Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, as some here knew, something was wrong with the hatchlings and they died in the eggs at day 86. At the temps they were incubated at they should have hatched somewhere between day 70-75, but given the "special circumstances" I was hopeful they were just taking longer. I had not seen any movement in two days and one of the eggs was swelling. After nudging the egg a little and seeing no movement, I opened it up and the hatchling had died. The other egg was swollen and way too firm and the same had happened. They both had all of their color developement, but were underdeveloped in other areas. The one in the swollen egg was still coiled up tight and all kinked. The one in the previous post had some kinking near the tail and the head still had a "round dome" appearance. It was cool to watch and I am glad I got to share the experience with all the folks here. I took some photos of the one in the post but have not downloaded them onto photobucket yet.

Joe

That is a major bummer. Im very sorry to hear that. I was just one of the many who enjoyed and was fascinated about your posts throughout incubation. Thought for sure, after those last pics that you were out of the woods.... Dave.

Thanks Dave.

That's too bad, Joe, but it was really cool to see those eggs in their later stages of development.

Thanks Ross. At least folks got to see them.

How disappointing! But I had been skeptical they were going to hatch when they went past 80 days. My bulls and pyros took 67 and 70 days, in my limited experience what seemed normal.

I guess the calcium on the egg shell does more than just make the egg sturdier. Or the hatchlings had some sort of deficiency that was also expressed in the lack of calcification in the eggs. I think I would feed the mama snake a lot of bony lizards and see if that doesn't help her next season.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Yeah Bob. I was thinking the same, but after seeing what looked like a healthy hatchling moving around I got excited. Last year she laid a clutch of all slugs with two eggs that looked like this, but not quite as clear. One of them hatched and is a beautiful male in my collection. Gave me hope. Thanks for the kind words.

Joe

As you say it is a bummer... with your post previous to this one I thought you were "home free" with a very unusual condition... sorry it didn't turn out as great as following all your post on those eggs has been.

Gerry

Thanks Gerry. I know some folks like yourself were following this with interest, like myself, and it sucks.

Joe

Sorry to hear that Joe. It was really cool anyway. Something many of us, including myself, have never seen before.

Good talking with you tonight, buddy.

Dave
DNS Reptiles - Milk Snakes

Thanks Dave. Good talk with you too. Hopefully we can hook up this fall and put a full assault on the LTT. LOL

Joe

Too bad. Any time I've had any eggs go that far past the expected due date there has been some game-ending deformity. I have one I'm waiting on thats around 5 days late, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now.
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www.brooksi.com

I hope yours makes it Nick. I normally go by---if they don't stink, they don't go in the drink. LOL In this case though, I could actually see the animal was not moving. Good luck with yours bro.

Joe

Joe, Bummer is an understatement. In your last post I felt like I could almost see babies moving in eggs. Sorry for your loss buddy.

PB

Thanks Paul. What is going to make it worse for ya is that I was going to give those to you and Doug. Always next year my friend.

Joe

Double Bummer!

Much thanks for the thought. I could have had a celebrity snake.

Hopefully I can take care of you next year.

PB

Gosh, that is to darn sad to hear buddy. All of us were really rooting for those guys to hatch for ya bro. Thanks a bunch for posting that sequence for everyone to see. That was one of the most interesting things I have seen in a long, long time man!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thanks Doug. Once again, I am very glad I got to share those with you guys. They were just not meant to be. We did get to enjoy them a little, even if they did not hatch. I was checking on them very often so I could take pics of them hatching and post them for everyone. Sucks.

Joe

"We did get to enjoy them a little, even if they did not hatch"

Ain't THAT the freakin' truth!!!, we sure did bud!..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

For those who were interested in seeing the snake from the post after I cut open the egg, here you go----so close!

DAMN! im sorry to hear that
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Thanks Thomas.

Sorry to hear this Joe. Was looking forward to seeing these through, but thought they looked a little small that late in the game. Better luck next year with the pair.
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Joe

Thanks a lot Joe. If you look at the pics of the one I posted you can see his body looks flat. This is actually how it was when he was taken from the egg. Something just was not right. I am starting to think the eggs might have taken on too much water due to the thin, non-calcified shells. This could have killed them in the later stages and could explain why the one egg was so "tight".

Joe