Rehydrating woma python eggs?

[ClausWandborg]

Hey guys and girls!

Greetings from Denmark.
I have for the 2. time now tried to breed my womas.
I got eggs in 2020, with a 0% succesrate, due to me being stupid and using a incubator box with heat from the top, and not putting the eggs in a box with a lid, inside the incubator, so they dried out.
Now i have them in a box, first they where over vermiculate on light egg crate net, not in contact with the vermiculate.
But soon there where flies with the eggs so i ditched the vermiculate and switched to just water.
I dont normally use hydrometers, because I dont find them very trustworthy but I have some with the eggs, as i really want to succed this time.
Now I'm worried that the eggs have dried out for me one more time, eventhou i get 95% readings on the hydrometers.
There is a lot of denting in the eggs. Is there any way to rehydrate them?
My readings are 92% and 30.3 degrees celcius with is around 86,5 Fahrenheit.

Thank you.

Claus.

 

[Sdaji]

I think you're going to struggle with this incubator.

Vapour pressure and humidity can be somewhat complex and it's not just as simple as measuring the ambient humidity. You have the heat source so close to the eggs on the opposite side of the water, so even at high humidity the moisture will migrate away from the eggs, and you'll also have a nasty thermal gradient with that setup which will make things very difficult. I'm honestly not sure if I could hatch Woma eggs with that incubator. If you have no other option of incubator I would consider using an incubation medium rather than suspension over water, but really you should probably get a better incubator.

 

[ClausWandborg]

I will remove the eggs from the incubator.
I have antoher one i can set up.
Thank you!

Do you have any suggestions towards rehydrating the eggs? I think, eventhou I have little experience with eggs, that there is ALOT of denting in the eggs

 

[Sdaji]

Do you have any suggestions towards rehydrating the eggs? I think, eventhou I have little experience with eggs, that there is ALOT of denting in the eggs

Depending on the stage of incubation, it may be tricky. In my experience the best thing would be to use vermiculite at the right moisture level. Fairly wet, but never go too wet or you'll definitely have problems. It's always better to err on the slightly dry side of perfect with vermiculite or you're inviting problems. Of the different things I've tried, vermiculite is the one which allows eggs to take moisture from it most readily/quickly when the eggs want it. Some people would even suggest a light spray with water directly on to the eggs, but I would personally not do this.

How old are these eggs?

 

[ClausWandborg]

Depending on the stage of incubation, it may be tricky. In my experience the best thing would be to use vermiculite at the right moisture level. Fairly wet, but never go too wet or you'll definitely have problems. It's always better to err on the slightly dry side of perfect with vermiculite or you're inviting problems. Of the different things I've tried, vermiculite is the one which allows eggs to take moisture from it most readily/quickly when the eggs want it. Some people would even suggest a light spray with water directly on to the eggs, but I would personally not do this.

How old are these eggs?

I just got flies like 2 days after I started the vermiculite up. So i'm a bit nervous about it.
They are on day 33 today.
I saw a guy injecting his eggs with saline, wich to me seems abit reckless.

Depending on the stage of incubation, it may be tricky. In my experience the best thing would be to use vermiculite at the right moisture level. Fairly wet, but never go too wet or you'll definitely have problems. It's always better to err on the slightly dry side of perfect with vermiculite or you're inviting problems. Of the different things I've tried, vermiculite is the one which allows eggs to take moisture from it most readily/quickly when the eggs want it. Some people would even suggest a light spray with water directly on to the eggs, but I would personally not do this.

How old are these eggs?

How would you mi the vermiculite?

 

[Herpetology]

How would you mi the vermiculite?

1:0.8
Vermiculite:water

If you got flies, they would have made their way in to the incubator, which would mean it’s not sealed … or you have a bad brand of vermiculite…

 

[Sdaji]

I just got flies like 2 days after I started the vermiculite up. So i'm a bit nervous about it.
They are on day 33 today.
I saw a guy injecting his eggs with saline, wich to me seems abit reckless.


How would you mi the vermiculite?

