Couple of allergy pills have me feeling groggy, but slightly less stuffy. As for the mold, so far things are looking good. The new bin is humid but not dripping, with adequate air flow so there’s no condensation on the eggs themselves. All the fetuses seemed active during candling, so I do believe I lucked out on this.
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That’s excellent news! I’m so glad. Hope that the allergy pills help you get good rest tonight.
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Mold update: Well, I officially caught it in time. Two days in the new sphagnum/perlite tub and the eggs both look and feel better. Not only that, but opening the bin does not immediately trigger my allergies anymore. Development is really taking off, the fetuses are taking up more and more of the egg by the day! Today is day 41 of incubation, I’m hoping I’ll be here when they hatch, but I’m going to be out of town over memorial day weekend, so if they go early, I might miss out.
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Glad you got the mold under control. Kudos there! You’re likely not going to miss anything over Memorial Day weekend. They’d be going awfully early to hatch then. Also, the hatching process does take time. From first pip to last out is likely to stretch over a couple of days.
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Well, tomorrow is it, day 55 and the start of pipwatch! As of right now, all 11 remaining eggs are looking amazing. Still plump with movement on gentle candling. Considering the rollercoaster my first breeding season has been, I’m just relieved to be nearing what I hear is the best part!
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That’s so exciting. I love pippy time! I can enjoy everybody else’s with a lot less work than my own.
Iol
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Congratulations on making it this far! I can’t wait to see your babies! Honestly, I can’t wait until I produce some of my own! I just love seeing everyone so happy with their eggs and hatchings/neonates.
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After the first season from hell, I’m even more excited for these little ones. I will say, the stress and the waiting are not the most fun. I am excited to see if Sienna proves out to be het scaleless. She’s a stunning girl out of SMR that I picked up from another breeder last season. Whole clutch is going to be het scaleless, but with luck I will have some naked little noodles! i will probably hold back a female, but I think the rest will go towards replacing the female I had to have spayed/retired in my project.
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Ooh, I really hope you manage to hit your target! You deserve it!
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Okay…It’s happening, I think we have our first pip! I went to check on the eggs tonight and one seemed…odd. Lightly picked it up to discover it was leaking. Now, based on dates, they were due any day after the 4th, so I’m not about to worry that I exploded an egg or something, I think it’s just time.
Ohhh I cannot WAIT to see what I get!!! 
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No pics?! 
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Can’t wait to see a nose sticking out! They look perfect!
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Starting to wonder if the first “pip” wasn’t an accident. Baby has not made any attempt to further leave the egg. The hole has actually kind of congealed/resealed itself. Baby inside is still responsive and the egg has sufficient fluid in it yet, so I just plan to leave things be and see what happens. What a learning experience this is!
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Afternoon egg check confirms the hole has “sealed” itself via congealed albumin, which is apparently a thing that can happen. The egg itself is still full, the lost fluid doesn’t seem to have caused any issues, all the veins remain intact, and baby is most definitely still moving inside the egg. I’m very glad I decided to leave it be instead of letting my curiosity get the better of me. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the actual pip to happen, and whether or not it has any affect on the fetus itself.
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You really have had a heck of a year. I can’t wait to see your babies, so I can just imagine how much you feel like you’re on pins and needles!
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Heck of a year and it’s not even over yet, I’m just…Whew. It’s so hard not to peek in every few minutes, but I know they’ll come out when they’re ready. I’m just very relieved I resisted the urge to cut that egg when it had been 12 hours with no sign of baby. I keep reminding myself, the worst thing I can do right now is try to intervene.
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Well there was another little crisis with the leaky egg that required intervention. The leak re-opened and the egg itself was collapsing. As far as I can tell, baby is still responsive. I put some hydrated moss on the egg in hopes it would re-plump and it seems to be working.
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Starting to wonder if Sienna isn’t about to double clutch on me. Her previous owner did say she double clutched the last two years for him, so it’s entirely possible. She’s going into shed, so I gave her a lay box with sphagnum just in case.
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Well, that’s stressful. How is the leaky egg faring today? Hopefully it will make it. I’ve “patched” leaks before with medical gauze. I folded a bit of wax paper inside the gauze, trimmed to cover the leak with room on the edges. It adhered, then dried and stayed in place until hatching.
Glad that the dampened moss is helping with moisture retention. It’s challenging to rehydrate the egg while simultaneously stopping a leak.
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