Egg cutting

Out of curiousity, how many of you cut your eggs before they hatch? When I was first getting in to BPs I found Garrick's youtube and watched several of his egg cutting videos. I thought it was pretty interesting. I have yet to see anyone here talk about egg cutting though.

If i get a clutch this year i plan to cut once the first one pips. Not saying its the right thing to do, but its what im planning on doing. :)

We used to cut around day 52 to 54, but have pretty much given up on cutting until the first one pips.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

If i get a clutch this year i plan to cut once the first one pips. Not saying its the right thing to do, but its what im planning on doing. :)

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X2


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As of right now until I'm convinced otherwise. We plan on cutting eggs one day after the first couple pip.

I cut ~day 56. You probably haven't seen anyone mention it because there haven't been many clutches hatching in the month since you joined. The threads will pick up though as newer breeders get eggs on the ground. It's a personal preference of risk vs. benefits. Risks of not cutting: baby can't pip on its own or umbilicus is twisted (baby dies in egg); Risks of cutting: You hit a vein, cut too early, and/or the egg dries out/gets bacteria before it is ready (again, baby dies in egg). If you are going to cut for the first time, you are probably best off waiting until the first baby pips, so you have an idea of how far along the eggs are in development.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

If i get a clutch this year i plan to cut once the first one pips. Not saying its the right thing to do, but its what im planning on doing. :)

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x 3 This is my first year breeding, but this is what I will likely do. :)

just asking, what is the purpose of the egg cutting? to see the babies and their potential morphs? or to make it easier for them to get out?

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Originally Posted by ericarditti

just asking, what is the purpose of the egg cutting? to see the babies and their potential morphs? or to make it easier for them to get out?

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Both I guess. Like if the baby happened to have some little thing wrong, like if it didn't have an egg tooth while it was in the egg, but is healthy otherwise it would still be able to get out.

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Originally Posted by ericarditti

just asking, what is the purpose of the egg cutting? to see the babies and their potential morphs? or to make it easier for them to get out?

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Short answer: both. I personally will always cut from now on because in 2011 my entire clutch failed because the babies were unable to get out of the eggs on their own, and I waited too long to help them. One breached/pipped but never emerged while the others never broke the shells. Upon cutting into the eggs I could see that at least two of the babies had attempted to find a way out but were unable. I never want to see that again so from now on I will cut when the first baby pips. I did that in 2012 and was successful in getting babies out alive. Not saying it's the right or wrong way, but I personally don't want to see a repeat of that 2011 clutch.

I noticed in the past that clutches I didn't cut seem to have babies that fed better. This past season I held off on cutting and I had a much better feeding response from my babies. I had at least 75% start on frozen thawed. It's not scientific, nor do I know why, but I won't be cutting eggs this year...

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Originally Posted by ericarditti

just asking, what is the purpose of the egg cutting? to see the babies and their potential morphs? or to make it easier for them to get out?

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It's a little of both. Think of egg cutting like a prenatal ultrasound for humans - You want to see the sex of the baby, but most importantly, you want to be able to see if there are any defects on the baby. That's how I view it at least.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

If i get a clutch this year i plan to cut once the first one pips. Not saying its the right thing to do, but its what im planning on doing. :)

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This is what I will be doing! I would be too worried about cutting too soon, but I do plan on making a teeny slit once the first one pips.

gotcha, at first i thought there was more to it and that i was asking a dumb question, guess not. good luck with the little ones!

If you do cut, don't do it early. There are tons of threads on this forum where people lost babies because of cutting early. In the incubator, you have a warm moist environment that is perfect for breeding bacteria. Once you cut that egg, all kinds of gunk can get in there and do damage. Leave them protected inside their egg as long as you can hold out.

Breeding ball pythons is a test of patience. You need to learn to wait. Then just when you think you've got the waiting thing figured out, you gotta wait some more.

I used to cut on day 57 or 58 because I was inpatient. The more I do this, the longer I wait. Most of my clutches now emerge on their own - unless it is a really good pairing and I can't help myself. Then I cut, but never before day 57. I too find that if I wait for them to come out on their own, I get a better feeding response. Like Dave Green said, it is just my observation and I'm glad to see someone else had the same observation.

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Originally Posted by Dave Green

I noticed in the past that clutches I didn't cut seem to have babies that fed better. This past season I held off on cutting and I had a much better feeding response from my babies. I had at least 75% start on frozen thawed. It's not scientific, nor do I know why, but I won't be cutting eggs this year...

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Ok now I'm thinking I don't wanna cut unless I think there's something wrong with the baby in the egg... These kind of odds don't seem like a coincidence imo...

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Ok now I'm thinking I don't wanna cut unless I think there's something wrong with the baby in the egg... These kind of odds don't seem like a coincidence imo...

