anyone ever have boxie eggs rupture a few weeks away from hatching??

[earthyman71]

a sad story - my three toeds laid eggs this spring and i'm naturally incubating in a tupperware container on top of my fridge. the eggs looked like they went into diapause a bit and then started back up (we had a spate of cool weather this summer in the northeast).

this weekend while checking the eggs, i noticed one had ruptured pretty badly and i could see the yolk. figuring a total loss, i took the egg apart to find a deceased fully formed baby boxie eyes open. it looked like it still had a few weeks to go but would have been beautiful.

the eggs didn't dry out and had a moist paper towel over them.

i still have 4 left with veins running though them so my fingers are crossed!

any insight is appreciated (and i fully realize that sometimes nature just has its own way).

thank you!

 

[Yvonne G]

Sorry about that...I don't know what happened to your eggs, but I've noticed that if I have too much moisture in the incubator towards the end of the incubation period, the eggs will swell.

 

[egyptiandan]

That was the problem The egg absorbed to much water and split because of it. The incubation medium should be damp, but not wet. The wet paper towel on top of the eggs probably was the cause of the egg absorbing to much water.

Danny

 

[Tom]

I concur. When one of my sulcata clutches starts to hatch, I often add some water to the vermiculite. This has made some of the duds, or eggs that weren't quite ready, crack open in the way you describe.

So sorry to hear this. Little chelonian lives are just so precious. Its sad to lose any. I usually leave mine in there. Often they will still develop and hatch out normally, even with a ruptured outer shell. I've incubated lots of eggs that were chipped or cracked during laying and gotten healthy, normal babies out of them too.

 

[Kristina]

I was going to say the same thing. They need to be kept moist, but still have some air exchange.

I am sorry for your loss, and I hope you have better luck with the rest!

 

[earthyman71]

thanks much everyone! i did take the moist paper towel off so am hoping that the others make it. fingers crossed!!

 

[earthyman71]

an update - had another one rupture with the remaining 3 still looking ok. i'm going to leave the ruptured one in place and see what happens. have removed the loose fitting lid from the container for the evening in the hopes that some of the dampness will evaporate from the substrate. it should still be warm enough here this evening for the eggs to be ok.