Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend has his first clutch of gtp eggs incubating a few weeks from hatching. In his book it says to slit them all. I never slit eggs, and always have animals hatch. Is it really necessary in gtp? And if so, when? I often have the last eggs in a clutch hatch 3-4 days after the first, and sometimes up to 6 days. I think if I had slit them 6 days before they wanted to hatch, it may have killed them. I am also of the mind that if they cant get out of the egg on their own, they shouldnt get out, but since this is his first clutch he wants all of them to hatch. So I am curious what people do, how many of you do or do not slit your eggs, if you dont, then how often do they die in the eggs, and if you do, how long do you wait to do so.

This became a raging topic on another forum. I do not slit eggs, and I will not. If all eggs have hatched and there's one or something left, I'll slit it then to see what happened. Others slit as they feel it's necessary. I'm not going to go any farther with this one!
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4.5~Cornsnakes
2.3.1~Green tree python
2.1~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

Personally, I pip any remaining eggs that haven't done so on their own within 24hrs of the first hatchling emerging. I've had some sit in the eggs for 3 more days before completely emerging without any problems. I don't make huge V's in the eggs so many times they end of emerging through their own holes anyway. I worry that artificial incubation (or even maternal) not mimicing nature perfectly and producing slightly tougher eggs. I hate to think that their egg tooth isn't made to cut through the tougher shell and they die, fully formed and otherwise perfectly healthy, inside the egg.
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Kimberly Burge
Southern Chondros