Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The books that I have read say that once the eggs start pipping, you can wait 48 hours, then make small cuts in the eggs to help the weak hatchlings. Is this true, or would you all reccomend just waiting? I do not want to let the weak ones sufficate, but I do not want to kill the babies either.

Another question. Do snakes sometimes fully form in the egg but never hatch? If so, does anyone know the reason?

thanks
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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

The list keeps getting Smaller!
Not counting Hatchlings, this is what I have.........

1.1.2 bearded dragons
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

I dont wait quite that long, 12-18 hours maybe. But, I could be wrong in doing that...

my opinion is not to save all, but the stronger were meant to survive and procreate,
you all breed for certain traits why would you add sub standard specimens to your program. unfortunatly mothernature has to feed the ants and flys so maybe she does this with the weak unhatchable eggs which in the wild would not hatch.
you can pip the eggs carefully with small nail type scissors after the others have pipped or emerged(same clutch)

IMO were already messing with mother nature, so we should give them all the chances we can. For instence what about some of the american milks, alot of them do not eat when they hatch even when offerd small prey such as lizards. Should we let a whole clutch of coastals die? or should we pinky pump them? Captive breeding is taking mother nature into your own hands anyway. but we all do it for the love of the animals. Just my opinion.

i would say to remember clifford the big red dog.

And by that I mean that just because something starts weak doesn't mean that it will stay that way.

That’s all toasty and twinkley but just remember to tell the person you sell that specimen to about its start in life. I am against helping them out of the egg. If they can't do it themselves then how can you expect their offspring to be vigorous; A vicious circle?
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2.4 E. prasina
3.3 L. m. thayeri
1.1 A. stimsoni
1.1 C. t. roseofusca
1.2 L. t. gaigeae

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.- Albert Einstein

If you have a clump of eggs, then there will be a difference in the temps at the top and the bottom of the clutch if you're using a single source incubator heater, e.g heatmat.

If you're incubating a clump of eggs with a heatmat, it follows that the eggs at the bottom will be nearer the heat source and will therefore develop slightly faster than the ones in the clutch above, even using a thermostat. The ones at the bottom will naturally hatch first.

A couple of years ago, I had a clutch take about 14 days between the first hatchling appearing and the last one coming out of the shell. All were fit and healthy. I've never cut an egg open - I've always just waited and I've never lost one at hatching.

Were I to have the dilemma, I'd be inclined to be ruthless. If the hatchling isn't strong enough to cut a slit in the egg, then it will probably be sickly. Best that nature takes its course.

Just my two cents worth.

It could be one of two things, weak hatchlings or to much moisture in the incubation medium. To much moisture in the medium can cause a high amount of moisture to build up in the egg and may either mess with the embryo through osmotic properties, or may even simply drown embryos in the egg. Either way by the time you notice it, it will most likely be too late.

I never had much of a problem with snake eggs, but with Leopard Geckos I really had to learn to cut back on the amount of water I added to the incubation medium. I used to use vermiculite and would really wet it down, then ring it out before I used it. I have since switched to perlite and measure my water.

I understand some people saying not to help mother nature, but I agree with the other statement. We already are messing with mother nature by being breeders. If you don't agree with helping babies out of eggs, do you also not agree with helping non feeders eat? I have a baby that refused food for a long time. She got to the brink of death. After force feeding her for many months, she is looking good and takes live pinkies on her own. Do you not agree with that?
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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

The list keeps getting Smaller!
Not counting Hatchlings, this is what I have.........

1.1.2 bearded dragons
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

Yes, I do not agree. Why breed such an animal?

I assume maybe you are against managing populations of deer with hunting as well. Hunters are great conservationist. They pay for the land to be natural, preventing the spread of low density suburbia. If populations are not managed then the deer will starve and become disease ridden by the masses. Sure we could re-introduce natural predators such as the wolf and cougar. I'm all for that instead of hunting but I don't think that's gonna happen. I've never killed a deer in my life and i'm not a gun nut but they are tasty and I eat what fish I harvest.

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2.4 E. prasina
3.3 L. m. thayeri
1.1 A. stimsoni
1.1 C. t. roseofusca
1.2 L. t. gaigeae

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.- Albert Einstein

I do not see where your Deer point comes into play. If you must know, there would plent of room for Deer, if Humans would stop building on their land, but we wont go there. No, I am not against hunting. I am against stupid people hunting until they threaten the species as a whole, but again, we wont go there.
Breeding corn snakes is a TOTALLY different topic, and doesnt connect to the point you were trying to make with the deer example. Corn snakes are not going to be too plentiful in my reptile room to the point where some will starve and bring in disease.

Just because an animal starts off weak, does not mean it will be weak its whole life. Non eating snakes are not proven to pass that on to their babies. Just because she was slow to eat, does not mean any of her future babies will refuse meals.

We are already interfering with things by being a breeder. I think it is our responsibility to care for the animals that we helped to bring into the world.

Everyone has the right to their opinions. This is mine.

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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

The list keeps getting Smaller!
Not counting Hatchlings, this is what I have.........

1.1.2 bearded dragons
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

well said. I agree not to agree and yes the deer example is out of left field.

lol.
Thanks for the feedback.
-----
****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

The list keeps getting Smaller!
Not counting Hatchlings, this is what I have.........

1.1.2 bearded dragons
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog