New clutch questions- Should I cut/ Mould

First time with eggs, very excited for the babies to come out. For anyone interested pairing was Lesser Enchi x Mojave

Its currently day 54 temps were 87.5 - 88f, last night one of the eggs had a slit in. No sign of baby however- should I cut that one a bit more and the rest of the eggs or leave them all to it until more have pipped?

Also the one right above the one with the slit has started developing some white mould on the top, should I remove it but try and keep it in the same orientation? And for the mould, its just any athletes foot powder right? Just sprinkle it on top?

Many thanks

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/oGNOx8I.jpg

Those eggs look perfect for Day 54! I wouldn't even consider touching them until you see the first snake pip (nose poking out of the egg). If you insist on cutting you are pretty safe to do so at that point.

Unless I can't see something in the photo: The white mold shouldn't be able to get through the shells before your eggs hatch in a week or two. If you cut the eggs early you will expose your hatchlings to this mold before they finish development.

Awesome thankyou!

I had only noticed the mould yesterday and from the picture it is quite hard to see. Hopefully it wouldn't affect the one with the slit in?
I did cut the existing slit just a little more (Not too much so it's not fully open) mostly to see what was inside, and it's a BEL, and I'm so excited 😁😁

From my extremely recent experience (literally today lol), I incubated my temps a bit low like you did, and my first egg just pipped on day 61, nose poking out... So I would wait longer before cutting them, you don't want them to dry out!

Also, since one of your eggs does have mold, cutting them exposes the inside of the eggs to the mold spores immediately. I also just found this out and it wasn't pretty, because I realized mold spreads SUPER fast and easily in this warm temp and high humidity... I regret cutting while having a moldy egg in the incubator.

Ah, hopefully the athletes foot powder I brought today works to get rid of the mould. I didn't cut all the eggs, just made the one the snake made itself a little longer (like a few millimetres, tiny tiny amount) fingers crossed nothing goes too badly!

Well it's pipped 😊 it's so cute!!

https://i.imgur.com/deiQCvor.jpg