# HELP! eggs growing mould :(



## yeah1526 (Oct 23, 2011)

I have three angle headed dragon eggs, they were laid about one week ago. 
I left them for 24 hours before putting them in 50/50 vermiculite/water mix in a takeaway container, no holes.
i just notices now theyre starting to grow mould. i picked off tiny bits of dirt and substrate from the eggs, it looks like the mould is growing from the dirt.
what do i do? the same thing happened last year with a clutch of eggs, they got too mouldy and died. 
help please.


----------



## Lollypop (Oct 23, 2011)

Angle headed aren't my specialty but, with incubation I "imagine" bit the same........ Someone else can verify???
They need ventillation during incubation, so 2 - 4 decent sized holes in the container - normally u cover all to start with until humidity starts happening, remove 1-2 within approx 4 days, rest within a wk.
Now your vermiculite........Is it the bunnings one?? Or what is it - this is a huge deciding factor, so very important


----------



## yeah1526 (Oct 23, 2011)

see i was told by a breeder not to put any holes, and to let the lid off every week or so. 
i think i got it from bunnings yeah, its "Attunga" horticultural vermiculite, says its sterile too.


----------



## Sarah11 (Oct 23, 2011)

to get rid off the mold u can use a fungal powder from a chemist. Its really effective just dont over do it. Have a search on here for mould on eggs because many great suggestions have been offered


----------



## yeah1526 (Oct 23, 2011)

Sarah11 said:


> to get rid off the mold u can use a fungal powder from a chemist. Its really effective just dont over do it. Have a search on here for mould on eggs because many great suggestions have been offered



yeah ive read heaps of threads on the fungal powders on beardie eggs. i get the vibe that beardie and snake eggs are kinda indestructible so i'd probably use that stuff as a last resort. 
natural way first!


----------



## Sarah11 (Oct 23, 2011)

just having a read through other threads and people are reccomending perlite rather than vermiculite. But im no expert. As i said search it. Thousands of threads come up. Maybe one would have a more natural solution?

oh someone recomended F10 spray highly diluted(1:500)


----------



## Lollypop (Oct 23, 2011)

Reason I asked about Bunnings vermiculite is that it is pre-wet. So the 50:50 that u read is invalid. U only need the slightest amount of water to make it to a mixture that clumps when "fisted", & no water seeping out of the fist.
Aeration is an important part of incubation. I always try to accommodate once every wk minimum to 'aerate'/breathe the containers, or every 4days minimum.
If your substrate is way too wet, u need to start from scratch & transfer the eggs over. I know a lot of people use chinese containers, but they're just not thick enuf to provide the humidity that's normaly required - the systema products are much more suited if u can spare $10.


----------



## yeah1526 (Oct 24, 2011)

thanks alot guys,
at the moment i've got the lid off, letting some moisture out, hopefully that'll help.


----------



## RSPcrazy (Oct 24, 2011)

When eggs go mouldy that soon, it normally means the eggs are infertile (not every time, but most of the time), have you candled them to make sure there fertile?

Tinea powder is what I use on any mouldy eggs, it works grate. The top 2 best powders I've found are,
2nd best "Tinaderm"
1st best "Resolve Tinea Powder"
There very cheap and should be at any pharmacy.

When it comes to holes in tubs, there are so many methods, it really comes down to personal preference.

I use both 100% sealed containers and air them out once to twice a week, and click clack containers with one small hole in the lid, but I place "glad wrap" over the container before I put the lid on. The "glad wrap" allows air exchange while holding the humidity in.

I do have a better hatch rate with the 100% sealed method though.

If you're not sure what method will work for you, then you can try placing the eggs into separate containers and try a different method with each container.

Good luck with them.


----------



## Ramsayi (Oct 24, 2011)

Containers do not need to be ventilated,a quick airing once a week and a bit more often in the latter stages works well.As has already been written infertile eggs tend to mould quickly.Another thing you say you mixed the medium at 50/50 which to me is a bit too wet especially if you didn't dry the vermiculite first,by placing in an oven for a while, as it can draw moisture from the air.Two things kill eggs quicker than anything else those being excess heat and excess moisture so it is better be a bit cooler and a bit drier than needed as it gives you a bit of room for error.


