Cracked eggs!!!!

[Neal]

I've experienced the same as Tom and Tyler. Last year I dug up a clutch underneath a tree and when I stood up I hit a branch and knocked the container of eggs over which cracked a couple. That ended up being the clutch with the most that hatched out.

Someone recommended I use New Skin on the cracked eggs, I didn't and they hatched out OK, but that might be an idea if you are concerned.

 

[Tom]

I've experienced the same as Tom and Tyler. Last year I dug up a clutch underneath a tree and when I stood up I hit a branch and knocked the container of eggs over which cracked a couple. That ended up being the clutch with the most that hatched out.

Someone recommended I use New Skin on the cracked eggs, I didn't and they hatched out OK, but that might be an idea if you are concerned.

Maybe you've hit on a new way to increase hatch rates! We should all drop our eggs and give them a jolt before putting them in the incubator!

 

[Neal]

It's worth a shot maybe, but the increase in hatch rates for me was from the low teens to the low 30's....there's gotta be something more beneficial than dropping them.

 

[TylerStewart]

It's worth a shot maybe, but the increase in hatch rates for me was from the low teens to the low 30's....there's gotta be something more beneficial than dropping them.

PSSSST.... For leopards, it's called diapause. But don't tell nobody!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

I've experienced the same as Tom and Tyler. Last year I dug up a clutch underneath a tree and when I stood up I hit a branch and knocked the container of eggs over which cracked a couple. That ended up being the clutch with the most that hatched out.

Someone recommended I use New Skin on the cracked eggs, I didn't and they hatched out OK, but that might be an idea if you are concerned.

Maybe you've hit on a new way to increase hatch rates! We should all drop our eggs and give them a jolt before putting them in the incubator!

 

[Neal]

PSSSST.... For leopards, it's called diapause. But don't tell nobody!

Actually Tyler, I believe the Diapause was an old wooden ship used in the Civil War era.

 

[Katherine]

Tyler and Tom; your cracked eggs hatch without any encouragement? My eggs which are dinged or cracked (and I am only referring to those with intact inner membranes) will occasionally start developing but eventually they dry out without some type of barrier over the shell injury. The humidity in my incubator is around 80% until it is hatching time (then I up it) so I am curious under what conditions yours do not dry out.

My hatch rates are damn near 100% for uninjured eggs (occasionally I will have one egg out of a clutch fail but very very rarely) so I am pretty positive these eggs are fertile. So far using a petroleum jelly to cover the shell crack seems to be working well, but I can't be sure it's a success until they hatch healthy babies. Aside from orienting the dent/fissure towards the top are you guys doing anything differently?

Sidenote: I am upto my eyeballs in tortoises and truly do not NEED these eggs to hatch; I am just infinitely curious about how to successfully patch and hatch them : )

Perhaps I need to take them out and tango with them per Neal's experience

 

[TylerStewart]

Correct, I don't do anything to them besides turn the ding to the top (which I only do so that there's no pressure being released from the weight of the interior egg trying to push out the crack). They're not really "cracked" eggs, but small dings maybe 1/4" diameter with the little spiderweb pattern they get when dinged. If it was a very significant crack, I wouldn't expect it to hatch, but with a minor ding, mine hatch more often than not. In the past I would throw them away, not wanting to soil the incubator with an obviously bad egg, but the last few years they've been hatching well above 50%. I do still separate them, though, just so I can keep an eye on them more often than I do the apparently perfect eggs. I incubate them all in sealed containers (no air holes) and probably check for bad eggs once a month. The containers are clear so I can see the eggs clearly, but I don't open them or move them much at all. I (secretly) tend to think that split scutes can be caused by bumping the eggs (from moving containers), even though I know that's a debatable topic, I just don't think it's completely temperature related because I get occasional splits from eggs that were nowhere near a high or low temperature range. I also get them occasionally from a single baby incubated in the center of a clutch of 20+ other eggs that all turned out perfect (maybe one egg was looser in the vermiculite when I moved it???). Another topic, sorry, but I do try to not touch the eggs or containers at all, it just invites mistakes. They don't need air holes or ventilation, as they clearly are getting next to none in the ground. I don't measure humidity in my containers, but a safe guess would be that it's at or near 100%.

