Bp eggs sinking

[jason79]

I have a clutch of eggs in the incubator temps are 89 humidity on both acurites always says HI unless you open the door then it drops to 80% or so for a bit then its back to HI. They belong to a friend of mine and he was not sure when they were laid but they have been in the incubator for 47 days. They were originally put in vermiculite and it kinda dried out and they started to dimple some around day 35 so I changed them to the substrateles method on day 35 with perilite and water and they plumped back up some but not all the way. Now they are sinking in quite a bit what should I do? I candled the worst one the other day and it still has good veins and a big dark area. Should I pip them or just wait?


Any help would be appreciated

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Id give it a couple days and see if a baby pips on its own. Drench that substrate to make the eggs softer and easier to pip/cut. If you have to cut them just keep a wet paper towel draped over the eggs so the baby does not try to get out before absorbing the yolk. A couple of them may not make it. I had a clutch last year that had a few like that and the ones that were completely sunken in didnt make it. This year I got a new incubator and when I do the substrateless method I soak the hatchrite to the point of seeing standing water just at the surface of it.

Oh if you do have to cut them be sure to candle first. Thats a tight fit in thse collapsed eggs and you want to be sure you are not cutting in an area where a baby is sitting.

[jason79]

Id give it a couple days and see if a baby pips on its own. Drench that substrate to make the eggs softer and easier to pip/cut. If you have to cut them just keep a wet paper towel draped over the eggs so the baby does not try to get out before absorbing the yolk. A couple of them may not make it. I had a clutch last year that had a few like that and the ones that were completely sunken in didnt make it. This year I got a new incubator and when I do the substrateless method I soak the hatchrite to the point of seeing standing water just at the surface of it.

Oh if you do have to cut them be sure to candle first. Thats a tight fit in thse collapsed eggs and you want to be sure you are not cutting in an area where a baby is sitting.

Well if you didn't cut them and they didn't make it then maybe I should try cutting them and see what happens. Any body else have an experience with this?

[LadyOhh]

I would say put more water in. As long as the egg shells are not leathery, and they are pliable, it should be fine for the babies to pip...

They look like they need a bit more humidity is all.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Well if you didn't cut them and they didn't make it then maybe I should try cutting them and see what happens. Any body else have an experience with this?

Well, I didnt cut them early because my incubator decided not to work at the last minute and that female incubated them which is probably why I had that problem in the first place. The ones that didnt make it had died in the eggs at least a week before the others pipped. They just ran out of room. If I was in your situation I would cut those eggs on day 50 or so but no earlier. I have one collapsed egg right now while the other eggs in the clutch are still full and round that Im going to cut in about 10 days. Too early and you run into the problem of them not absorbing the yolk or the color not being fully developed. They may be premies too.

[jason79]

I would say put more water in. As long as the egg shells are not leathery, and they are pliable, it should be fine for the babies to pip...

They look like they need a bit more humidity is all.

The water is filled up to just below the eggcrate I cant really add anymore without it getting up to where the eggs are. I also have a large tub of water in the bottom of the incubator that has alot of surface area and I keep it full to.

[Wildman09]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't they supposed to look like that at about 40-45 days?..I have not bred BP's, but I've done ALOT of research and from my understanding they'll start to dimple when the yolk is almost gone and they are about to pip....I may be wrong or they might be more then normaly dimpled/sinking at this stage.

Either way, hope all goes all Good as possible for you and your clutch.

[WingedWolfPsion]

They might be a little more dimpled than usual for that stage, but most of my ball eggs hatch around day 55. If yours are day 47, they may have only 8 days left in the egg anyhow. You could drap a damp paper towel over the top of them and see if that helps, but at this point, with the humidity level you have in there, I think they'll be ok. You could have noses sticking out in less than a week. You could probably just safely cut them now to take a look. Just be sure to keep the eggs topped off inside with clean water if you do this--they can quickly dry out inside once breached.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't they supposed to look like that at about 40-45 days?..I have not bred BP's, but I've done ALOT of research and from my understanding they'll start to dimple when the yolk is almost gone and they are about to pip....I may be wrong or they might be more then normaly dimpled/sinking at this stage.

Either way, hope all goes all Good as possible for you and your clutch.

Not quite that bad. They will dimple and begin to collapse but not completely sink in like that. Which is why cutting those eggs in question is very iffy. Too soon risks the babies not being fully developed. Too late risks losing the ones that are completely squashed. Its a tough call. That's why humidity should be kept visibly high. I don't really trust hygrometers. I do hope the OP will be able to give us some good news in about 10 days saying the babies are ok.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

They might be a little more dimpled than usual for that stage, but most of my ball eggs hatch around day 55. If yours are day 47, they may have only 8 days left in the egg anyhow. You could drap a damp paper towel over the top of them and see if that helps, but at this point, with the humidity level you have in there, I think they'll be ok. You could have noses sticking out in less than a week. You could probably just safely cut them now to take a look. Just be sure to keep the eggs topped off inside with clean water if you do this--they can quickly dry out inside once breached.

Agree about the water. If you do cut use bottled water if your tap water is well water or very hard water.