Why help hatchlings hatch?

[Charles8088]

I'm watching Youtube videos on all this stuff, learning, soaking in all this info, as I ready myself for my first ball, and I constantly see videos of bp eggs, and people helping them along by cutting with a small scissor. Just curious on the reason. Why wouldn't you just let it be, and wait till they hatch? I would've thought its bad to help... but I guess not since its what many breeders are doing on these videos. So, next thought process is, why?

[John1982]

Folks who cut usually do it after the first egg pips. It's just a little boost in hatch rates, reducing the work required for the snakes inside. It's also kind of nifty getting a sneak peek at the hatchlings.

[redshepherd]

Folks who cut usually do it after the first egg pips. It's just a little boost in hatch rates, reducing the work required for the snakes inside. It's also kind of nifty getting a sneak peek at the hatchlings.

(Hopefully this is still on-topic LOL) I always wondered how you would know that you're not accidentally cutting the snake or anything important? Is there a specific way to cut?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Because when you breed animals in captivity you try to put all the chances on your side which is why people use incubators and cut as well. While it is rare hatchlings have been know to drown (broken egg tooth), I have witness it. So if you can prevent issues simply by cutting when the first animal pips or you know when they are due to pip you can potentially prevent an issue, sadly some people do it by curiosity being impatient, cutting too early and do just the opposite putting the life of the animal in danger......it's all about experience and patience.

[Charles8088]

(Hopefully this is still on-topic LOL) I always wondered how you would know that you're not accidentally cutting the snake or anything important? Is there a specific way to cut?

I notice that some "fold" part of the egg skin, and then cut along there. Maybe that's for that.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

(Hopefully this is still on-topic LOL) I always wondered how you would know that you're not accidentally cutting the snake or anything important? Is there a specific way to cut?

Pinch the egg (toward the end of incubation it will get more pliable), make a first cut and than a second, your ideal cut is a V shape cut with the flap falling back down on the egg, nothing worse than those HUGE open roof that looks like they have been cut with a chainsaw.

[Trisnake]

(Hopefully this is still on-topic LOL) I always wondered how you would know that you're not accidentally cutting the snake or anything important? Is there a specific way to cut?

I've seen a lot of people pinch a part of the egg shell between their thumb and forefinger and roll it gently, to move blood vessels and other vital parts out of the cutting area. It should be easy to pinch since the eggs should be wrinkled by the time of cutting.

EDIT: Deborah beat me lol

[paulh]

I'm watching Youtube videos on all this stuff, learning, soaking in all this info, as I ready myself for my first ball, and I constantly see videos of bp eggs, and people helping them along by cutting with a small scissor. Just curious on the reason. Why wouldn't you just let it be, and wait till they hatch? I would've thought its bad to help... but I guess not since its what many breeders are doing on these videos. So, next thought process is, why?

IMO, it is not a good idea to cut the egg shell. Reasons for cutting are mostly to rationalize impatience to see what is in there. IMO, a broken egg tooth can happen but is too rare to justify wholesale cutting.

Note that people who do not cut eggs do not post egg-cutting videos, so YouTube is biased in favor of cutting. And if you start looking through the list, the vast majority are of ball python eggs. Where are the videos of corn snake egg cutting? IMO, ball python egg clutches have few enough eggs to be easily separated at laying time. A single egg is big enough to open and look inside. And at pipping time, the babies are big enough and tough enough to not be particularly affected. Corn snake's lay more eggs which are much smaller and more likely to be incubated as a mass than ball python eggs. All this makes cutting them much more difficult to cut and more likely to produce bad effects than cutting ball python eggs.