Vermiculite is the best thing I've used for incubating python eggs, but only if you get it right. It's not very forgiving. Suspension (like what you're using) or perlite are much more dummy proof, and they're nearly as good, so they're what I use now. Getting vermiculite right takes a bit of practice. Be very careful about just blindly following advice like 1:1 or 1:0.8 by weight. Different grades of vermiculite can be a bit different, especially if it's flattened or dusty (particularly common with finer grades), and one big issue is that vermiculite will absorb moisture from the air and in some situations can already have enough moisture to incubate eggs when you buy it from the shop. If your vermiculite already contains water, weighing it and adding more water means it'll end up far too wet, because the more water it already has, the more water you're going to add! For this reason it's best to mix it by feel than by weight, which of course is difficult if you don't already know how it should feel. Hey, I suppose you can just wing it and go for 1:0.8 and hope for the best!

Your eggs have deflated a bit too much but they're likely not as bad as they seem. Python eggs are supposed to deflate towards the end of incubation. Yours have shrunk too much too soon, but I think there's a fair chance they may still be viable. Your pictures aren't very clear (maybe it's just my screen?) but it looks like maybe you just have water in those bowls. If so, you can flood the entire bottom of the tub with water to increase the humidity a bit. Also, if you can put the incubator on something warm, you'll be making the moisture migrate away from the water (more available to the eggs) rather than towards the water as you currently have it (the cold area of a system will attract the water, and currently you have the heat at the top pushing the water out of the eggs and into the water at the bottom).

Eggs in the early stage of incubation are more prone to taking up water. By around 35 days they are at the stage where usually they are trying to lose moisture. Since you've already come this far, I'd actually be a bit inclined not to mess with the system. If it hasn't yet killed the eggs, it might work, and if you try something new it might not work.

Crossing my fingers for you! Let us know the results.

Oh, and yeah, I personally wouldn't inject saline! Also, it's not normal for vermiculite to 'cause' flies.

Best of luck to you!

 

[ClausWandborg]

Vermiculite is the best thing I've used for incubating python eggs, but only if you get it right. It's not very forgiving. Suspension (like what you're using) or perlite are much more dummy proof, and they're nearly as good, so they're what I use now. Getting vermiculite right takes a bit of practice. Be very careful about just blindly following advice like 1:1 or 1:0.8 by weight. Different grades of vermiculite can be a bit different, especially if it's flattened or dusty (particularly common with finer grades), and one big issue is that vermiculite will absorb moisture from the air and in some situations can already have enough moisture to incubate eggs when you buy it from the shop. If your vermiculite already contains water, weighing it and adding more water means it'll end up far too wet, because the more water it already has, the more water you're going to add! For this reason it's best to mix it by feel than by weight, which of course is difficult if you don't already know how it should feel. Hey, I suppose you can just wing it and go for 1:0.8 and hope for the best!

Your eggs have deflated a bit too much but they're likely not as bad as they seem. Python eggs are supposed to deflate towards the end of incubation. Yours have shrunk too much too soon, but I think there's a fair chance they may still be viable. Your pictures aren't very clear (maybe it's just my screen?) but it looks like maybe you just have water in those bowls. If so, you can flood the entire bottom of the tub with water to increase the humidity a bit. Also, if you can put the incubator on something warm, you'll be making the moisture migrate away from the water (more available to the eggs) rather than towards the water as you currently have it (the cold area of a system will attract the water, and currently you have the heat at the top pushing the water out of the eggs and into the water at the bottom).

Eggs in the early stage of incubation are more prone to taking up water. By around 35 days they are at the stage where usually they are trying to lose moisture. Since you've already come this far, I'd actually be a bit inclined not to mess with the system. If it hasn't yet killed the eggs, it might work, and if you try something new it might not work.

Crossing my fingers for you! Let us know the results.

Oh, and yeah, I personally wouldn't inject saline! Also, it's not normal for vermiculite to 'cause' flies.

Best of luck to you!

I have water inside the big plastic box with the eggs in it and also outside the white plastiv box in the small delicups in the styrofoam box.
I've mooved my eggs to a nother incubator wich holds humidity better and more stable, and i'll just leave them be.
When i let them mate again in 2023 i will try the vermiculite again, i have it avalible from my workplace and it is completely dry, as it is held in a dry room and in bery big bags.
I tried to candle all of the eggs yesterday, and there are still lots of veins in all of the eggs, so i guess they should be good, right?
I will keep you posted and thanks to all of you, it is very nice of you to help!

 

[Sdaji]

Lots of big red blood vessels means they're still alive You should be able to see snakes in there by now if you look closely, but if the blood vessels look strong and vivid red, all is going well enough for the babies to be surviving and growing. I'd be optimistic