mildew Q

[Phrasty]

ok I am planning to breed in the future, but when I think about the incubator set-ups i cant help but to think that since the humidity in the incubator is 100% and the eggs are on "moist" substrate how do you avoid risk of mildew or anything like that growing on either the substrate or worse on the eggs. Is it an issue at all?

The incubator woud probably be home-made....cooler-type or wooden w/ insulated aquarium tank.

thanks for any input.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Mildew likes it COLD and humid. Not hot and humid. I've never had any mold in all the years I've incubted eggs.

[gonesnakee]

No mold(s) ever Jeff? Better pull that horseshoe out & ship it to me LOL. I've had some very "colorfull" clutches over the last 5 years. The old rule that "Bad eggs won't make good eggs go bad" seems to still apply in almost all cases though. Mark

[Phrasty]

guess it wasnt an issue..lol. Thanks Jeff.

[MarcB]

For that pesky middle of the clutch rotten egg, peat moss is a natural inhibiter (sp!) for fungus and mildew, throw a thin layer of that over eggs that develop such and no need to worry for the rest of incubation.

[Phrasty]

sorry that was a late post. Oh so it does happen "sometimes" So is there still a chance for the eggs that get slight mildew to make it through and hatch healthy, or will they die with or without the peat moss covering them? Will sterilizing equipment help stop mildew?
thanks

[MarcB]

Good eggs will hatch regardless! the egg membrane is very resiliant (Thanks to evolutions!), problem is when fungus grows, it seems to smother the other good eggs...seems like it but it doesn't

If the bad eggs can be removed, best thing is to remove them, its really case by case, if in doubt, leave them be, they will hatch regardless...

[Phrasty]

Mark, you say to remove the bad eggs, I personally have never incubated before, but that seems like the best thing to do. but ive seen some eggs incubated unseperated. when incubating do you suggest seperating the eggs from each other or leaving them the way they were laid if they were clumped together?

[MarcB]

I have rarely caught any of my females laying eggs and most are found clumped up together in the morning. Depends on species, Hognose eggs for instance, don't adhere togethers and can be planted in the incubator in perfect carrot rows, most others, are layed in clumps and need to be incubated in clumps.

Never try to pry eggs that have adhered together, thats asking for trouble.

I was talking about bad eggs before they start rotting, they sometimes loose adherance (sp!) and can be removed.

[Phrasty]

Thanks Marc (not Mark lol). I appreciate the help man.

[gonesnakee]

I agree to other Mark anyhow LOL I will gently remove "slugs" from good eggs whenever possibly. Even if they all are clumped together the "slugs" (infertile eggs) will usually come off the cluster fairly easily. Even with the ones that don't they will kind of shrivel over time & become less adhered & removed then. I'll try & get ambitious & maybe post some pics of nasty eggs, that were left & babies hatching out around them. Mark

[Jeff_Favelle]

Haven't done enough Colubrids Mark to get bad eggs. Pythons RARELY seem to have bad eggs, and if they do, they are dealt with BEFORE going in the incubator. So for me to ever see mold in the incubator, is pretty impossible.

I suspect with over 18-25 Hondo clutches this year, and lower temps than Pythons (84F), I might see it. We'll see. 95% of all my Hondo clutches can be pulled apart, so any bad eggs will most likely be removed. But here's hoping I don't get any bad eggs!! ;)