 

[Katherine]

Thanks for responding with details. Interesting take on split scutes, it's anyone's guess until someone can prove it! I try not ti handle them regardless; as you said just invites mistakes. I incubate in clear containers but with several airholes, for me it's more about mold prevention and temp control more than anything else so next time I have a cracked egg ( and when I say cracked I am definitely meaning 'dinged' or those slight pressure fissures from dropping on something solid, not a full on crack) I will eliminate the holes in my incubation container, perhaps with higher humidity I will see better results. Thanks again for your (and everyone else's too!) input! : )

 

[cdmay]

I'm late on getting to this thread but I have two points to add...in my experience the best thing to use for cracked eggs is Superglue. PERIOD.
It dries almost immediately, is non-toxic and doesn't have heavy fumes like other glues. Plus, I think it was originally made to use on wounds in emergency situations so if doctors can glue a person's cut back together with it, it is probably OK for tortoise eggs. You might get away with other glues but for me, Superglue is the only choice.
But don't glue the entire egg over--just the crack.
Second, I have no experience with sulcata eggs myself but my friend Eric Holt hatches literally, 2000 to 3000 sulcata eggs per year. He says that he has no success hatching sulcata eggs that are damaged during the laying process, which is in line with what EricIvins claims.
But if Tom says he has had success with such eggs I would take his word for it.

 

[TylerStewart]

Thanks for responding with details. Interesting take on split scutes, it's anyone's guess until someone can prove it! I try not ti handle them regardless; as you said just invites mistakes. I incubate in clear containers but with several airholes, for me it's more about mold prevention and temp control more than anything else so next time I have a cracked egg ( and when I say cracked I am definitely meaning 'dinged' or those slight pressure fissures from dropping on something solid, not a full on crack) I will eliminate the holes in my incubation container, perhaps with higher humidity I will see better results. Thanks again for your (and everyone else's too!) input! : )

The temperature control would be more stable if there was no air holes.... If the eggs are sealed, a quick opening of the incubator wouldn't allow a burst of cooler air in the holes. The overall container might briefly drop a few degrees, but if it's sealed, the temperature inside will be more stable to short term temperature changes than it would with the holes (same reason insulated shipping boxes should never have air holes in them). The mold issue shouldn't be humidity related.... Something has to "fuel" the mold. Mold won't grow on a clean (sterile) surface. If there's tortoise feces stuck to an egg, for example, that would mold eventually, but clean vermiculite or perlite and clean eggs shouldn't grow mold at all. I don't wash off the eggs, but sand or dirt wont really grow mold either unless there's some kinda contamination in it. A live, healthy egg shouldn't mold (unless contaminated). Once an egg starts to go bad, it would discolor and eventually mold. Like I said, mine are at 100% humidity in their incubator, and if I saw mold, there would have to be something in there "fueling" it (feces would mold, dead cricket would mold, egg going bad could mold, etc). Hope that makes sense....

I'll make an effort to better document the next round of dinged eggs.... I could have easily taken a photo of the dinged eggs after being laid and another of them hatching. Tom could probably beat me to this; I don't expect many sulcata eggs for a few months.

 

[Tom]

I don't do anything to the dinged eggs either. I just put the ding at the top and incubate them with the rest of them. I also incubate in closed plastic shoe boxes, but I drill a total of four quarter inch holes on the sides, near the tops. Like Katherine, once I set them up initially, I don't mess with the moisture or humidity until just before they hatch. Interesting that the three guys from the very dry climates all successfully incubate cracked ones, and the two people from the humid climate do not. Hmmm...

 

[Katherine]

This has been my experience too; I have yet to successfully hatch one and I always incubate them separate from healthy eggs anticipating their demise. I intend to keep experimenting though (however futile it may be ; ) ) thanks for the Ca advice!

This has been my experience no longer. Sealed a wounded egg with sterile petroleum jelly and today a little tortoise began kicking its way out with vigor. She's early too. The blob on the top of the egg is the sterile petroleum jelly, just oriented it upward and incubated it independently of the other eggs incase it didn't work out.

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Re: "cracked sulcata eggs will NEVER hatch"

 

[Neal]

Very cool.

 

[tortadise]

Fantastic. That's also what I use. Or vasoline. Its amazing actually. I usually always catch the eggs as they're dropped but one time I missed a clutch. A few of the eggs had very big holes just on the exterior of the shell. I put some vasoline on them and they all still hatched.

 

[LeaderLeprechaun]

too cool. gotta keep this in mind later down the road