Died after pipping???

[derrabe]

Ok I have a snake that pipped through the egg made a big hole, and now appears to be dead, has not moved in 12 hours. What would have happened? The other eggs in the box appear to be fine, 2 have come fully out and now are in their own hatchling tubs. This is our second clutch ever and no clue what happened. I seen him looking at me the night before, my wife check on him the next day and the top his egg was pretty tore up and if you looked inside his head is sideways and he has not moved.

[cinderbird]

You should remember that you did everything you could for him. Not all babies are meant to make it and if he got to the point where he pipped the egg it was out of your control.

Sometimes (i've heard) that they will pip and rest a lot. If he has passed, remember him and then let him go. You have his brothers and sisters to look after and remember him by.

[derrabe]

Im not upset really because i realize it can happen, I am more curious what could have happened and if I could have done something to prevent it

[DemmBalls]

I have heard that some hatchlings will pip, then go back into the egg. If they are unable to find the hole that they pipped through...they will suffocate/drown in the egg. This is just my guess as to what may have happened. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.

That is one benefit to cutting eggs. you can make a slightly larger whole that is easier for them to find, should they venture back into the egg.

Good luck with the rest of the babies.

[Freakie_frog]

Poke it and make sure it is dead. I had a lesser this year "die one me" and it was just resting.. So just because it hasn't moved might not mean any thing.. I've seen them in some pretty weird positions in the egg.. When in doubt Poke IT

[derrabe]

I did poke it, lightly with the back end of a pen and it did not react. Also the head is tilted sideways and is right under the big hole (almost destroyed the top half of the egg) I am wording if the cord got wrapped and it was thrashing around trying to get air.

[ladizzlee]

pictures?

[xdeus]

I just had a pewter die on me in the egg right before it was ready to pip. My son did a dissection on it and nothing appeared to be wrong other than a strange small black lump below its heart that discolored the tissue around it. I couldn't tell you what it was or even if it had something to do with its death.

Sometimes they just die on you for no apparent reason, then again sometimes healthy grown snakes will do that as well. Being that this is a pewter, I wonder if this is more common with morphs than it is with normal snakes?

[derrabe]

This is turning out to be a bad clutch for me, it was a 9 egg clutch one egg died about 30 days into incubation, one started turning colors at like day 48 and one died during pipping, and I got one egg that look fine but hasn't even began to pip so I am thinking it is dead too. I have never cut an egg and since none of them have sunk in I don't want to accidentally poke the snake.

So far 5 babies at fully out and 3 confirmed dead and 1 probably dead.

[J.Vandegrift]

Might as well cut the last one. You can't do any harm at this point and if it does happen to still be alive you may be able to save it. It could just be unable to pip on it's own for some reason. Definitely worth a shot at least.