTail: I think things are going better with my new set up. I measured out my vermiculite and water with a triple beam balance, so it should be pretty accurate. The eggs have been in the incubator for almost two days now and they are looking much, much better than the previous clutches, so I'm thinking the failures were due to my incubation technique and not my female. I have high hopes that these two and any future clutches (if they happen) will do well now. I'm using the Glad containers also. There is one hole in it where I stuck the probe to my herpstat through (my incubator is homemade and simple so I wanted to make sure the temperature is right inside the container. Despite being simple, it stays very stable), but I put tape around it so it's covered. It might not be completely airtight, but it seems to be working okay.

AcidicAngel: Glad to hear your season is picking up. =) Hopefully I can scrape together what's left of mine and come out with a few hatchlings.