Okay, I've had a lot of bad luck this year. I thought perhaps it was due to the AC failure that so many of my cornsnake babies were either dead at full term, or had some degree of deformation (or both). One of my corns laid a second clutch, and today, I noticed one of the three eggs sweating. Sure sign of dead-in-egg, or so I believe due to my earlier experiences this year. So I slit it... sure enough, the little hatchling (due to hatch any moment anyway) was dead. And had what I have termed "Dinosaur head". shortened snout, dome forehead. This one didn't have any kinks, but did have the dome head. No sign of an egg tooth. My guess: tried to pip, but the egg tooth penetrated the inner membrane without penetrating the actual shell, before breaking off, leaving the little baby to drown and the egg to sweat.

*sigh*

While I'm talking about this new "bunch" (if three can be called a "bunch" thought I would give an update on the 8 "keepers" from my earlier 35 eggs.

Me and the kids like to give all the baby snakes "baby names", and it's easier to refer to them by name:

Mr. Kinks: The most horribly deformed baby that I allowed to live (I euthanized a bunch)... he began his first shed but got only the head portion off... the rest remained. He never seemed able to really properly slither, and didn't want to eat. I know some will feel bad about this, but when one of my kingsnake babies wouldn't feed, I used him to tempt the kingsnake to feed. End of Mr. Kinks.

Funky: The second most deformed baby allowed to live. Still very fat from yolk, still hasn't eaten. He has small kinks every third or fourth vertebrae, and a dinosaur-head. I still hope he eats.

Pinky: Full Sibling to Funky, she had one pinky to eat but hasn't eaten since then. She has a slight dome forehead but no other signs of deformities. She's a little surprise Amel (didn't know either parent was het for amel).

Striker: A few small kinks along his spine, a perfectly formed head, a major strike response, she's eaten every time I offer her food and is growing fast!

Striper: Same looks and everything as Striker, only no feeding response.

Jumanji: A few small kinks in the spine, normal head, major appetite, looks like he'll be a gorgeous Okeetee, he escaped right out of his hatchling box, but luckily was found pretty close.

Hope: Reverse Okeetee with slight dino head and small kink, didn't seem to be hungry, but then chowed down on a pinky.

Perfecto: looks the same as Jumanji in deformities, but no appetite.

This one season made things very disheartening for me. I can only hope the last two eggs to hatch come up normal, but I don't hold my breath expecting miracles.
-----
~Sasheena

[ Show Entire Thread ]