Stunted "teen mom" dragon trying to lay

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great she got the eggs out without any difficulty then! I bet she feels better, too.
So is she eating quite a bit too? She may be developing another clutch also.
Poor girl, I am sure she was exhausted too.

Tracie

 

[khartley]

I tried to get good candling pictures of the eggs, but my camera won't focus. But there are definitely a couple doing well, and a few still questionable. But yes, she got them out fine, and is doing very well! Eating everything! I took advantage of black friday for all the dragons, and next week a feast will be showing up for them

I was thinking about it though, and the parents are both the 2 most resilient dragons I have. The dad being the dragon who was left outside to freeze to death in Montana (at the base of the bighorns in April!), was thrown in a garbage can when they thought he was dead, only to be fished out by a passerby when she saw him in there, picked him up and his eye opened. So who knows, the embryos may already have that same resilience. Time will tell!

 

[MommaCris]

Glad to see she got them out and is eating well!! How are the eggs holding up?

 

[khartley]

Sorry I took so long to reply, the holiday frenzy got me!

My initial observation was apparently correct, because there is only one big fat healthy egg. I put it by itself a while ago and continued to incubate the rest of the eggs separately, but I threw them out today because they were clearly not alive. All were brown, moldy, and shriveled up. I definitely have the benefit of a doubt tho!

So lonely Mr egg is six and a half weeks old now. Humidity is good, but I'm having a hard time getting the temp into the 80s. It stays a very consistent 76 degrees. Is that going to be OK? I know I shouldn't, but I candle it a couple times a week. I just did tonight, and it moves in there. But it's apparently on the bottom, I thought they were supposed to be in the top part of the egg? I marked it so it wouldn't get rotated.

I hope I'm doing everything correctly, I hate to lose the only one that's trying so hard to live against all odds.

 

[khartley]

It is day 56 and Mr Egg is doing quite well. However, it seems like this guy is pretty tiny in comparison to other dragon eggs at similar incubation dates. My egg is 5 days away from the 2 month mark. Here is the link to a short video I took of the little guy. He is very active, just tiny. Should I be worried about how small he is at this stage?

http://vid25.photobucket.com/albums/c99/DSMissed/56%20day%20egg_zps9lx69kto.mp4

 

[AHBD]

He is likely to be small because of the mother's very small size , but that's not always the case. And by the way, don't shine the light on him like that for more than a few seconds....you probably wouldn't anyway, but just a reminder. It could be very stressful for the baby.

 

[khartley]

I guess it's hard to tell from the video but I'm not shining it directly on the egg, it's more shining down behind the egg and the lights in the room are completely off. I do try and not put the beam directly in or on the egg. I think it's active in there a lot, because I'll see the egg move slightly sometimes. I hope that's just him growing and not being stressed.

Does this baby have a low chance of survival? I mean, the egg only has so many nutrients inside, will he run out of nutrients from the yolk before he is big enough to hatch from the egg?

 

[AHBD]

There's no way to predict if the baby will actually hatch successfully, but most do, even small ones. Just be patient. Don't flood your mind with things that may or may not happen, just wait + see.

 

[khartley]

Update - Day 72, no baby dragon yet but the egg still looks healthy.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

They can sometimes take up to 90 days I think to hatch out. What is the temperature you are keeping it at, 76? I just now viewed the picture of him moving in his egg you had posted, that is pretty neat.
It should be a little higher than that, perhaps around 82 or so, but no higher than 84. Incubating at lower temperatures will cause them to take longer to hatch.
How is your girl doing now?

Tracie

 

[khartley]

The temp in the box itself will range from high 80's to high 90's, depending on the humidity. But the egg itself has never gottten hotter than 85, usually between 78-84 (tested with digital temp gun). The temp gauge is in direct light with the bulb, and the egg is not.

Mom decided to halfway brumate, so she's been sleeping 3-4 days at a time. But she is chubby and I don't think she's going to lay any other clutches which I'm thankful for!!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

OH ok, well, definitely don't let the incubator get higher than 84 or so because too high will result in death or neurological issues. Do you have an incubator?
So mom decided to brumate now? That is good, she needs some rest after her ordeal! That is good news she isn't going to lay anymore right now.

Tracie

 

[khartley]

Yes, home made incubator because I didn't intend to ever have eggs. It's a Styrofoam container with a 15w bulb. He is in a Tupperware dish with vermiculite. There is a cup of water in the container. The Tupperware is on the bottom, then two microfiber cloths over the container that I get wet every day. Temp and humidity gauge I just set on top of the microfiber cloths, so the gauge reads higher due to direct light. Egg has not gotten hotter than 85. I peaked on him today and still seems small in there, but kicking around and stuff. I can sometimes even see the egg itself moving if I look close enough. The egg itself has quadrupled in size. It's about the size of the eating end of a regular size spoon.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds good then! I hope he makes it, too. If the egg has gotten that much larger then it should be pretty soon then that he hatches out, especially if he is that active right now.
I am glad to hear your girl is feeling well enough to brumate, too. Let us know how the lone egg is doing.

Tracie

 

[stinkysmommy]

Howdy! How are the girl and Mr. Egg doing today?
Please post pictures when he hatches! :~D