(copied from IF forum)
My first '07 clutch of Eastern Indigo eggs, pictured in an earlier thread, has now hatched and all of the babies are out of the eggs and in their own cages. The first egg to pip, did so on June 25, with most of the rest of the eggs pipping on June 27, after 112 days of incubation. One of the thirteen eggs died early in the incubation, from infection at a weak spot underneath the egg.
One of the remaining twelve had a live full-size embryo inside. This particular egg was smaller than the rest, roughtly golf ball size. I cut an opening in the top on the 27th, and when I did, I noticed that there was already a very tiny slit in the side of the egg. The baby snake was dead inside, but had made an effort to get out. I wish I has cut the egg open earlier. I normally don't slit the eggs myself, and 98 out of 100 good eggs will pip on their own and hatch normally. The small eggs and the round eggs have difficulties hatching though. I think it is because of the restricted space inside the egg, or maybe the spherical rather than oblong shape of the egg. The babies inside can't seem to get the space or the leverage to cut the egg.
The lesson here, at least for me, is that when the first egg slits, I should manually slit any small or round (non-oblong) eggs. The rest will be fine on their own. If a baby snake can't cut the egg, they die in very short term.
The remaining eleven hatchlings are all perfect red-throats. Newly hatched Easterns are the most prone to bite at this young stage. Even just the benign act of trying to clean off any sticking membrane or vermiculite from a neonate can induce a bite-response. Otherwise, as long as they are handled gently, they are very calm, and seem to like the warmth of the hand holding them.
In ten days this first group will shed, and I will then start getting them feeding. Frozen-thawed goldfish will constitute their first few meals. Mmm, mmm, irresistable.
This constitutes a very good result from a single female and her clutch of eggs. My second clutch of eggs to mature next will not show as good results (expected hatching of the eggs -- those that are still left -- in about four days).
Robert Bruce
robert.bruce@sbcglobal.net (310) 502-6311
