Opinions Required

[rolandslf]

Greetings All

Firstly, I humbly request opinions, don't just read and not post.

This Corn Snake Egg is on Day 42, do you think it is fertile or not.

I will post my reason for asking on Monday.

[Westley Price]

Okay, I would suspect it is not fertile due to the fact that is has that dark end to it, but having said that, I would not chuck it until it starts smelling, coz it might still be fertile.

Stranger things have happened.

I can see you separated it because you also thought it might be dodgy?

[rolandslf]

Greetings Westley

The story behind this egg is as follows.

6 years ago I gave a colleague at work a hatchling Corn, bred by me.
On the day that he came to fetch the snake, I asked him to wait while I got the probe kit and probed it.
He said he was in a hurry, so couldn't I guess what sex it was.
I said it looked like a male, and off he went.
Suddenly in the middle of January this year "HE" DROPS 12 eggs.

9 slimy, orange hard slugs, 2 slimy slightly off white eggs, and then this dry white egg.
I ditched the 9 slugs, and kept the 3 others.
The day before posting the pick, I was feeding the Rats, and I cane across a butter dish on top of my Boa Enclosure.
I still said to my wife, What the hell is in here.

I opened it up to find 2 slimy, smelly, shrivelled up orange slugs, and this dry, white, firm egg.
For basically 33 days, I had not even checked on this egg.

I tried shining a torch light through it, the light does not go through.
I then took the pic and posted it.

I have had eggs with more than that little dark spot hatch perfectly.

I hope it is fertile, which from what I know, and has been said by others, including a Herpetologist from the UK, seems to be the case.
After 40 odd days, normally infertile eggs, would not be dry, white and firm.
I do however value your opinion, thank you.

I will update this post at the, end of March, hatchling or no hatchling.

[Allen G.Liebenberg]

I see there is fungal growth around the outside of the shell as well.
I have had Redlip eggs (Crotaphopeltis) covered with fungus and black spots that still hatched!

[rolandslf]

So yesterday, day 61, I decided to check on the egg.
Sadly it was very severely dented in.
I cut it open, and here is what was found inside.
It very clearly would never have hatched, and I doubt that any further development would have taken place.
Still, it must have been fertile.

I am trying to get photobucket to work so I can upload the photo.
The photo is pretty graphic.

[Westley Price]

Pity. When an egg doesnt go mouldy one always gets your hopes up.

The veins show is must he been fertile at some stage.

We it still "fresh" smelling or already funky? The veins still have a good, bright red colour.

Hard luck.

[rolandslf]

Good Morning Westley

It still smelt fresh, no bad odour at all.
I doubt however that it would have survived much longer, it was at day 61 or so, and still in the very beginning stages of growth.
The egg had also crumpled to half its size.

This was interesting indeed.