Your are welcome, Susan. And "Thank you" for the nice compliment. I'm sorry to hear about your Ghost.

As far as the procedure goes, I would like to add that IF someone feels comfortable enough to attempt this (and it really isn't too difficult 99% of the time) that I would HIGHLY suggest that they not only have someone else present to hold the hatchling still but that they also were some sort of surgical gloves. Latex, Nitrile and Vinyl gloves are all readily available at a local pharmacy (I like to use them when cleaning tubs especially).

The reason for the gloves isn't sterility. Once the baby has pipped or a person has slit the egg all hope of a sterile environment is gone. I wouldn't doubt if most people that are cutting on days 50-59 are also seeing the "whites" of their hatchlings eggs begin to turn milky and cloudy looking. This is actually a bacterial bloom in the whites of the egg.

The reason for the gloves is because they make your fingertips smooth. People have very rough hands by comparison to the membranes that surround and make up a yolk sack. All it would take is a sharp fingernail, a rough patch of skin or something similar to abrade, scratch or tear at those delicate yolk membranes and your "simple" procedure goes down hill real fast.

All in all it is a fairly easy thing to do, it is just the yolk sack that requires a sense of delicacy and patience.

I hope you never have to actually use this technique (or anyone else that might read this) but if you do, I also hope that it helps and you have some measure of success with it.

I'm still trying to come up with a "home grown" way to get around the issue of a punctured yolk sack, fortunately I haven't had it happen and so I haven't had the chance to attempt some of the ideas I have floating around.
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Stay United!


I'm still not sure if it's weird that my best friend is a two year old boa named Ronin. He's quiet, non-judgemental and listens... what more could you want?

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