I've had some time to reflect

So, after last nights debaucle, I went down to the incubator and put more dry vermiculite in ALL of the boxes.

After that, I sat and tried to figure out what could have been the reason for such an odd clutch to go so wrong..

I still have a sneaking suspicion it was too moist in that egg box. The two surviving eggs that made it all the way thru were eggs that were swollen with water by the time hatching had come.

When I cut them, this is something I had noticed immediately, which I had mentioned a couple days ago.

Yolk was still present in the eggs, in a very odd form. Usually when eggs and fully formed babys come out, there is nothing left in the egg but the occasional bit of embryonic fluid.

THIS is what was still in the egg when the babies were out.

This is the egg with the dead baby.



This is the egg with the runt.



Either these eggs were meant to be twins that didn't thrive, or something was wrong inside?? There is never this much yolk left in a regular healthy egg.

Gives me more to reflect upon.

There are so many things that could have been wrong with the scenario. I've just never had it happen to me before, and it puts things in an interesting perspective..

We are making life. Life is easily distinguished.

I'm glad that the dead baby didn't suffer in life. It died where it began.

It was alive at some point when I cut the egg, as I poked it and it moved, but during that short period of time, it expired. Do I regret that? Not at all.. I think it would have been that much harder to have to put an animal that deformed to sleep, seeing it thrash around..

I've had friends have this problem, and didn't think it would be mine. It happens in this hobby, and you can't assume that it won't happen to you. It's a good wake up call to remind you that nothing goes as planned, and that life is precious.