Pied Clutch Problem - Only Two babies left!

So here's the story. I breed my Pastel Pied female to my Black Pastel Het pied male and got five fertile eggs. Flash forward 54 days and I could tell there was a problem with 3 of them. I cut them open and all three babies were completely developed (albeit about a week short of ready to hatch) and dead. The inside of those three eggs were milky and the babies had their patterns but were a grayish color. All three looked like normals but could have been black pastel or pewter. Their color was too washed out to tell.

I was really depressed so I decided to cut the other two eggs the same day. Thankfully my luck turned around and the other two eggs contained high white pied babies that are alive! However, the liquid in both eggs is a greenish color. From the moment I cut them open it was light green. Now I think it's getting darker green. Today is day 56. The babies still look fine and move when I touch their egg but I am really nervous I'm going to lose them too.

Has anyone had this happen before? Is this green color normal? They don't smell at all and the liquid is still clear.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...8.17.16_pm.png

search the forum for "green eggs" or something along those lines. I can remember at least 2 posts on this problem before.

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Green is not normal. I'm not sure what it's a sign of though. I hope they make it!

So according to this thread it is lethal. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...candling-green

Do I just have to wait and hope the snakes come out before this problem kills them? It's day 57 and they look fine in the egg. This is killing me.

Seems like those ones weren't as far along as yours is. I don't think you can 'help' them right I think you just need to be on stand by to see if they start to peek out. If they crawl out and have yolk attached that they can't absorb then you can use dental floss to tie off the cord and place them in a deli cup with wet paper towels until it comes off. Good luck!

I don't think there is a lot you can do for them at this point. If you try to remove them from there eggs it may cause more harm than good. I hope they make it. Please keep us posted on how they are doing.

Put a bottle of saline solution in your incubator. Wait a few hours while the bottle of saline reaches the temperature of your incubator. Once the saline is the same temperature as that of the incubator, you could use the saline solution to flush out the green fluid. You will probably have to flush every day, but it is something that should allow you to minimize the bad fluid.

Well I hate to even post this but I know people will be interested. Got home and one was dead. Tangled in it's umbilical cord. I know there was nothing I could do. It clearly developed tangled. The cord was tight against it's tail and was pinched. Just plain bad luck. It was a black pastel pied too. The one snake I was going for.

The other is still in it's egg, alive, but doesn't respond to prodding and looks close to dying. It's a pastel pied. I'm so depressed...

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...7.43.00_pm.png

Wow, thats rough.. Sorry. How far off is the actual hatch date now? Damn, wonder if would hurt if you intervened w the other to try to save it.. Meaning tied off cord and cut. Anyone else have any ideas?? I know we have alot of experienced ppl out here...

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Today is day 57. So I would say hatch day is around now. I have no idea what is best. If it is already weak would cutting it off the yolk be exactly the opposite of helpful?

I honestly don't know what the right answer is for this one.

I think you are going to have to make a judgement call. I just know what I would do in your shoes. Sorry I am not much more help than that.

I'm so sorry for your loss on this. That cord probably tangled because there is so much yolk left in the egg, I'm thinking it may have tangled after he crawled out. If there is a huge yolk on the other one the same thing may happen.

Thanks for the update this is a tough break but like you pointed out this information is helpful for all of us in the herp community.

This is very similar to a clutch I have now. 8 eggs were sitting perfect in the bator til about day 40. In a matter of a day and a half, 6 of the 8 died. The other two looked fine. Day 55 they dimpled like normal but I noticed one had developed a green spot so I decided to cut. One egg had a moving baby but was full of green fluid just like yours. The other also had green fluid but not as bad and the baby was not moving. I heated some distilled water in the bator over night then flushed the green fluid out. The eggs seemed to do better and two days later the babies were both moving and looked bigger. Day 58 the baby that wasn't moving on cut day had stopped moving again. Looks like it has passed or will soon. Hoping the one at least survives and I hope yours does as well

Dang. Sorry to hear that aLittleLessButter. We're in the same exact boat. I have one left that's still alive now. I'm just praying that it makes it. Good luck! I'll update this thread if the last one makes it out. I hope yours does too!

Green egg whites are a new one on me, but so I did a little bit of web searching using the key words neon green egg white. The color is not unique to ball pythons. One causefor green egg white in chickens is excess riboflavin/vitamin B2 in the diet. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/public...loured-whites/

On the other hand, an unusual number of dead embryos in a clutch would make me suspect a vitamin deficiency of some sort. IMO, an unusual number would be more than 25% of the clutch. Maybe both have a hand in the problem. :confusd:

Good luck with your eggs, guys!

My experience with green eggs could also mean that your humidity levels are a bit too high. If they aren't dimpling too bad, this could be the issue - the eggs may have absorbed too much water (possible condensation drip?), which they are unable to combat.

Hope that helps.