Day 46 - The fever to cut has hit!

[Bill Buchman]

Probably the best post I have read in any thread concerning egg cutting. I finally learned this lesson this year. I have for the last three years, dropped the temps in my incubator by .5-.7 degrees per year. Well, this year it caught up with me. I have had two clutches this year that I cut at day 49, and because of the cooler temps, they were not hatching until day 62. As a result, I have lost my first ever hatchling to an umbilicus that twisted around the body and killed the baby, and have already had to tie off 3 umbilicus and leave the animals without yolk. I believe that the extended open egg time has caused uneeded stress on the hatchlings, and been the source of my problems.

As a resolution, I have increased incubator temps back 89 degrees and restrained myself to cutting eggs no earlier than day 51 now. With all of that said, as a rule of thumb, I think cutting eggs within 5-7 days of hatching is ok. I say that because hatching days are going to be determined by incubation temps.

In other words: DON'T DO IT! Practice restraint.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Tim!!! Clearly, it is diificult for most of us not to get the scissors out. Before I cut ANY egg, I look at the clutch and egg itself. I squeeze the side a bit -- do I feel snake in there? I look at both top and bottom -- how much has the ENTIRE circumference of the egg sunk/decreased.

I lost a couple hatchings last season to twisted umbilical. These were clutches that I cut 7-10 days early and was poking at after I cut them -- bad move!!! I believe that this is the chief concern with cutting early -- the longer the egg is open before emerging -- the greater the chance the baby will go under/through the umbilical and get into trouble. Nature put them in there nice and tight. We mess with "her madness" when we open her eggs up 7-14 days before she intended them to come out.

Without a doubt, the Caramel Mojave clutch has been the most difficult wait this season. I had them in my 6-foot standing glass-front cooker set at 87 degrees -- at the bottom of course. I did not even open the box once until day 47 -- when I took the Press N Seal off. After doing my "eyeball egg check", I cut them on day 57 and they did not come out until 60. Lower temps require LONGER COOKING TIME!! It is true for and for snake eggs.

I would encourage those who think it is daring/cool/not risky to cut at pre-50 days to... RECONSIDER.