Mold On Eggs, For Sure Dead Inside ?

[DESERT DAVE]

I Have A Clutch That Was Layed About 5 Weeks Ago From A Female That Because Of Improper Isolation And Poor Nest Material Kept The Eggs Inside Her For Two Months As Opposed To One Month.
I Removed The Eggs Being Extremely Careful To Keep Them In The Same Position And Placed Them 6 To A Cup With A Lid On It With 6 Pin Holes In The Top. They Are On Vermiculite Covering 50% (deep) Of The Cup With Enough Water So That If I Pinched Some Of The Vermiculite A Drop Or Two Of Water Would Hit The Floor. In Two Of The Cups I Have Had Two Of The Eggs In Each Cup (2cups) Grow Mold On The Outside. I Seperated The Moldy Eggs Into Their Own Cups And Have Left The Remaining 4 Eggs In The Original Cup. I Left The Lids Off The Cups For 24 Hours To Evaporate Moisture Thinking They Were Too Wet. The Other Four Cups Have All Healthy Plump Good Looking Eggs. I Will Not Throw Them Out But Would Like To Know If Anyone Has Had Moldy Eggs Hatch And What To Do To Help Them. I Have Moisture/humidity Guages In The Cups That Read Between 78 And 80 % In Each Of Them. I Guess The Molded Eggs Could Have Been Duds From The Beginning But I Am Still Hopeful. Do I Have A Shot Or What? I Have Tried The Footpowder Dusting Of The Eggs In The Past On A Different Clutch But It Did Not Help. I Am Tired Of Losing Clutches And Will Be Buying An Incubator For Future Clutches. Thanks For Any Help. I Think I Have All My Eggs To Moist Since They Have Moisture On All Of Them. I Know The Moisture Is Natural In The Last Month Or Less Before Hatching But It Can't Be Time To Hatch Yet. Is 80% Moisture Way Too Mutch. I Think So. What Do You All Incubate At In Regards Thergometers, Or Whatever They Are Called?

 

[kinyonga]

What species of chameleon are the eggs from?

 

[DESERT DAVE]

Veileds!

All That Info. And Missed The Most Important, These Are Veileds, 1 Year Old

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."In Two Of The Cups I Have Had Two Of The Eggs In Each Cup (2cups) Grow Mold On The Outside"...sometimes the mold means the eggs is dead but I have seen cases where the egg will hatch even though it has mold growing on it. I would keep the mold wiped off the eggs though. I never throw eggs out until I'm absolutely sure that they are dead. I've heard some stories of some pretty bad looking eggs still hatching.

You said..."I Left The Lids Off The Cups For 24 Hours To Evaporate Moisture Thinking They Were Too Wet"...even though the vermiculite in mine is done the same way that you describe, there is condensation on the lid and the sides of the container. It generally causes no harm.

You said..."I Guess The Molded Eggs Could Have Been Duds From The Beginning But I Am Still Hopeful"...they could be duds, but as I said above, I wouldn't give up on them until there is no hope.

You said..."I Am Tired Of Losing Clutches And Will Be Buying An Incubator For Future Clutches"...where are they and what temperature are you keeping them at? I incubate veiled eggs at about 78F and have close to 100% hatch rate. I don't use an incubator as such. I have a people's heating pad. Over it I have a wooden frame (rectangle of two by two's) that has screen on it. I can raise and lower the frame with shims to get the temperature in the incubation containers right. This method exposes the eggs to a slight variation in temperatures from day to night. I have hatched panther eggs, veileds, water dragon, several species of gecko, cone heads, 3-toed turtles, etc. using this method.

You said..."I Think I Have All My Eggs To Moist Since They Have Moisture On All Of Them"..as I said, I have moisture on the container's sides and lid....but NOT on the eggs...until the last few days before they hatch, at which time you could see beads of moisture on them as the eggs begin to shrink to hatch.