What am I doing wrong?

[I.Like.Stuff]

My Diamond laid our first clutch on Friday. 20 eggs looked viable, and 2 slugs we got rid of straight away. They have been in an incubator that I set up with 50% peatmoss and 50% water, but I found that it was really water logged and squeezed a lot of the water out with my hands, til it was damp but not dripping. Thats in a plastic container, with a lid, no holes but one corner is ajar for the thermo probe. That sits on a heat mat, controlled by thermostat, inside a foam esky.
It was running for 3 days before the eggs went in, and always sit on 30-31 degrees, and 80% humidity. I cant get the humidity much higher, even after I sprayed it with water again.
After the eggs went in I was checking them twice a day, temp and humidity always good, the smaller eggs looked like they may be slugs and drying out, but still looked white underneith.
Yesterday morning they looked great, but I didn't check them til about half hour ago and now they look really bad and smell (see pic)


At least one (more like 3) are definatly rotten, but a couple still look good.
What am I doing wrong? What can I do to save the other ones?
Obviously I need to get rid of the rotten ones, I am going to candle all the rest too, but should I change anything?
My girl has done so well giving us eggs I dont want to kill them now!

Also when I took the eggs out I scrubbed the enclosure, all furniture and everything. Washed the snake with kids soap to remove all smell, but she is still coiling and shivering like she is incubating. She ate on Saturday. Is there anything else I can do for her?

Thanks for any advice

 

[AM Pythons]

the yellow odd shape ones are slugs.. the rest are way to wet by the looks... bin them, better luck next year..

 

[waruikazi]

Can you tell us about your adult animals and their set up? Temps and all that Jazz.

The majority of those eggs were slugs, they were never going to hatch. That can be an indication that the goood looking ones were no good also. I would hazzard a guess that the problem is not in incubating but in the husbandry or genetics of your adults.

---------- Post added 12-Jan-11 at 02:35 PM ----------

the yellow odd shape ones are slugs.. the rest are way to wet by the looks... bin them, better luck next year..

They don't look too wet to me, they just look dead. Once an egg dies and is left in the incubator it will begin to weep.

 

[Perko]

I wouldnt bin the 3 middle ones yet, re mix some vemic til it just clumps in your hand, 50/50 is too wet ive found.
I dont measure it anymore, just mix a little bit in till it clumps & your done.
Good luck.

 

[AM Pythons]

i had a clutch very much the same as yours this year.. 8 slugs(same shape & colour as yours), 7 viable, 3 eggs died, 4 made it out of the 7... yer maybe hope for 3 of them... good luck...

 

[I.Like.Stuff]

I just candled the 3 good looking ones and they still look viable, pink veins along the sides. I have remixed peatmoss in a smaller container, its all have atm, should I get some vermiculite tonight and change it again?
Is there anything else I should do? Does the incubation set up sound ok?

The diamonds are each kept in 1200Hx900Wx700D melamine enclosures, a shelf under the heatlight reaches about 32, but there are branches around and being such a big cage they can get all temps down to ambient along the bottom. They are usually among the branches or in a hanging pot near the top, far side to the heat. She laid in the pot, the nest box obviously not good enough, lol.
We really didn't think she was gravid, she ate just before her prelay shed and so our hopes were over. She didn't eat since then, but never basked belly up. She dropped 2 slugs last tuesday and we panicked a little! We upped the basking heat about 2 or 3 degrees then until the eggs came on Friday.

 

[Waterrat]

As others said, the slugs are dead, etc., besides that - Why are you using peat moss for incubating medium? Peat moss is highly acidic.

 

[waruikazi]

What are your basking temperatures and what is ambient for you?

 

[HILDY]

was the 50:50 by weight and yes i would move to vermiculite or perlite

 

[AM Pythons]

perlite is even better than vermiculite because it doesnt draw water up...this was a clutch i had this year... pretty easy to tell the slugs...