Putting up the egg pic was a hard choice, as this was the first sunny day in
a week and the birds went bonkers; there was a great blue heron overhead
more than once, several red-tailed hawk moments, and a low-circling osprey
swung by for a visit. Still, this is something much less often photographed
in most circumstances, a clutch of corn snake eggs incubating in perlite. I
adore my friends here in MT, who all banded together one broke holiday
season not long ago and bought me a proper incubator for my birthday I
believe it was, one that I don’t have to open to check on the eggs, one that
has a thermometer and a really good reputation (it’s a Hova-bator brand).
Now I’m hoping that the mold problem was a leftover from our last residence
(which was condemned 6 months after we moved out, in part due to toxic black
mold in the walls) and that replacing my perlite stock will end the mold
problems that have claimed the last 4 clutches! Several of these eggs are
duds (the 7 largest have the best chance of hatching) but removing them
poses a huge risk of torn shells, and if the eggs are turned over once
they’ve been laid, any growing babies will drown. From now until September,
I won’t actually touch the eggs unless an obvious “deader” has to be removed
to keep mold from attacking the rest.
a week and the birds went bonkers; there was a great blue heron overhead
more than once, several red-tailed hawk moments, and a low-circling osprey
swung by for a visit. Still, this is something much less often photographed
in most circumstances, a clutch of corn snake eggs incubating in perlite. I
adore my friends here in MT, who all banded together one broke holiday
season not long ago and bought me a proper incubator for my birthday I
believe it was, one that I don’t have to open to check on the eggs, one that
has a thermometer and a really good reputation (it’s a Hova-bator brand).
Now I’m hoping that the mold problem was a leftover from our last residence
(which was condemned 6 months after we moved out, in part due to toxic black
mold in the walls) and that replacing my perlite stock will end the mold
problems that have claimed the last 4 clutches! Several of these eggs are
duds (the 7 largest have the best chance of hatching) but removing them
poses a huge risk of torn shells, and if the eggs are turned over once
they’ve been laid, any growing babies will drown. From now until September,
I won’t actually touch the eggs unless an obvious “deader” has to be removed
to keep mold from attacking the rest.
1 comment:
I had no idea it was such a tricky process. Fingers crossed for a good result this time.
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