Hi all,

Recently had one of my females lay an egg which looked about right. Had some previously but they were all shrivelled and yellowish. Upon finding this egg I knocked up an incubator and popped it in. Been checking it daily and it seems the 'shell' has become quite soft with the humidity and started to flop in a bit.

I expected it to do this to an extent but it's also gone a bit yellow and translucent. Do they do this or is the egg a duff one?

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Keep incubating it. It could be the humidity, what's the temperature in the incubator? what method are you using.

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Hi

The 'candling' technique is a pretty good way of telling whether an egg is fertile.

If you place a torch up against the eggshell it should glow a pinkish colour if fertile, if it is yellowish then it is likely to be infertile. Best performed in a darkened room.

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19.52.19 E.Macularius

Thanks for the replies guys.

The incubator I'm using is basically a food storage container with lots of holes in the top for ventilation. About half full with damp vermiculite and kept directly on a heat mat which probably makes the internal temp about 75-80. I will try the candling method and see what we think. Being as the egg is partly buried, is it really a good idea for me to dig it up to put the torch on it?

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What I keepBrachypelma albopilosaBrachypelma vagansBrachypelma smithiBrachypelma auratumBrachypelma boehmiTheraphosa apophysisLasiodora parahybanaLasiodora difficilisPterinochilus murinus RCFCeratogyrus darlingiCitharischius crawshayiHysterocrates gigasHeteroscodra maculataChilobrachys andersoniPoecilotheria regalisPoecilotheria ornataPsalmopoeus cambridgei[Grammostola rosea[/option]Aphonopelma seemaniHaplopelma lividumHaplopelma minaxTapinauchenius gigasAcanthoscurria geniculataHeteropoda sp. TanzaniaLycosa sp. IndiaEublepharis macularius

You can candle an egg whilst it is still partially buried, just put the maglite or whatever you are using over one end of the exposed top and the rest of the exposed part will glow.
Sounds like a duffer to me but you never know, there is no harm in keeping tyring with it and you will know eventually if it is infertile because they have a funny smell.
good luck!

we'd probably recommend incubating at a temp closer to 83/4F otherwise the colours will be pretty dark

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19.52.19 E.Macularius

Also a good digital thermometer for a more accurate temperature keeping would help let you know whether the temperatures are stable.

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take the humidity down and use sphagum moss it's really good at keeping the right temps n stuff. it ain't over till they completely sink or you get no signs of blood vessils when you candle it

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