Help - Yolk not absorbed

Hey guys.

So this year is my first attempt at breeding. I paired a queen bee male to a wild type female and got 1 egg and 6 slugs.

The one egg that I incubated just pipped last night (day 61) and came out of the egg this morning. S/he seems very small. Her stomach is sealed but swollen, and there is what appears to be a large yolk sac still in the egg. Is this normal?

Sorry the photos are super blurry, but I just set her up in a 7 qt and I didnt want to disturb her and retake the photos.

Im really worried by how small she is, and I was hoping to get some advice from you fine folks!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...803_112846.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...803_113111.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...803_112939.jpg

-Krynn

The yolk should have been absorbed however sometimes it is not or is only partially.

Does the belly feel hard?

No, it's not normal for yolk to be left in the egg. Usually when it doesn't all get absorbed it's because the umbilical cord got twisted up.

Where your hatchling is swollen does it feel soft and flexible, or is it fairly hard and rigid?

I will check the belly and let you know either this evening or in the morning. I don't want to stress it out too much. On the plus side s/he seems alert. Her/his tongue was flicking quite a bit, and I just watched her take her first drink.

Thanks for the responses so far! This so incredibly exciting/terrifying.

It's important that you check whether or not the belly is hard and do so ASAP, if this is the case, you have what is called a hard belly and it needs to be addressed rapidly.

Ok thanks for the warning. Just watched videos on youtube of hard belly and then checked my hatchling. Thank god she is very squishy, like its filled with liquid.

I think I saw a video on YouTube somewhere that explained a guy's process to help little babies absorb yolks after hatching. It involved hightening humidity and keeping them in a warm humid box individually, I think....idk my memory isn't the greatest lol

But thank goodness she doesn't have hard belly!! And congrats on your clutch of one :)

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Ok, so now its 4 or 5 days later and now it definately feels hard in there. Is there anything else this could be or is it definitely hard belly?

Sorry for the dilemma. Wish there was better ratio of eggs to slugs for you. Hoping it really isn't "hardbelly". :(

So bad news. It was hard belly.

I managed to get it out and i'm fairly certain I didn't tear the cloaca. The snake is back in a clean tub with fresh paper towel and water.

Other than changing the paper towel every day, is there anything else I can to to help her chances?

Im so nervous!!!!