cutting bp eggs?

I'm on day 40 incubating at 88 to 92 degrees. How can I tell when the eggs are ready to be cut?I see people cutting on say 50 or 53. How should the embryo look?

Well, if you cut an egg and see an Embryo you just killed it. Lol.

Seriously, if this is your first clutch wait for the first pips before you cut. I cut all of my eggs last season on day 55 but this season I just left them alone until they started pipping.

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I think you are about to get a series of people saying "why cut!? They will come out when they are ready!" I would like to ask why you are incubating at 92F? that seems a little on the hot side to me. At those temps you would probably get them pipping on their own within the early 50s day range. If you reaaaalllly need to cut I wouldn't do it before day 55 at those temperatures. My eggs didn't pip on their own until day 67 this year, and they were incubated at 88-89. I did cut one egg on day 64 because I was getting nervous. From my limited experience, I would say it is hard to really know when to cut. For the most part, if there is not a problem with the snake, it will pip when it is ready, but if you just can't help it, it is safe to cut at day 55 at those temps.

I personally feel you should only cut after the first one pips. I do not see the need to increase the risk of something going wrong. Again this is just my thoughts and I do not believe there is truly a correct way that everyone agrees on.

I only cut when I see evidence that the eggs are ready. I'll look for little slits in the egg or even better...a head poking out tells me they're ready. I incubate at 89 degrees and over the past 3 season and 24 clutches, 53 days has been the mark. The longest was 55 days and that only happened once. So "when to cut" is really dependent upon your own set of circumstances. One question though, 88 to 92 degrees seems like a big range. What type of thermostat are you using?

Since your incubation temps were unstable I would recommend against cutting. They will come out when they are ready.

We all do things differently. Honestly, if you are thinking of cutting always wait until day 55 at least...just to be on the safe side. Also from the temperatures you mention you're incubating at. I would say they would probably start piping around day 52. I say this because this year I had somewhat of an issue with my incubator and the temperature inside the tub was reading at 91.5. I left it alone since the eggs looked good. Guess what? All piped on their own on day 52 and came out healthy as can be. No deformity issues or anything.

Here is a good video explaining how the eggs look before they hatch.

Just say no. You paired your snakes, waited on eggs, incubated them... this process took SO LONG just wait a few more days till Christmas!!!!!

200 million years of evolution will work just fine. Those magical eggs you have there, one day a snake will pop out of them. Just have faith!

We only pip the eggs after seeing at least one or more eggs already pipping on their own. I use this as my "guage" of when to start cutting. Good luck!

I do first pip or 55 days and sunk in.
If they aren't sunk in, no cut until one pips.

If you are using an on/off thermostat you might look into upgrading to a proportional so you can keep more stable temps. OR find a better place in the house for the incubator to sit. Closets work well.