How do you know if you have a bad egg?
If you candle a freshly laid egg, you will not be able to see anything. The light will be yellowish, but there will be no shadows or veins yet.
Typically non-fertile or "bad eggs", will mold over and shrivel within the first week or two of being laid.
Fertile eggs are resistant to molding, and will look white and healthy. It is not unusual to only have few fertile eggs out of a larger batch.
Another sign you may have bad eggs, is strange coloring like these
I am not sure what exactly caused the pink spots but I assume mold from the eggs being bad.
Sometimes eggs stay looking good, but in reality they are infertile. For some reason they didn't mold.
If you candle an egg that has been in incubation for 6+ months and it looks yellow with no shadows... chances are it is a bad egg and nothing is developing inside of it.
This egg has been incubation for 6 months but still no signs of development - notice how yellow it looks
Still, do not throw out "bad eggs" unless they mold. There is a chance they COULD hatch eventually... you never know!
Other signs your eggs may be hatching soon:
Sometimes the egg will 'window' Windowing in an egg refers to a part of the shell looking thin or transparent. This doesn't always happen and sometimes an egg doing bad may appear to be windowing (I don't have a photo of windowing, sorry)
When eggs are days away from hatching they will start to 'sweat' like a cold soda can on a hot day
Usually a few days after you see sweating the egg will pip (split) at one end
Don't be surprised or concerned if you baby lays in the egg with its eyes closed for a day. He may even poke his head out and pull it back in. He will come out when he is ready.
Also, some new hatchlings, especially panthers may take a day before they start to move around. This is normal.
New babies will have an egg sack still attached when they come out of the egg. This is normal and will fall off on its own. You do not need to remove it.
See the egg sac on this veiled baby:
I usually wait until the baby is moving around in the bin before removing him to the hatchling container.
So that's it!
If you candle a freshly laid egg, you will not be able to see anything. The light will be yellowish, but there will be no shadows or veins yet.
Typically non-fertile or "bad eggs", will mold over and shrivel within the first week or two of being laid.
Fertile eggs are resistant to molding, and will look white and healthy. It is not unusual to only have few fertile eggs out of a larger batch.
Another sign you may have bad eggs, is strange coloring like these
I am not sure what exactly caused the pink spots but I assume mold from the eggs being bad.
Sometimes eggs stay looking good, but in reality they are infertile. For some reason they didn't mold.
If you candle an egg that has been in incubation for 6+ months and it looks yellow with no shadows... chances are it is a bad egg and nothing is developing inside of it.
This egg has been incubation for 6 months but still no signs of development - notice how yellow it looks
Still, do not throw out "bad eggs" unless they mold. There is a chance they COULD hatch eventually... you never know!
Other signs your eggs may be hatching soon:
Sometimes the egg will 'window' Windowing in an egg refers to a part of the shell looking thin or transparent. This doesn't always happen and sometimes an egg doing bad may appear to be windowing (I don't have a photo of windowing, sorry)
When eggs are days away from hatching they will start to 'sweat' like a cold soda can on a hot day
Usually a few days after you see sweating the egg will pip (split) at one end
Don't be surprised or concerned if you baby lays in the egg with its eyes closed for a day. He may even poke his head out and pull it back in. He will come out when he is ready.
Also, some new hatchlings, especially panthers may take a day before they start to move around. This is normal.
New babies will have an egg sack still attached when they come out of the egg. This is normal and will fall off on its own. You do not need to remove it.
See the egg sac on this veiled baby:
I usually wait until the baby is moving around in the bin before removing him to the hatchling container.
So that's it!
