# Auratus Eggs - Dead, Unfertilized, or Not Yet Developed?



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

Just tonight i found my first clutch in my El Cope tank. The thing is, they all look different. One has nothing inside it; i think it's unfertilized. Three of them have semi-recognizeable tadploes in them, but they are not moving. Bit worried about these. One has a visible tadpole with a yolk sac on its belly. Not moving. Are they dead?


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Really need a pic for this.


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

frogface said:


> Really need a pic for this.


Sure. 

Egg 1:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/reptiles/images/4/49/Egg_1.JPG

Egg 2:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/reptiles/images/d/db/Egg_2.JPG

Egg 3:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/reptiles/images/8/87/Egg_3.JPG

Egg 4:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/reptiles/images/2/20/Egg_4.JPG

Alive or dead?


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

If not dead, then dying. I'm having problems with my tinc eggs and when they get that cloudy look, it's about over for them.


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

frogface said:


> If not dead, then dying. I'm having problems with my tinc eggs and when they get that cloudy look, it's about over for them.


I found the problem. 
Looks like there are some nematodes/cestodes in the petri dish. They killed one and are attacking the others


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I don't think that's the problem, but, rather a symptom of another problem. The nematodes only eat the eggs that are bad.


----------



## erik s (Apr 12, 2010)

Kinda hard to tell...but are the eggs sitting in excess water???!!!!


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Phyllobates azureus said:


> I found the problem.
> Looks like there are some nematodes/cestodes in the petri dish. They killed one and are attacking the others


Cestodes? Really? 

Typically those are free living nematodes and they don't attack good eggs only dead or dying eggs..... 

Ed


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

Ed said:


> Cestodes? Really?
> 
> Typically those are free living nematodes and they don't attack good eggs only dead or dying eggs.....
> 
> Ed


They all had a visible scolex, that's not a nematode...


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Phyllobates azureus said:


> They all had a visible scolex, that's not a nematode...


Is the scolex in the pictures? I couldn't see one. If they have scolex then by definition they can't be attacking the eggs since that isn't how they feed even as infectious larvae and certainly not as adults. 

If they are cestodes, then they would have been shed by one of the adults either through fecals in the dish or when watering the eggs (which would be odd since with tapeworms you would expect to see segments of the worms being shed instead of the whole worms. I was unable to locate any shed segments in the above pictures (which doesn't mean that they aren't there but that I simply couldn't see them). 

It is very common to see free living nematodes attacking infertile, dead or dying eggs. The moisture in the enclosures allows them to freely move across a variety of substrates. 

Ed


----------



## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

what about one of the various flatworms? some of the land varieties could pretty easily be mistaken for cestodes, then again my eye is pretty damn untrained when it comes to tiny worm species..


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If I remember correctly free living flatworms would also lack a scolex... In addition, free living flatworm tend to still have a planaria like shape. See for example this image of a large introduced species Flatworm | Project Noah 

Ed


----------

