Egg Help

[ChameleonAlley]

Hey all. This egg started sweating last week, shrank and is now dented pretty heavily. The top of the egg has gotten kind of a pinkish dark color. Do you all think the egg is still good? Should I just wait it out, cut it open? Have any of you seen an egg start to look like this? Thanks a ton!

 

[laurie]

It may just be getting ready to hatch. What you are seeing is normal in my experience. Is the egg due to hatch now? My feelings on opening the egg is that is the very, very last ditch effort, and rarely comes out well. Are any of the other eggs starting to sweat? Just watch it and see how it goes after the next 24 hours. Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Thank you so much Laurie! Yeah, I thought cutting it open was a last resort situation. I really don't want to have to do that. I hope for them to hatch normally. Their are 5 other eggs that began sweating two days ago and have started shrinking. I was worried about this one because it is so much smaller than the other eggs. It began sweating last week and has slowly shrank all week. I just thought a week seemed like a long time for the process. I noticed the discoloration on the tip of the egg this morning. Still no piping.

 

[warpdrive]

I'm so sorry to say this but Laurie is right. You are clerly bout ready to have at lesst 1 hungry mouth to feed shortly and I hope you have food ready for all that is going to hatch.

Congrats, you did a fine job. You should be proud.

Harry

 

[ChameleonAlley]

You're the man Harry! So, this is completely normal looking? Anyone know about when I should see piping at this point? Could it still be days out?

 

[reptoman]

I have seen it take 2 days after shrinking a sweating and another 2 after pipping. Is this a Faly egg?

 

[ChameleonAlley]

I have seen it take 2 days after shrinking a sweating and another 2 after pipping. Is this a Faly egg?

Thank you for the response man. Yes, it is a Faly egg. I thought the dang thing would have hatched by now. It started sweating last Saturday. Then the discoloration I noticed today started to freak me out.

 

[Texas Ranger]

How are the eggs doing. any babys yet?

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Hey thanks for replying. Well, I think that dented egg is a goner. Still holding out on it, but I don't think it's looking good. I'll put a new picture up here in just a second.

I still can't tell if the other ones are going to hatch or not. 5 started sweating about Friday and started shrinking.....but still nothing. One is showing the "windows." They look good, no denting just shrinking.

How long can they sweat for before pipping? I've read up to 7 days.....I'll get some new pics up here soon. I swear, I'm usually patient but the stress of constantly checking these eggs are going to give me ulcers!

 

[Cainschams]

I didnt see this thread earlier.

I would say that egg is a goner too. If it takes that long to hatch after it sweats then it is more than likely not going to hatch. Also the discoloration. Have the other eggs hatched or are they doing the same?

 

[ChameleonAlley]

I didnt see this thread earlier.

I would say that egg is a goner too. If it takes that long to hatch after it sweats then it is more than likely not going to hatch. Also the discoloration. Have the other eggs hatched or are they doing the same?

Thanks man! The other eggs look healthy, have sweated and slowly shrank. It's been about 3 days since they started sweating. They're not denting like this one did. I've just read that most peoples eggs pip within a day or so of sweating. Seeing this egg go bad has got me scared. It was the smallest egg of them all though.

 

[Cainschams]

Sounds like it might just be an infertile egg or even just a weakly formed embryo. Ive had eggs go full term and do the same thing as that one. When cut open there is just a mushy yellow substance that comes out but no embryo. It has also take a little while for some of my eggs to sweat before they pip the egg.

Im sure the rest of the eggs will be fine. Fingers crossed for you

 

[ChameleonAlley]

^^Thanks man. I think they're looking good. Here's some pictures. I just wish they'd pip.

 

[Texas Ranger]

I just got threw doing some reading. And it said after you see beads of moisture form and the eggs start to shrink the neonate(chameleon) slits the egg shell within a few days and then remain in the egg shell for 1 or 2 days to resorb the yolk sac. if the neonate doesnt slit the egg it dies.Some herpetologists recommend vigorous spraying of the eggs with water or saline solution at the first signs of shell permeability appears.If the first few neonates fail to slit the shell and die,one can expect problems with the entire clutch. vigorous spraying may aid emergence of the few strongest individuals.Alternatively,manual slitting of the egg may have the same results. I hope this helps and we get to see some faly babys.

 

[ChameleonAlley]

^^I really really appreciate this info. Thank you man! I've never heard that before, but I was actually considering spraying the eggs with a light water mist today. I've been constantly reading/searching the forum for the past week for every tid bit of info I can. I added water to the substrate yesterday via syringe. I'm pretty sure humidity is good, and that's why I didn't break out the water sprayer. I just can't tell if I'm getting impatient or not. I guess no matter what happens, time will tell so I should quit stressing.

Most of the egg hatching threads I have read usually state a sweat/shrink time of a day to two days. I did read that some had eggs sweat for seven days before pipping, but this seemed uncommon? I also read that there were some on here that had lost their entire clutch even though the eggs looked good.... and this was usually the first clutch that a particular female laid? I just hope this is not the case.

This is really interesting info you've posted. I've been scowering the web about this period of egg hatching. Can you post any links to the info?

 

[Texas Ranger]

Its a book I picked up called Care and breeding of chameleons im sure you can find it on the web. its really hard to find really good info on the incubation
and care of the eggs.but this book should help.

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Thanks man! I really appreciate it. I'll see what I can find on that book. I'm finding that there is no one way process to hatching. Hopefully things will go well. I really appreciate the info man.

 

[Texas Ranger]

the book also said the substrate needs to be 0.7 parts water to 1.0 substrate but to much moisture can make them burst . infertile or dead eggs spoil rapidly(one week after oviposition or death) Therefore,never discard healthy eggs,no matter how long they have been incubating and a egg with a dent is dehydrated and the humidity needs to be 85% to 100%. This link will help a little its almost the same as the book I have just not as detailed.

http://books.google.com/books?id=6N...ook_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ

 

[Cainschams]

Can you see some of the embryo in that third picture? How long have they been incubating, temps etc? Any major temp spikes or drops? WC, CB chameleon?

 

[ChameleonAlley]

We're looking right at 9 months incubating. Temps have been steady at about 74 degrees give or take a slight fluctuation. The only success I've had from putting a light to the egg is seeing a strong white shell or a slightly translucent shell with a yellow fluid inside. I'm guessing the eggs with the yellow fluid are bad. But I can't see any type of development within the whiter eggs. I haven't touched them/picked them up for candling. Has anyone ever had a "rest period" between sweating/shrinking and the actual pipping?