so turns out my thermometer in my incubator was off... by like 10 degrees!

whooo hoo! the first one just pipped! and for some reason the other image from 2 posts ago is deleted from my image shack account? never had that happen before
http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/6528/0rnq.jpg

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four out last night and one just came out of his egg today- but his "umbilical cord" is still attached- He/she is on moist paper towels so hopefully that will do it's thing and fall off or whatever soon- my big question is the very tip of his tail is kinked or maybe not kinked but spun in a "curlyQ" and a sibling that is still in the egg but I can see it has the same thing going on just the last 1/3 of an inch is twisty. anything I can do? is that because of incubation problems or genetics? I have a pic on my ipod (camera is dead) let me see if I can upload it

sorry for the terrible quality - my ipod is not a great camera haha
but ya you can see the last little tip of the tail is curled. genetic or incubation ? this one and at least one that hasn't come out of the egg have it.

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so clutch number two is all messed up... but the other two clutches are fine no deformities that I can see yet - sooo not incubation temp? so is this a fluke- or does one of the parents have bad genes, or something else I am not thinking of?

so far
clutch #1- all hatched - 4 normals all healthy

clutch #2-
(hatched) one with kink tail tip,
(hatched)one with kink tail tip and a bit of umbilical cord attached- think it will be fine,
(kind of hatched) one with kink tail and out of its egg with lots of yolk left still attached the size of a nickel in circumference
one severely deformed- kinks everywhere, misshapen head, miss placed eyes, umbilical cord wrapped around its head/neck- won't live
one that looks fine from what i can see- except the very tip of the tail is stubbed.

clutch #3 - in a separate incubator- all still in eggs but piped and all look healthy from what parts I can see.

so. I am pretty bummed about the kinks and the really deformed one.
What would everyone do in this case? not breed either of the parents again?
what's the best way to put the really deformed one out of it's misery?

So sorry about clutch #2. As for putting down the severely kinked one, quickest and most humane method is destroying the brain. And I wouldn't rule out incubation issues yet. When were the different clutches put in the incubator? Where were they located relative to the heat source?

all the eggs went in on the same day though I am pretty sure clutch 1 was laid right after I checked early on 6/3 and clutch 2 and 3 were laid late 6/4.
clutch 1 and 2 were in separate tubs in the same incubator, clutch 3 was in the second incubator.
the severely deformed one died on it's own, once in got mostly out of the egg i don't think it was compatible with life outside. I did take pictures but it pretty much looks like a deformed snake. I also grabbed new pictures with my good camera of the tail tips that are kinked. let me see if I can upload those.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/690/8b2n.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/28/b13t.jpg

you cant breed the kinked ones... but those kinks arent life ending. honestly you could keep them as pets or sell them to someone for a pet, but i do not believe that will effect its well being... if you do want to put them down though, alot of people put them in the freezer and there bodies just slow down until their heart stops... or you could also us C02 to kill them the most humane... looks up how to make a C02 chamber with a pop bottle... its pretty easy and you can use it on rodents as well!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bobmurffy

alot of people put them in the freezer and there bodies just slow down until their heart stops... or you could also us C02 to kill them the most humane... looks up how to make a C02 chamber with a pop bottle... its pretty easy and you can use it on rodents as well!

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No.

BOTH of these methods are far too prolonged to be 'humane.'

Ziplock baggie, paper towels, and a hammer. This would honestly be the most 'humane' way of dealing with babies that MUST be put down. It's unfortunate, but sometimes we, as humans, must do things to prevent future suffering of our precious animals. The quickest way possible is the most humane way... not the prolonged ways described in the above quote. Get a hammer, put the suffering animal in a bag, and smash the head. Over in 1 second instead of HOURS of suffering in a freezer or CO2 chamber.

OP... great job for sticking through all of this. Everyone has made mistakes so don't feel like you are alone in this. Keep pushing along! I bet next season will be a great one for you :)

thanks- the baby that was really deformed died on his own- and as terrible as the hammer method sounds visually.. your right- super quick.
I think I am just going to keep the kink tail babies unless I can find someone who just wants them as pets- I am a bit nervous about shedding issues so we will have to see how that goes. and hopefully that is the only kink they have- i know sometimes kinked snakes have additional less visible kinks - so for now I will hold on to them but we will see what their future holds.
and long story short- yes I am looking forward to next season. this one has put me through the mill for sure. Plus some of my nice females should be breeding size by then so I will be able to make some nicer morphs - what incubator does everyone use? I am sick of these reptibators. I mean- I guess they work, but I want to upgrade. I can't really afford the super fancy ones, but is there a step or two up from the junky styrofoam ones? i see a lot of people make their own- I can do that (and have before for hatching poultry) but I would love to see the manufactured incubators that people use.