One came out w/ yolk - and question about others!

[Lolo76]

Okay, this has to be a record for longest hatching time EVER! The first one emerged last Thursday, and there are still two hanging out in their eggs. I'm sure it has to do with my uneven heating, so I'm not too worried about that.

But baby #4 came out today, and still has a bit of yolk attached. I had already read a bunch of threads on the issue, so I knew to clean him off and put him on wet paper towels until it falls off. I already have the other babies on wet towels in the rack, but figured he needs his own tub... so I cleaned him off, put him on the wet towels in a 6qt tub (with a few holes), and put it back into the incubator. My ambient temps are a bit low in the racks, so I think he's better off in the steadily heated incubator for now. Does that all sound good? He weighs 55g, which is only 8-10g less than the others, so I'm assuming he will pull through. Here are some photos:

(don't worry, this was just for cleaning him off - I drained the water before leaving him alone)


That's yolk, right? Not a prolapse or something?




And here are the two who still won't emerge... Mojave looks ready any hour, but the other one (who was farthest from the heat) still looks pretty goopy. Should I be worried? He/she has good movement, at least.

[llovelace]

The nfirst baby will be fine, just keep the paper towels moist/wet, til it falls off in a couple/few days, check on the one to see if the umbilicus may be twisted / kinked.

[Lolo76]

The nfirst baby will be fine, just keep the paper towels moist/wet, til it falls off in a couple/few days, check on the one to see if the umbilicus may be twisted / kinked.

Thanks! Little "yolky" is doing fine, and chilling out in his tub... I was concerned about a twisted umbilicus on that one egg, especially when I noticed this vein-like thing across the top. But when I cut the shell a bit more, I think it's just a weird looking vein (probably from being exposed to the air for a few days). He/she has colored in and dried out a LOT since just this morning, so hopefully we'll see a baby outta there soon. Here's what it looks like now:



P.S. Can you believe I got 5 normals out of 6 eggs? Not the greatest odds, but I'm just happy they're all alive... and the Mojave looks hot!

[llovelace]

Oh yeah, it's looking good , sorry about the odds, but hatching out a healthy clutch is great

[Lolo76]

Oh yeah, it's looking good , sorry about the odds, but hatching out a healthy clutch is great

Yay, I'm glad to hear your opinion on the egg - I was still a bit worried! And yeah, having healthy babies is really the important part... I wasn't expecting to make money off them anyway, so it was mostly about the learning experience. I'm planning to keep three of them (baby #1, baby #2 or 3, and the Mojave if it's a girl), but my roommate is convinced I'll end up keeping all 6. We'll see!

[Lolo76]

Oh wait... were you saying the egg (with the vein) looks good, or the Mojave looks good? Just realized I may have misread your response.

[llovelace]

Both

[Lolo76]

Both

Awesome... LOL.

[Blue Apple Herps]

That first one will be just fine! Just put him on some moist paper towels and he might absorb a little more, or more likely, it will just fall off.

And just for reassurances, here's a pic of a pied I hatched last year who came out with his yolk unabsorbed. As you can see, he didn't absorb any of it. I put him in a deli cup lined with moist paper towels, and within a couple of days he had absorbed all but a small portion and that small portion fell off. If he can survive this, your guy will too!

[Jason Bowden]

Congrats on the healthy babies!