Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I didn't take a photo--wasn't thinking of it.

One of the eggs from my PB clutch pipped last night. The head looked a bit odd, but I didn't think too much of it you know? I went in this morning and the head was still just out. I figured the animal was probably dead, but cut it out to be sure.

The head was domed, snout shortened, and the body was tied in a knot. The insides were in a sack hanging from the vent.

Is there any way to reduce the odds of stuff like that happening? Or is it just something that occurs sometimes?

At least my cribo got a very pretty meal I guess.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

I have heard that temperature spikes during incubation can disrupt fetal development. Last year in my pyro clutch I had one with a kinked tail which only lived a few weeks. Also in my bull snake clutch I had one go full term but for some reason turned inward instead of outward after pipping and drowned its poor little self in the egg. It was otherwise normal. There was a period last summer when the incubator got as high as 84 F briefly during a heat wave, and I was not at home to put the icepacks in to regulate it as usual. I think that was what caused the defective ones. I try to keep the temps between 77 and 81.5 F.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Hi Bob, Please think about this, husbandry advances are made by taking reponsibility for the animals we keep. For instance, the little fella did not turn in, instead of out and drown itself. What actually occurred was, it failed. The reason it failed is unknown.

Unhealthy adults, poor nesting, poor incubation all contribute to weak, dead, deformed neonates.

Again, I have no idea what caused your loses, but as the keeper of those animals, you are responsible for what happened. You can question what occured and learn from those events(maybe over time) Or simply blame the animal, which teaches you nothing.

I would think its lungs failed, which is fairly common and preventable. Best of luck

I think the temperature spike was the culprit in my neonate pyro having defects. The clutch of pyros was a month ahead of the clutch of bulls on hatching date. Other factors could have been in play, though. In the case of the bull snake, that was a surprise first clutch from young but very robust parents. The baby that turned the wrong way had been breathing with its head out of the egg, but for some reason I am still mulling over it then pointed its snout back in the egg and drowned. I have considered maybe when I opened the incubator to check on the eggs during pipping I may have frightened it, and it tried to hide in the only place available to it, the egg. I will try to not disturb them so much during pipping this time.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Hi Bob, this is where experience comes in. I have hatched thousands of snake eggs and you can poke, etc push back in etc, healthy animals and they do not drown.

When one dies in the egg, it dies from organ failure.

What is of interest to me is(behaviorally speaking) is how people treat these animals as if they are human babies. Which could do that. These snakes are better equiped then that.

Remember, that snake has been underwater for a couple months.

Anyway, Its possible it could have drowned, but that would be very rare, like you winning the lotto. I would not bet on it. Cheers

Hi Bob, this is where experience comes in. I have hatched thousands of snake eggs and you can poke, etc push back in etc, healthy animals and they do not drown.

When one dies in the egg, it dies from organ failure.
That is reassuring. I was really convinced I had scared the poor thing to death by checking on the hatching progress. I did think, though, that once it begins to breath air after pipping it can't go back to being uderwater without drowning. But to go and drown must have meant it had some other problem, such as organ failure like you say. So the temp spike is still my main suspect in both snakes' failures to survive.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I can imagine that there were some temp spikes. Next year I may bring the incubators back into the house rather than keep them in the herp building; it gets a bit warm out there.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

Good idea. I think the eggs can deal with cool much better than hot. I am thinking normal ambient soil temperatures are always on the cool side with little fluctuation.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1936869,1936869
This thread is about those clear eggs. Joe says that one had a domed head and they had kinks. Maybe there is a clue in Joe's posts that could shed more light on what went wrong with your neonate.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.