Egg Sweating in the prehatch period - normal or abnormal

[geckodan]

Hi all, I am having a discussion on another forum with regards to prehatch egg sweating in GECKOS, SKINKS, DRAGONS. I say its normal, another is suggesting is is entirely abnormal and the sign of a failing egg. Any comments??

 

[Helikaon]

i say its normal within about 48 hrs of hatching. but deffinitley not good sign if only half way through incubation or if the 'sweat" is a green colour.

 

[CodeRed]

Ive seen both cases in lawsoni. Most of the eggs Ive hatched dont sweat before hatching but the ones that do sweat appear to be more likely to fail. Normally if I see a sweaty one I will pip it and this seems to improve the hatch rate. I never pip non-sweaty ones.

 

[geckodan]

Ive seen both cases in lawsoni. Most of the eggs Ive hatched dont sweat before hatching but the ones that do sweat appear to be more likely to fail. Normally if I see a sweaty one I will pip it and this seems to improve the hatch rate. I never pip non-sweaty ones.

I would agree that larger dragons sweat considerably less than the others.

 

[cruester]

Depends when they begin to sweat.If it's near the end of the incubation time it is generally normal.If they sweat earlier they are probably going off. Have had plenty of sweating and non sweating eggs hatch out normal.Dragon and monitor eggs seem to sweat more than other species.There doesn't seem to be a set rule and to say eggs that are sweating are going/gone off is not true.Can't tell you exactly what it's from,but it doesn't seem to happen to every egg in the clutch so i don't think it's excess moisture.Sometimes eggs can sweat for days and other times for a few minutes before the hatchy pips the shell.One theory i have is it may be the animal moving around egg and forcing a small amount of fluid thru the egg shell as it positions itself to hatch.Just a thought

 

[Sdaji]

Sometimes good eggs sweat, sometimes they don't. Sometimes bad eggs sweat, sometimes they don't. Neither is normal or abnormal for either class of egg, although if they were sweating early I'd say it's a bad sign.

 

[geckodan]

I was referring to the sweating in the 24-48 hours prior to hatching.

 

[JasonL]

I would have to say, the vast majority of my eggs don't sweat...with exceptions though, as Sand Swimmer eggs always sweat, Dragons very rarely and I see it as a bad sign if I notice the geckos sweating.

 

[spongebob]

I rarely have eggs sweat so generally consider it an anomaly.
Understanding the physiology would be helpful-a phD perhaps?

 

[geckodan]

I would have to say, the vast majority of my eggs don't sweat...with exceptions though, as Sand Swimmer eggs always sweat, Dragons very rarely and I see it as a bad sign if I notice the geckos sweating.

Do you regularly open incubation boxes to vent them and supply fresh air or do you leave them pretty much alone for the incubation period??

 

[Saz]

Every single dragon and gecko egg I have observed shortly prior to hatching sweats. With gecko eggs it seems to happen only a few hours before hatching. Beardies are a little longer, around 6 hours.

I have found that an egg that sweats longer than 12 hours usually has dead content, so if I catch them in time I open the egg at about 9 hours.

Personally I worry if I can't see sweat! Maybe it varies based on incubation techniques?

 

[richardsc]

my dragon an monitor eggs seem to always sweat with in a few days of hatching,could be due to incubation moisture being higher as my eggs swell alot during incubation,ridgetails and gillens plus eastern and gippy water dragons especially

 

[richardsc]

i incubate in the small take away tubs u buy roaches or crickets in,like from piecies,it has small holes in the lid around the edge so i leave them be,unless i add more moisture

 

[JasonL]

Do you regularly open incubation boxes to vent them and supply fresh air or do you leave them pretty much alone for the incubation period??

Nah, set and forget... I only open the lid if something bad looks to be happening and I want a closer look or I need to add water for some reason.... not that that happens too often. I use decor containers for that reason, they arn't 100% airtight, I steer clear of the ones with rubber seals. With 500 odd eggs cooking, I just don't have the time to open lids

 

[geckodan]

Nah, set and forget... I only open the lid if something bad looks to be happening and I want a closer look or I need to add water for some reason.... not that that happens too often. I use decor containers for that reason, they arn't 100% airtight, I steer clear of the ones with rubber seals. With 500 odd eggs cooking, I just don't have the time to open lids

I wonder if your poor sealing tubs is the equivalent of weekly opening anyway ??? It seems the more humid the hatching environment, the more likely we are to see sweating. In a well vented or regularly opened container it is feasible that the ambient humidity is lower and therefore water vapour leaving the eggs does not condense on the surface as one might expect in a fully sealed container where humidity is stable and high and condensation of exiting water (aka sweating) is more likely. Interesting stuff thats needs far more study !!
Thanks all.

 

[JasonL]

I wonder if your poor sealing tubs is the equivalent of weekly opening anyway ??? It seems the more humid the hatching environment, the more likely we are to see sweating. In a well vented or regularly opened container it is feasible that the ambient humidity is lower and therefore water vapour leaving the eggs does not condense on the surface as one might expect in a fully sealed container where humidity is stable and high and condensation of exiting water (aka sweating) is more likely. Interesting stuff thats needs far more study !!
Thanks all.

I would agree with that Danny, I also mix pretty dry, I hate seeing condensation droplets on the walls of the container, just a few patches of "mist", or nothing at all.

 

[CodeRed]

Well that could explain why my eggs dont normally sweat since I run a very dry 33:67 water/perlite ratio for the lawsoni.

 

[spongebob]

There seems to be a lot of differing opinions on this issue. Perhaps it is to do with incubation technique? I always cut a large window in the lid and then put it back with glad wrap across the top of the tub. My understanding is that this allows gaseous exchange so the lid does not need to be removed. As you can see from the photo there is plenty of condensation on the underside of the glad wrap. Perhaps they sweat and I don't see it! I use a little on the dry side of 50% verticulite/water. Sometimes towards the end of incubation I may turn open the tub up and turn the glad wrap over to let the excess moisture evaporate.

 

[Dragontamer]

ive only hatched netteds but they always sweat 24 hours before they pip .

 

[JasonL]

See Bob, that pic sends shivers down my spine . It doesn't look too dry to me!!!