Egg cutting after care…

[Dinoanc]

Hi all. This year we got our first clutch, 5 beautiful eggs from our BEL female. Definitely surprised us, didn’t show any signs of pregnancy and I somehow let myself ignore the prelay shed lol. First time mom, no slugs, eggs are a little small imo but I won’t judge. She did fantastic going back on food.

Day 60 is less than a week away. We made the call to cut our eggs on day 53 (of incubation, I do believe momma had them for a couple days because we found them after we’d been away for the weekend at a show.) I went for an earlier day because halfway through our temps got messed with and they sat a little high (91F) for about a week and a half until my better incubator came in for the rescue. Ever since they’ve been sitting at a delicate 88.5-89.

Everyone looked good and responded when tickled, they’re back in the incubator. It’s been about 2 days now and I’ve been gently misting and keep a wet paper towel over the top of them. Everyone is still responsive but one egg’s goop is starting to turn off color and I don’t know if it should worry me. I’ve read that people flush them, and I was wondering if I should? Like, do I need to actively go in and rinse out the nasty stuff? To me that sounds harmful but idk… would mixing a light amount of betadine be a bad idea when I do this? Thank you guys in advance. I haven’t touched them so far other than the light misting because I want it done right.

[Erie_herps]

Just leave them be. It's best to wait until at least the second snake pips before cutting (I personally never plan on cutting, I think it does more harm than good). The snakes are likely not fully developed yet. So, just leave them be and they will come out when they are ready. Keep the humidity in the tub high, but avoid putting anything in the eggs.

[Armiyana]

53 is really early... Did any pip before you cut? That's the better sign to cut the eggs than waiting for day 60.like Erie said, they may be developing still. At the very least, absorbing the rest of the yolk.


Drying out however can be an issue and it might not be a bad idea to use a bottle of purified or distilled water to top off the eggs a bit if they do dry out. Making sure the babies are hydrated.
If the albumin dries up too much it may make it difficult for the babies to climb out.
Try to leave them alone as much as possible, only add the water as a last resort if the humidity isn't enough

[Dinoanc]

[Albert Clark]

Great results! Nice work.