Should I cut them all now?

[Lolo76]

My one & only clutch for the season (didn't even expect this one) is on day 51, and usually I wait until the first actual pip before cutting - generally right around day 54-55. But I just noticed a small slice in one of the eggs, so I pulled it open a little and saw a fully colored baby (normal) with not too much goo. Should I go ahead and cut the rest tonight, or give it a few more days? I like to avoid cutting early, as I fear bacteria and so forth getting into the eggs.

Here's the one with the cut, before I did anything much to it:


And a peek at the little guy:


The rest of the clutch as of right now (after separating 5 of the 6 that were previously stuck together):

[jasonmcgilvrey83]

I would just let nature take its course and wait till they start to pip. I'm no professional and this is my first clutch but the snakes will come out when ready. Lol by the way what are the parents? Hope u get good odds.

[Lolo76]

I would just let nature take its course and wait till they start to pip. I'm no professional and this is my first clutch but the snakes will come out when ready. Lol by the way what are the parents? Hope u get good odds.

Thanks! I think I'll give them at least another day, since the others haven't attempted to break free yet. But I also worry about waiting too LONG, since I lost one (of only 3 survivors from an originally 9-egg clutch) to an umbilical knot one season. That sucked.

Oh, and this is a Black pastel x normal clutch - nothing fancy, but I'm excited to meet them regardless! I just checked on little dude in the sliced egg, and he's a very cute normal who resembles his (or her) mama.

[CORBIN911]

You can cut them just a little triangle to take a look. Once one has pipped your good to go. I only cut the last egg if the bunch has heads poking out. I have never cut early, its more exciting to wait.

[jackiee]

I cut after the first one starts to pip, usually around day 56, but I don't make a large window, just enough to see every thing is fine. good luck with them.

[Lolo76]

I went ahead and made a small cut in each egg, just to make sure everyone was okay... a few of them are still coloring up, so I have no idea what my odds were! The sire (black pastel) has sort of a normal-type pattern, so I'll have to wait until they're fully developed to determine what's what.

In the meantime, I woke up to see two heads peeking out! I didn't get a look at the body of #4, but he/she might be a black pastel? The other is obviously a normal, and both are SUPER tiny. Mom is on the small side herself, and I wasn't even going to breed her because of that. But ONE pairing back in November obviously did the trick. She's over 5 years old, btw, but has never gotten larger than ~1500g due to being a problem feeder from day one. Anyway, here's what I had as of this morning:

[STjepkes]

How exciting! Congrats on the unexpected clutch!

[Lolo76]

How exciting! Congrats on the unexpected clutch!

Thanks! It looks like I probably hit some bad odds, as only a couple of them might be black pastels... but babies are always exciting, right? Plus, the shop that bought my last clutch offered to take any "bread and butter" (meaning normals or cheap morphs) babies I had this summer - plus I have a co-worker who's already claimed one. So at least they'll be easy to rehome!

[jasonmcgilvrey83]

It's so cute when they poke their heads out of the eggs. I can't wait to experience it. Mine won't pip till mid to late September. Congrats. Hope u get good odds.

[Lolo76]

It's so cute when they poke their heads out of the eggs. I can't wait to experience it. Mine won't pip till mid to late September. Congrats. Hope u get good odds.

Yes, that is the most exciting part of breeding IMO! It's also really frustrating, though, as they can take DAYS to emerge after the first pip... so I find myself checking every few hours, just to see if anyone's made their grand entrance yet. Anyway, it looks like my odds were pretty bad, as I can only confirm one or two black pastels right now. Oh well.

Btw, you wanna hear something funny? See how #4 is peeking out of a VERY small cut in the egg? I felt like maybe he'd get squeezed by that opening, so I cut it a bit wider to allow him more wiggle room... a few hours later I came back to check on them, and he'd made a new (equally small as the first) cut on the other side for his head. Guess he didn't like my wider door!