Just Snows

[Taceas]

These guys hatched a few days ago, all except for one moldy egg. It molded over about a month into incubation pretty heavily, and I tried all of the typical methods to fix it, but nothing worked so I left it. It didn't affect the other eggs at all so I wasn't concerned, and after a while I guess the mold ran out of food and died off naturally.

Well the three healthy looking eggs pipped and hatched out normally...but I waited about 3 days and felt the moldy egg, it wasn't hard like most bad eggs would be by this point, but it was dented in a great deal as well.

So I decided to cut it open and see what was inside. I made the first cut, no ooze came out like normal...so I cut a larger hole and found a hatchling inside. I poked it with the tip of the scissors and it moved, amazingly enough. But it was tiny compared to its clutchmates and still had quite a bit of yolk left.

I closed the shell back up the best I could and isolated it and left it alone to finish up whatever it had to do. Well today it started to poke its head out and breathe, and now its venturing out more and more....but I'm skeptical about its future.

[LindsayMarie]

As long as you try and give him/her a chance. You never know, might be your best feeder and take off! If I lived closer I would offer to try raising it up a little for you. He/she is to small to travel by shipping. Goodluck with the little one. I hope he/she eats!!! Just cut TINY (newborn 1 day old) pinkies heads off, if she is that small. Then work your way up from there Lindsay

[Taceas]

Well unfortunately the preemie Snow didn't make it.

I came downstairs this morning and it was fully out of the shell, however still tethered to the yolk in the shell by the umbilicus and non-responsive. The heart is still beating very slowly, but its body is limp and not breathing with dilated pupils.

I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Does anyone have any insight why a moldy egg would be so delayed in development compared to the rest of the clutch? This egg was considerably smaller than the others, which were already small, as well.

[cornspot]

Maybe the mold blocked off some of the oxygen exchange? (total speculation)