Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I've seen this question and answer many times, probably even asked it myself, but a search of the forums didn't yield up any sort of good information so I thought I would ask it again.

My latest clutch is hatching and one of the babies is simply GORGEOUS... and (as per Murphy's Law) of course it has had some problems.

I realized that there might be a problem even before it exited the egg. It had slit the egg and was poking its head out of the egg through a "turtleneck" of yolk material! I thought, now that's silly little snakey!

When it came out it had about one and a half inches of yolk stuff hanging out and had left half or more of the yolk inside the egg. I put it on wet paper towels in a deli cup and hoped it would either absorb or lose the goobers.

This morning it's twice as long and there's a "vein" running through the mass and I'm quite sad because I'm afraid I am going to lose the little guy. Is there anything I can do? He's alert, yawning, flicking it's little tongue. I'm afraid as it slithers more of the "stuff" comes out and the poor baby is just unraveling.

It's been a problem clutch in some ways. The first baby out of the egg left the entire yolk behind and is very skinny, and another baby pipped right where the yolk is, so instead of the clearish fluid it's all creamy solid like stuff that is coming out of the slit.

Any help is appreciated. I can post a picture but don't want to unless it's considered necessary as I don't want to disturb or distress the little guy.

Oh and for those who might wonder/ask, NO I have not been trying to get the babies to exit the egg ... They can hang out in their slit eggs for a week for all I care, I learned my lesson the first year I hatched eggs to leave the babies alone. These babies are crawling out on their own with no provocation from me. I have them in an egg container where I can watch them without disturbing them at all.
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~Sasheena

>>Okay, I've seen this question and answer many times, probably even asked it myself, but a search of the forums didn't yield up any sort of good information so I thought I would ask it again.
>>
>>My latest clutch is hatching and one of the babies is simply GORGEOUS... and (as per Murphy's Law) of course it has had some problems.
>>
>>I realized that there might be a problem even before it exited the egg. It had slit the egg and was poking its head out of the egg through a "turtleneck" of yolk material! I thought, now that's silly little snakey!
>>
>>When it came out it had about one and a half inches of yolk stuff hanging out and had left half or more of the yolk inside the egg. I put it on wet paper towels in a deli cup and hoped it would either absorb or lose the goobers.
>>
>>This morning it's twice as long and there's a "vein" running through the mass and I'm quite sad because I'm afraid I am going to lose the little guy. Is there anything I can do? He's alert, yawning, flicking it's little tongue. I'm afraid as it slithers more of the "stuff" comes out and the poor baby is just unraveling.
>>
>>It's been a problem clutch in some ways. The first baby out of the egg left the entire yolk behind and is very skinny, and another baby pipped right where the yolk is, so instead of the clearish fluid it's all creamy solid like stuff that is coming out of the slit.
>>
>>Any help is appreciated. I can post a picture but don't want to unless it's considered necessary as I don't want to disturb or distress the little guy.
>>
>>Oh and for those who might wonder/ask, NO I have not been trying to get the babies to exit the egg ... They can hang out in their slit eggs for a week for all I care, I learned my lesson the first year I hatched eggs to leave the babies alone. These babies are crawling out on their own with no provocation from me. I have them in an egg container where I can watch them without disturbing them at all.
>>-----
>>~Sasheena
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~Sasheena

It still has a decent chance of making it. I had a similar problem this year but mine was even worse.
A few days after all of the eggs in one of my clutches hatched, one egg still remained unhatched. I decided to make a small slit and I saw a hatchling inside. I touched the hatchling with a sexing probe and there was no movement so I assumed that the snake was dead in the egg. (dumb mistake)
I opened up the egg and the hatchling ended up being very much alive and still attached to a very large yolk sack. The egg could not be salvaged so I put the hatchling in a plastic container on damp paper towels and put it back in the incubator to keep the temps stable. I really did not expect this snake to make it but a week later it is doing just fine. It absorbed some of it's yolk sack and the remainder of the sack seperated on it's own.

I hope you have the same outcome. It sounds like you're doing everything right so far.
Chris

When I said that my situation was worse I meant that your snake made it out of the egg on it's own and got used to breathing air while mine was basically pulled out of it's egg under the assumption that it was dead.
Somehow the little guy made it in spite of me
Chris

Thanks Chris, I appreciate your sharing your experience. I have him in a larger deli cup, should I put him in a smaller one to restrict its movements? It's very alert and everything and quite possibly the best looking baby I've ever hatched! It's got a black head, and is white with little black spots like a dalmation all over it's white body. VERY pretty!
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~Sasheena

Mine was in a shoe box size container but a smaller container probably isn't a bad idea. Dragging that huge yolk sack seemed to deter him from moving around too much. I'd keep him in a low traffic area and disturb him as little as possible.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Chris

i had a batch of corns hatch and one seemed to be tangled and most of the way out of the egg so i helped and found a yolk sack w/fluid it was a slimmy half hitch so i didnt attemt a release of the tangle.
the next day all were fine nobody had a sack dragging. C

Well it's now lying mostly belly up. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose this one.

Incidentally, I noticed this one has a pure white belly. *sigh* Why does Murphy always take the best babies?
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~Sasheena

I hope he pulls through for you but unfortunately some hatchlings seem like they weren't meant to make it despite our best efforts.
Chris

Several times the baby has been "belly up" but then just changes position and seems to be fine still. The string of "stuff" looks like it's drying up, the blood vessel all brown now. Not sure if I should snip it or see if it falls off on its own. Will wait until the evening before I make any decisions. Hopefully it makes it through.

It's clutch mates are STILL hanging out in the shell, and I'm glad, hope they will wait until they are all closed up before coming out. I can wait, I do have the patience for that!
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~Sasheena

If it were mine I'd let things play out on their own. My snake made similar movements...that may just be their way of twisting to break loose from the dried up cord.
Good luck,
Chris