Down side to breeding,

[Tempestas]

Sometimes things need to be done just to give them that extra chance.

On Friday Evening I decided to check my eggs and everything seemed fine until I noticed white oozing from the bottom of the eggs, I candled them and they were still moving but the eggs were deflating due to the loss of egg white. So my 8 egg clutch which was on day 45 seemed to be getting worse so after a lengthy discussion with my wife and a good friend we decided that we would cut and try and give them the best possible chance. I cut one of the eggs and I saw a perfectly formed hatchling coloured and patterned which looked ready to hatch egg tooth included. So it made me think and I made a video on day 3 of incubation of these eggs and we saw a formed baby in all of the eggs ( We all know that we shouldn't be able to see this until 2 weeks or so ) So we came to the conclusion that they were partially incubated inside the female before she laid.

Anyway after cutting the eggs we noticed that we had no other choice than to pull them with yolk included ( Trust me this was the last resort but some had basically drained theirselves due to the slits underneath )

So after I pulled them all and placed them into tubs containing moist kitchen roll they all seemed perfectly fine breathing and strong heart beats although they weren't moving much but that was to be expected. Anyway we checked them on Saturday Evening before going to bed and they were all still breathing and had heart beats so we thought maybe just maybe they will survive. I checked them this morning ( Sunday ) and now I am unable to find any heart beats So after all we could do it seems we have lost them. I swear something or someone out there doesn't want me to succeed, I have three other eggs which were laid 1 week after the eight eggs they also have cuts on the bottoms of the eggs which look like V's. I don't know what's caused this to happen but all I do know is I feel pretty crap at the moment about it all. The 3 eggs with the V's I have hopefully managed to stop the oozing due to the holes only being small so there might be hope yet with those ones.

Anyway I have taken photographs of the babies during taking them out of their eggs so I can share with others about my ordeal but I will put those up later on.

At the moment I am seriously considering not breeding anymore I don't know if I can take much more of this.

[DeadGirlSuperstar]

i know the feeling this has been my first year breeding and have not had the best run of luck - 2 babies dead in eggs, 3 dead after emerging from eggs and 10 eggs bad in incubator i have had the same thoughts about not breeding as i didnt know how many more little bodies i could deal with it really is heartbreaking to lose them.

as you said sometimes you need to do something to help them, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt but at least you know you gave the wee ones the best chance at life. i hope your luck changes soon, mine has recently and it totally makes up for all the crappy stuff to have little babies doing well, but the thought of that doesnt make any difference when you are faced with another little baby that didnt make it. keep your chin up and keep trying, you will get there eventually and it is worth all the heartache when things turn out right xx

[TROYG]

Sorry for the bad luck, but don't give up.

[axeman569]

You can try to put bandaids over the holes. It worked for others in the past. Sorry for your loss.

[SlitherinSisters]

Sorry to hear that, breeding definitely has its ups and downs.

How did they get slit underneath? Sorry maybe you said, but I'm confused.

[snakesRkewl]

How deflated were they that made you cut them so early?
Maybe you did more harm than good cutting them open, deflating is a normal part of the process.
My last clutch started deflating at day 43-44 and were very deflated when they pipped on their own at day 54.

Sorry for your loss, it comes with the territory unfortunately

[Jay_Bunny]

Sorry to hear that. It's strange they would have slits on the bottom of the egg. Are the other eggs leaking as well? Breeding definitely has its ups and downs. My first clutch was 5 fertile eggs. They died off one by one until only 2 were left. The remaining babies survived until they were full term. One died in the egg shortly before the other one hatched. The dead one was severely malformed. The one that survived had severe kinks and could not swallow food. He only lived 3 months. It happens and its sad, but there are so many other good times when you breed snakes. Healthy hatchlings are far more common than weak or deformed ones. Don't let this one clutch (or even the other one) discourage you from breeding snakes.

[satomi325]

I'm so sorry this happened.
Better luck next time.

You can patch up the slits with super glue and a small piece of saran wrap if it happens again. And top the egg off with saline or distilled water if there is fluid loss.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Jay_Bunny]

You can patch up the slits with super glue and a small piece of saran wrap if it happens again.

I have done this and can tell you it does work. In 2011, I had a clutch of eggs that were pulled out of the incubator and onto the floor. They had a 2ft drop. One of the eggs split open. I took a small patch of plastic wrap and super glue and glued the plastic around the hole. Use as little glue as possible as it does produce some bad fumes. You will need to allow ventilation (do not put the lid back on and shove them in the incubator) A dip in temperature for a few minutes will not harm them. I had two clutches go a week without power (75 in the incubator) and they hatched fine. Let the glue dry and place them back in the incubator. Check on them periodically to make sure the plastic is holding.

[Brandon Osborne]

Sorry for your loss. Keeping a few old egg shells around can help in these situations. Sometimes eggs will swell to the point of splitting and leaking egg fluid. Old eggs can be cut into patches and placed on the split. All you need is a little water to moisten the patch and it will stick on its own.

I think cutting and pulling the hatchlings at such an early stage is what did them in. If left in the eggs, they probably would have been just fine. Nature has a way of fixing things we wouldn't expect. Good luck with the future breedings.