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But how will you know there's something wrong if you don't cut? Seems like a true catch 22 if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by Dave Green

I noticed in the past that clutches I didn't cut seem to have babies that fed better. This past season I held off on cutting and I had a much better feeding response from my babies. I had at least 75% start on frozen thawed. It's not scientific, nor do I know why, but I won't be cutting eggs this year...

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I noticed that too this past year, not a big sampling but I was kind of surprised how hungry they seemed compared to some past clutches that we cut on day 52.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I noticed that too this past year, not a big sampling but I was kind of surprised how hungry they seemed compared to some past clutches that we cut on day 52.

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My hypothesis is that they are using up a lot of their energy from the yolk storage to cut through the egg and thus that energy needs to be replaced by other methods of nutrients (i.e. a rat or mouse). When you cut, they don't have to use up that energy since it's already done for them. But again, just a hypothesis.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

My hypothesis is that they are using up a lot of their energy from the yolk storage to cut through the egg and thus that energy needs to be replaced by other methods of nutrients (i.e. a rat or mouse). When you cut, they don't have to use up that energy since it's already done for them. But again, just a hypothesis.

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Makes good sense to me. Good thinking.

Or, it could be that the bacteria and other nasty stuff that gets into the eggs that we cannot see make the baby weaker and gives it a slower start. As for how do you know if there is something wrong, you cut a very small "v" in the egg. Without digging around, how do you tell if there is a problem. The cut window is so small, all you see is the side or back of the snake. And, unless the cord is wrapped around that specific spot, you may still miss it. So yes, cutting may let you see a problem, but it may also be missed even with a cut, unless you are making big cuts (letting in more junk).

Please do a search on this form for problem eggs. There are many many threads where cutting early caused all kind of issues. I think it may be the number one reason that babies are lost. We all want to see what is in those eggs. We have slaved over these animals for a full year to get to the point where we have eggs in the incubator. I know it is hard to wait, but if you do not have the experience to deal with the problems you may find, then the best avenue in my opinion is to let them pip on their own.

Just my 2 cents, your experience may be different.

Last year I cut 24 hours after the 1st one pipped. By that point my 1st pipper was all the way out of the egg. I had 2 eggs left (out of a 7 egg clutch) that weren't showing any score marks like babies were trying to cut their way out (the rest of the eggs had such marks. I went ahead and cut about a 1" long slit in each of the eggs that showed no activity and within another 48 hours everyone was out. One of the eggs was super small already (had some humidity issues early in the incubation period) so I was particularly worried about that baby. I plan to follow this same line of thinking this year: if it seems like most of the clutch is progressing in the right direction and there are a few stragglers, I'll cut those...I really do prefer to let the babies do it their own way, on their own time.

We have a ton of threads come up every spring/summer about egg cutting, you just haven't hit the right time frame yet ;) There are quite a few of us that cut, I personally cut. I would say out of impatience and wanting to ensure that the hatchling makes it out of the egg. I cut on day 52, but do not advise cutting that early unless you have experience/do a bunch of research as to how to care for the egg if you cut it that early.

Mine isn't out of impatience but more of concern for the baby. I want to make sure they get out safely. Waiting for the first one to cut on its own seemed to work last year. I did have two that didn't make it but I think that was more of a heating issue. I haven't had any issues with feeding either. Both of my 2012 babies are voracious feeders and were eating within a day or two of their first shed.

I cut between day 55-58. Didnt have a problem. Babies usually get out at day 60-62.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jgfvNz29Ui...-14-33_617.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpQ47DikR2...-33-38_369.jpg

This one didnt like my help and found its own way out....lol

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hoYLqFLQR8...-10-51_262.jpg

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I noticed that too this past year, not a big sampling but I was kind of surprised how hungry they seemed compared to some past clutches that we cut on day 52.

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For what it's worth, I can vouch for this, as well. It's a small sample size, but out of my one clutch last year, I cut two eggs, and these were the last two babies to eat (three and four weeks after their first shed). They were also the most nervous babies. Is the nervousness a coincidence? I don't know. Some babies are just more timid.

Anyway, as far as cutting goes . . . If an egg hasn't pipped on its own ~6 hours after the others, I make a slight slit. It's not a door, just enough for me to peer inside and the little snakeling to get some air if something goes wrong when it's ready to hatch. Left to their own devices, they tend to pip on their own around day 60 for me, then sit for another 12 - 24 hours before coming out. Babies from cut eggs do seem to take longer before they're ready to crawl out.

Our very first clutch was produced by a gravid female we rescued who was battling a RI, she was weak to begin with & truthfully we had concerns about her surviving to lay her clutch. The entire clutch was collapsed & very wilted within days of being laid. we cut the eggs on about day 55 & the entire clutch was fine. Since then every clutch we produce gets cut, but only after the first baby or 2 pip on their own. we dont put our fingers in the eggs or disturb the babies & everything is sanatized before we cut. I think its about using common sense & moderation in how, when & why you choose to intervene.