----------



## crocdoc (Oct 24, 2011)

Mould doesn't kill eggs, but eggs will grow mould when they're already dead or dying. As RSPcrazy has mentioned, eggs developing mould that early in incubation are usually not viable to start with. You mentioned that the eggs have substrate stuck to them - are the eggs a little bit slimy to the touch such that big chunks of substrate and vermiculite are sticking to them? If so, they're probably dead. Incubate them anyway, just in case. Substrate and vermiculite doesn't stick easily to healthy eggs, at least not large amounts of it. I know that if I pick up an egg that's resting on perlite and a large amount of perlite comes with it, the egg is probably toast.

The type of mould is also indicative. I've never worried about a thin layer of whitish, velvety mould, for I've had that on many eggs and it's never been an issue. Thick, fluffy, colourful mould is usually a worry for it means the egg is on its way out.


----------



## killimike (Oct 25, 2011)

crocdoc said:


> I know that if I pick up an egg that's resting on perlite and a large amount of perlite comes with it, the egg is probably toast.....The type of mould is also indicative. I've never worried about a thin layer of whitish, velvety mould, for I've had that on many eggs and it's never been an issue. Thick, fluffy, colourful mould is usually a worry for it means the egg is on its way out.



These sound like some good objective ways of telling what is likely to be going on with eggs. Large amounts of perlite coming up with the egg was my first sign that the latest vittatus clutch was infertile, then the eggs turned orange


----------



## Morgan_dragon (Oct 25, 2011)

It sounds like you have to much moisture in there as well, I never use 50/50 and with the exception of one clutch last year that was my girls first and seemed infertile have had almost a 100% hatch rate. I have found it easier to just add a little moisture every other week if I thought it was needed...

I would do up new containers and transfer the eggs across. If some eggs have mould and others don't seperate them into different containers - you might lose the ones that have started to mould but not the others....

What temp is the incubator set to? Can you post some pics up for us of the eggs and the set up?


----------



## crocdoc (Oct 25, 2011)

Unless it's a HUGE amount of water (and 50/50 vermiculite/water by weight is not that huge), too much moisture will make eggs expand and go turgid, which may later cause them to seep moisture and fail to hatch. Not within a week of laying, though, as these eggs are. The moisture isn't what causes the mould, though. It's the eggs dying from too much moisture (again, usually well down the track) that leads to mould growing on them.


----------



## Lollypop (Oct 25, 2011)

Hey Crocdoc. Know you're VERY experienced in all things reptile, but have u ever used the bunnings vermiculite?
Had a mate last yr lost a few clutches with mould, within first 2 wks. Wasn't til I visited that moisture was WAY too high because the 50:50 with bunnings just isn't the go - it nearly needs to be used as is.
She changed the substrate, added very very minimal water to the mix, eggs fine for the duration - even the latest clutch that had started to go mouldy.
I never use the stuff, always buy the dry vermiculite from plant nurseries, & yes, any that mould up I know aren't any good. But in this circumstance, there is an element of doubt regards substrate.........


----------



## crocdoc (Oct 26, 2011)

I've never used vermiculite but have used perlite. Bunnings used to sell really good perlite, but then they changed suppliers and the new stuff wasn't particularly good. Eventually I went straight to the companies that supply the hardware stores/nurseries and bought it from them in bulk, but now I incubate my eggs suspended over water. Through the years of experimenting with different perlites, I found that some made the eggs a bit wetter than others. It had to do with the structure of the perlite and whether the water soaked in or stayed on the surface, rather than how wet it was when I bought it, for whenever I was in doubt I used to bake it dry before use. However, no matter which perlite I used I never once had the humidity level of the substrate cause mould. Wetter substrate would make the eggs swell more than they should, definitely, and if I let the eggs go on swelling I'm pretty sure they would have died and then grown mouldy, but substrate that was too damp never created mould on its own. Living eggs are surprisingly mould and bacteria resistant, dead or dying eggs are not.


----------

