Repairing cracked eggs

pakinjak · #1 02-09-2012, 09:28 AM

I'm feeling the urge to do my part to keep threads on topic around here, so I'm starting a new one on this subject.
I broke the first clutch of Uroplatus eggs I got from ignorance, so hopefullly this will help others not make the same mistakes and if they do give them options to remedy the situation.

Uroplatus eggs are hard shelled and brittle, and thus easily broken. The last clutch of U. henkeli eggs my female laid came with dents in them. I don't know why they were dented, but they both looked the same and I am treating them as if they were cracked. I put them in the incubation container and ran a bead of super glue across the dents. Here's a picture of what one of them looks like now, a couple weeks into incubation.

I'll update the thread if and when they hatch to show if it worked, but in the meantime I invite others who have repaired cracked eggs successfully to chime in with their method and results.

Here's another thread to start off with- Introducing Elmer, my little glued egg sikorae (and the prettiest by far)

rhachic · #2 02-09-2012, 02:27 PM

i'm interested to see your results but am pretty sure super glue would be toxic to the embryo. I know elmers glue can be used for bird eggs with cracks successfully because it is non-toxic, but even then you have to use a VERY thin coating and your success rate will still be much lower just because the crack may have allowed bacteria in.

BonnieLorraine · #3 02-09-2012, 04:18 PM

If you read the other thread he linked, elmers or white glue won't work on lizard eggs incubated in a high humidity situation. No matter how well you let the glue dry out beforehand, after a couple of hours in the incubator it rehydrates and turns into a sticky, gooey mess. Super glue isn't toxic. I just had a very healthy baby hatch out of an egg that was sealed on about 20% of the egg surface with super glue.

rhachic · #4 02-09-2012, 04:22 PM

ah my mistake, i missed the link on the bottom. I hadn't thought about uro eggs needing high enough humidity to not allow elmers to cure. I've never had an egg crack before with the species I breed so I was just talking from what I knew of bird eggs which I have had crack before. I'm honestly surprised there's no issue with the super glue, but that's neat to know that it can work!

BonnieLorraine · #5 02-09-2012, 04:29 PM

If you look up the glue they use to seal incisions, it's very similar to the superglue you buy at the store. Cyanoacrylate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. From what I could find, they tested super glue on open wounds in the battlefield during Vietnam to stop bleeding while they rushed people to the hospital. It worked well, but could cause minor skin irritation, which is why they switched the formula to the new skin adhesives.
"The fumes from CA are a vaporized form of the cyanoacrylate monomer that irritate sensitive membranes in the eyes, nose and throat. They immediately are polymerized by the moisture in the membranes and become inert. About 5% of the population can become sensitized to CA fumes after repeated exposure, resulting in flu-like symptoms. It may also act as a skin irritant and may cause an allergic skin reaction. The ACGIH assign a Threshold Limit Value exposure limit of 0.2 parts per million. On rare occasions inhalation may trigger asthma. There can be no singular measurement of toxicity for all cyanoacrylate adhesives as there is a wide variety of adhesives that contain various cyanoacrylate formulations. "

rhachic · #6 02-09-2012, 04:33 PM

Yes, I have heard of it's use for human wounds, but have read others saying not to use it on geckos because it is not safe for them. And I thought it might be more dangerous to an embryo as they are very small and very sensitive and it is a non-permeable layer you are adding to a part of thinned shell. But despite this you say it has worked for you, which is really neat!

BonnieLorraine · #7 02-09-2012, 04:36 PM

It was more I couldn't find an alternative. I did try the white glue, which I had to carefully scrape off the next morning with a toothpick and some qtips. Super glue is one of the few things that will hold up in high humidity over a long period of time (the egg in question had glue on it in the incubator for over 100 days). I was wondering if the medical grade super glue would be better, but I don't know how to go about getting some anyway.

rhachic · #8 02-09-2012, 04:39 PM

As far as I know the only medical grade one you can easily get is the liquid bandage and I believe it has antiseptic in it which is probably not good for the egg...though i'm not sure as I didn't even think just super glue was safe lol. I guess a vet would be the best to ask if the antiseptic would be detrimental or not. But I know they sell it at Walgreens and other regular pharmaceutical stores.

tristan 92 · #9 02-10-2012, 03:51 PM

For me, this is useless...
If your egg have only the calcair shell broken but not the membrane, it will be alright, I've experienced that.
If the membrane is broken too, that mean that this is external & internal shell membrane, but probably also chorion, allanto-chorion membrane etc, in this case, the embryo can't survive.
So if you want my opinion, don't waste your time with scoth, superglue and so on, keep it like that in the incubator !