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Cuttlefish egg deflated? Help please!

RJFairbanks

Cuttlefish
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
21
Hello, I have been reading on tonmo for a while and just decided to join last night to ask for some info.
I recently got 2 cuttlefish eggs last week and have been watching them develop. They were both viable and I have actually seen them grow in the last week. I checked on them last night before I left the house and they were both still there just like normal bouncing around. So I left the house at about 5:30 last night and got home at about 7:30 and one of the eggs was deflated a little. I just knew he was hatching out so I grabbed my camera and took pics and then waited. About 30 min after the egg was even smaller but has not changed since. I only left 2 bulbs on yesterday (10K and actinic) as I am having a slight problem with brown algea so I thought I would turn the lights out and just leave the LED moon lights on. I continued to peek in on them till 3:30 last night and nothing. Got up this morning an nothing. Any one know if I should just leave it be or take it out? I knew eggs could shrivle up if they weren't viable but I have actually seen the baby in this one and watched him grow so I know for a fact he was alive before I left yesterday. I have searched the internet over over last night and cant find anything on how long it takes them to come out of the egg once ready. I am really nervous for him. The other egg seems to just be fine... Thanks guys for any help

This is how they looked when I first got home
102_1682.jpg


This is how they looked about 30 min later
102_1686.jpg

I thought last night witht he light I could see a baby in the smaller on but since its not as stretched out it is reallyhard to say...
 
:welcome: to TONMO

I'm not a cuttle person but I think that means the egg is not longer viable. I got some eggs from Paradise Pets one time and they looked good for a short period then they deflated like yours.
 
Thanks for responding, so you think it just turned bad even though I had just seen him in there and moving yesterday afternoon before I left? Is there somethng I could have done wrong, or does it just happen? How long should I leave the egg in the net?
 
I am not a cuttlefish keeper either and hopefully some of our keepers that have raised eggs will be available tonight. Try looking at some of the cuttlefish threads (Journals and Photos->List of Our Cuttlefish 2009-2010 for links). It seems I have seen several people mention (without specific reference at hand) eggs deflating during part of the process but then reinflating. A few have opened the eggs worrying about the cuttle not being able to get out but this has been deemed a bad idea.

Here is one short reference but I believe there are others
 
OK thanks Dwhatley, I am going crazy trying to find stuff on the inter-webs but nothin for sure. I am hoping he is alive and it will just take time but trying not to get my hopes up too much. Looks about the same as it did earlier today so almost 24 hours since it first deflated ={
 
Our search engine could be better but if you go to Google advanced search and experiment with eggs and deflate, deflated, deflating and specify tonmo.com you will likely find more discussion on TONMO.
 
I would leave it alone. Hatchlings come out of the eggs in a relatively short period of time (about an hour or less), so it is not looking good for this cuttle, sorry. Any chance the baby came out of the egg and is hiding somewhere in the breeder net?
 
I thought maybe it could have hatched but I searched everywhere and so today I looked in at the egg and Ithink he is still in there... there doesnt look to be a hole in it but there is one place that is very very thin compared to the rest of the egg. I am so disapointed... It was hard to find cuttles where I live....
 
if its still in there, you could try relocating the egg into a glass or jar. you could try to then cut or scissor your way through the egg wall to extract it. just a thought. not recommended in most circumstances, but if the egg has collapsed, its probably dead.
 
Yes diffenatly! It moved around and everything. Head even throbbed a little. i woke up this morning and the egg was floating to I assume it is indeed dead now ={ What should I have done in this case? The other one still hasnt hatched yet but seems to be fine.
 
Well Not exactly sure what happened with those eggs as both were alive and moving last week then all of a sudden they "died" I am soo upset over it but with the hatch rate I should have known better... The only thing I can think of was I had them in a critter keeper type thing and them moved them in to a breeder net early last week. I dont know how sensitive they are at moving them, wouldnt think they are that bad considering they get shipped....

But anyways, just wondering if anyone has had a clutch lately that may be wanting to sell the eggs. I really want to try again as I have been preparing for a while.
Thanks
 

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