Would i know if my Snake Eggs where Duds?

[AndrewBiddar]

i had a wild cought snake lay eggs, and about 18 of them where duds, 4 of them look like real eggs.... still do. if they where duds would i know?

 

[pitbulllady]

i had a wild cought snake lay eggs, and about 18 of them where duds, 4 of them look like real eggs.... still do. if they where duds would i know?

The only way you'd know if they were duds(or "slugs")right off the bat would be if they were already brownish or orange when laid, or lacked a shell, since sometimes infertile eggs will just emerge as a sort of yellowish or orangish blob with no shell. If they turn dark and sort of collapse in on themselves later, they are no good. I have, believe it or not, seen eggs hatch that had mold growing on the shells, and I've also had eggs hatch that turned a sort of parchment color. MOST snake eggs, in fact, don't stay white while incubating but will undergo various color changes and discolorations, but viable eggs will generally hold their shape or even appear to get bigger and the developing embryo fills out the flexible shell. Unless an egg is really dark and shrunken, I leave it in with the others until the clutch has hatched, so if it still shows no sign of slitting, I'll take it outside and use a Xacto knife to open it. I have actually gotten live babies out of some of such eggs that I really didn't think had anything in them; they were just too weak to open the shell by themselves.

pitbulllady