First Baby Died

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Originally Posted by moonlightgdess

Why do people cut eggs anyway?

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Many different reasons really. Mainly it's just being impatient and or having had babies drown or die from being tangled in its umbilicus cord. So some do it in the hopes of preventing any unwanted deaths.

So sorry your baby died.
I just had two die today from my first clutch. The eggs were a bit small and one had a twisted umbilicus. They were underdeveloped. It's a bummer.

On the subject of cutting, i cut on day 55 and i don't think i will do that again next year...it was more trouble than anything.
It was a nerve racking experience. And most of the babies still have plenty of yolk to absorb.
I only have one snake out of eight that has come out of the egg. I hope they all survive ok but i know the risk of subjecting them to bacteria from an open egg is not something I'll risk again. Call it an impatient first year clutch impulse, but i regret it. I went from excitement to worry.
My babies aren't out of the clear yet.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by cinnamonpython

I agree the big breeders barely take care of their snakes . they don't even give them hide boxes:(

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To be fair, if the tub is dark & small enough (but not TOO small) they don't really need a hide box... a few of my snakes don't even want them, like Nerissa the big normal BP who only knocks them over or sits on top. I tried every type of hide with her, and finally gave up - as she prefers sleeping in the back of the tub, curled around her water dish.

That being said, I am sorry for your loss (OP) but agree with "loonunit" on their points. I have only bred a few clutches thus far, but waited to cut until the first one pipped. Why cut any sooner, unless you have reason to believe they're in distress? I understand being anxious to see what's inside, but patience is a virtue in this hobby! My last clutch was incubated @ around 88-89 degrees and didn't fully emerge until day 60+... so if I'd cut on day 40, that would surely have caused some issues with keeping them clean. Who knows what caused your baby to die, and I'm very sorry for that, but in the future it wouldn't hurt to wait until one pips before cutting. JMO.

I would never cut until one pips on it's own. You can argue until you are blue in the face it doesn't hurt anything, but it does whether you like it or not. Too many people with too little experience read somewhere that this guy who's been breeding for 15 years cuts his eggs 25 days early and figures, well if he can do it so can I. Of course, they don't take any of the extra precautions the big breeder used into consideration. And you never hear about when a big breeder cuts early and things go wrong, because after all everything always goes perfect for them, it's how they got where they are.

Leave the darn eggs alone for pete's sake. You decided to buy ball pythons. You decided to keep them, feed them, house them, and breed them. Then you have a responsibility to take care of any resulting eggs to the best of your ability. This means let the things hatch when they are ready, not when you decide you have waited long enough.

One of my most anticipated clutches this year hatched out three babies born without eyes. Sometimes you can do everything right and still have problems. Why make it more likely something will go wrong ?

Gale