Hello to all the ball python experts. Quick background on me- I got into ball pythons roughly 9 months ago with an interest in the genetics factor of these snakes. I found it amazing how many different morphs could be created within this one species. Anyways, I am currently up to 6 snakes that i keep in a homemade rack system. Ok fast forward to my current situation, I recently was successful in breeding my fire male to my spider female and eggs were layed successfully roughly 7 weeks ago. 5 days ago i decided to cut the eggs so that i could confirm the father ( i also crossed the female with a male mojave) and to make sure no babies were having any problems. Well just yesterday i was checking on the eggs which are now in there own tubs finishing incubating and i noticed small maggots crawling around. Turns out that small fruit fly gnat looking things made it into the 6qt sterilite tub and laid eggs. I did some reading on the forum and decided that i would remove the baby carefully without tearing the umbilical cord to get it away from the maggots and let it finish absorbing its yolk in peace. Well i checked the baby this morning before work and the snake did not make it. The baby was non-responsive to my touch. Being that i am a newbie, im sure theres a million things that i did wrong, but can anyone help point out any of the major things that could have messed me up.
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