crested eggs help needed

[flavius]

Hello,

I have had an adult trio of ciliatus for over a year now,( as well as leachys, chahoua and snakes)

My females produce regular clutches of eggs but I cannot hatch them..

I have no trouble with williamsi eggs, tokay eggs, endless snake eggs, but cresty eggs always seem to collapse ?

I have followed the guidelines in the two foremost books on the subject, Henkel and vosjolli/repashy

The animals are in excellent health, calcium supplemented. Fed on a diet of Clarks/repashy and insects.

I am using the same happy herp incubator I have successfully used for tons of other herps.

I have used soil, vermiculite, perlite and mixtures of three as incubation material.

Incubator temp is 26 degrees..

Any ideas folks??

 

[Hannibal]

Cresties can stress at warmer temps and eggs seem to be a little more sensitive to warmer temps. I would lower the temps to 23-24.C.

The warmer the temps the quicker they hatch, the cooler the temps the longer it takes to hatch. It they incubate longer, they will probably be healthier and stronger as they are not rushed into develeping to quickly. Try the cooler temps this year and see if it helps.

 

[purple-vixen]

I agree with Hannibal, lower the incubation temps. I incubate around 74/75F. Also what substrate do you have them on? They need a certain amount of low humidity, and mine have not yet collapsed. Last year I had success with vermiculite, but now refrain from using it as it's poisonous when ingested (when the hatchling sheds, will usually eat the shed, and vermiculite sticks to the shed) so this year I'm using plain eco earth that's damp, and so far, the eggs look fine.

Good luck this year

Jac