Mold.

[BluGnat]

One of the two eggs that my APTOR girl laid on 6.28.07 is coated with a fuzzy layer of mold. The egg itself, despite the mold, looks really good and plump, just like it's clutchmate (the clutchmate egg is without mold). They're being incubated at about 96-97. I tried gently wiping it off and adding cornstarch - but it wouldn't come off and I was afraid to try any more pressure or anything to get it off. Is it doomed, do you think? I searched for "mold" and found a few threads where it looks like it might be a 50/50 chance.

I'm incubating on vermiculite in ziplock storage containers. In the past, I've used Perlite and similar containers. I poked a hole in each ziplock container to try to help reduce the moisture. The vermiculite doesn't seem very damp at all. *Sigh*.

This is so frustrating. Two years ago I produced dozens of babies with no problem (or loss) at all. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Country Gecko]

96-97 degrees F ???

Omelete Time!!!

 

[BluGnat]

Typo. 86-87.

 

[Country Gecko]

Did you try peat moss?

Heather,

I had a few beardy eggs in the past that had started molding and I was using a sand and vermiculite mix for incubation. I later learned that peat moss (being acidic) can hinder mold growth. So what I did was carefully move the eggs to another container with damp peat moss in it and also covered the eggs a little with more damp peat moss. This acidic substrate actually cleared my mold problem more than once!

Sorry for the silly reply to your earlier message. I figured it was a typo too!

Hope this helps,
Glenn

 

[BluGnat]

Thank you so much, Glenn, I really appreciate it. I'll try it! My fingers are crossed.

 

[yellermelon]

not trying to complicate things here, but I was using spagnum moss for a lay box, and had a bad mold problem. I replaced the moss with vermiculite and cleared the problem. I have come to the conclusion, it really depends on your location, and incubator...

 

[BluGnat]

I'm starting to think that, too. I wound up changing my vermiculite to perlite because that's what I had success with a couple years back, and I put moss over the afflicted eggs. They still appear to be growing...I hope. I find it so weird that mold is even an issue here - not only because I had none whatsoever prior, but because this is Colorado - dry as a bone. *Sigh*