Q about 1st clutch eggs!

[wildlife]

I hear quite a bit of people just freezing the 1st clutch eggs b/c they assume infertility I also heard the babies may be just unhealthy the 1st time around?????
here's a pic of 4 eggs, 3 have dirt on them and i was afraid to try and take the dirt off, i was thinking of using a sterile q-tip? It has no oil like our hands, I use sterile gloves when I have to open the top regardless. And it would seem to me that it's not letting the egg breath properly? They are all big and plump. My female Rose is a hearty girl weighing in around 330g and about 16.5" in length.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

 

[lizzywoodwardBD]

I would try and wipe some of the stuff of with like a cotton ball but make sure not to turn the eggs because they will die.

They look like they are a little on the wet side, is there any water droplets getting on them? they should be a nice white color.

 

[wildlife]

It's a bad photo, up close they are white and they have no droplets on them, and if you can see the cover well, it's not tightly sealed, with 5 holes, and there is no water droplets on it either. Although I used perlite(not my 1st choice, seems too coarse) i poured enough water in it to wet it all down but not rise up over the perlite.
I was worried it may have been too dry, but the water troughs are full. The eggs are from Jan. 3rd. how soon can you candle them. I've heard many theories. I am aware they are most likely infertile, but it's good practice i guess.
Another Q: How long can i keep the top off? In order to clean the eggs, it would take a couple minutes. Maybe raise the ambient room temp to 84?
Any idea about the 1st clutch baby health issue?

 

[lizzywoodwardBD]

for the infertality, if they haven't turned yellow by now they are more then likly fertile, and yes you can candle them now but all you will see is the veins through out the egg. if you don't see any veins then the egg is infertile.

what you can do is take the eggs out of the incubator so the incubator stays at temp and humidity, but only keep them out for a couple of minutes at a time.

As for the first time clutch i have personaly not had that much experiece so maybe someone else can enlighten you.

 

[Fogles]

I'm on my first clutch now, she laid 22 eggs, 12 were good, then 9 collappsed and were infertile, i now only have 2 left in the incubator.

temps 82-84
humidity @ 75-80's

 

[spyder79]

I think the info you are getting comes from people who bred unprepared females or females that were too young. Often if a female is young (some breed as early as 10 months far too young) or if she is not prepared nutritionally to form eggs a majority of her very first clutch (ie up to this point she was a virgin) will be infertile and malformed eggs. I had a 12 month old female i adopted 6 months ago now. she came gravid and laid 16 eggs. Only 1 of them was fertile due to her having been too young to safely breed. If you have a appropriately aged/sized/and prepared female her first clutch could easily be 100% fertile.

 

[wildlife]

Thank you for the info. that was spot on! My thinking was along your lines but it's always nice to get as many opinions as possible.

What about temp probe placement?? In the tupper or in the incubator?

Have you heard perlite attributing to any problems with the eggs as well as hatching?

 

[spyder79]

No issues that i know of have been attributed to using perlite. Though i use a perlite/vermiculite mix personally. Also as for probe placement i place them down at the level the eggs are at that gives you the most accurate measurement of the temp and humidity that your eggs are getting.

 

[wildlife]

Right on bro, thanx