Final Development is Amazing!

[MrLang]

Ok, the subject line is probably more exciting than the content of the thread but had a little story I wanted to share.

I cut my eggs on day 56 from Pewter Bee x Calico after the first baby pipped. Within 48 hours all of the babies had broken out of their sack and were absorbing with their heads out of the egg except 1. Nervous about the lack of progress and low reactivity to touch, I decided to investigate further. After opening the egg a bit more and breaking open the sack, it was not clear whether or not the baby was tangled or having another issue. I carefully cut the egg off from around the baby and moved the baby plus yolk to a very small deli cup with wet towels. It looks like the head was tucked underneath but not clear to me if moving the baby helped free it or not.

So now we have the baby, a pewter calico (pics to come...) in the cup, out of the sack, and attached to a yolk approximately the size of a chicken egg (all of the others had fully absorbed at this point). There didn't seem to be any issue with the yolk or umbilicus so I left it be. Within 24 hours the entire yolk absorbed! What a phenomenon!! To go in every few hours, look through the incubator door, and see this yolk go from 3" across to nothing in a day means I could see a considerable amount of progress every time I checked. This final absorbtion is something you rarely get to witness since they do it in the egg or when many people dissect they end up tying off the yolk and assisting.

These amazing animals and amazing process never ceases to amaze me and excite my curiosity. Thanks for reading. I promise I will post baby pics soon - great clutch odds. 1 pewter that may be a calico based on a ringer and some washout (will be clear post shed), cinnacal, cinnamon, pewter calico, pewter bee calico. I can only find a few pictures of a pewter bee calico online so I am especially excited to see how that one looks as it ages!!

[tprdevore]

Great to hear the little one is doing well. I cut a clutch earlier this year and found the umbilicus tangled around the hatchling. I ended up tying it off and cutting the cord. Fortunately she is doing well now and is my best eater! Can't wait to see pictures.

[Mike41793]

That's too cool, Jon. Congrats! Definitely update us with pics!