Beginning of our 1st clutch ever! :'(

[Generationshell]

It wasn't alive in that picture right? I hope you have put the poor thing down :/
Can't wait to see the healthy baby though. :]

[ClarkT]

Yes, it was still alive. That was right after we took it out. Yes, I put it down quickly.

The healthy one finally pipped yesterday at noon. Still waiting for it to come out of the egg. It's definitely a mojave! At least we hit the odds with the single one that was left. Now if he'll just come out of there...

[Misfit]

Thank the gods at least one little guy made it. <3 And hooray for mojo!

[RichsBallPythons]

How did you incubate. This can be helpful for preventing eggs from diminishing like that and or deformities.

[ClarkT]

They started out in a small incubator where the temp could only maintain them at 86-87.

Half way through, we got our upright freezer incubator up and going, where inside the tubs, now, it maintains 88.2-89.6.

The last one seems to be doing fine. He's just taking his time to absorb and emerge. It's day 64 now...Patience, grasshopper....

[RichsBallPythons]

How were the tubs setup.

[ClarkT]

Well, now I wonder about patience vs. actively doing something...

The last one didn't absorb the yolk and died. He pipped on day 63. We removed the top of the egg. It looked just fine. the umbilical cord was not twisted at all. It just didn't absorb.

Should I have taken it out, cut the cord, and force fed it some yolk? How would I have known it was going too long without absorbing? What do you do when they don't seem to be absorbing the yolk? How long do you give them?

Btw, it was a smokin little mojo. Had some really unique pattern on its back. No, I didn't get pics of it. I should have, but I'm just too bummed.

Heckuva first clutch. It really discourages me to keep going with it. We have another due anytime to lay. She's on day 32 from POS. Another 3 girls are still locking up and have follicles...

The tubs are substrateless. I have easter egg halves holding up the egg crate. Humidity is 90%-100%. Water never comes in contact with the eggs.

Our other 2 clutches are doing just fine. Temps are good, they have been very steady. Humidity looks great. They candle great.

[dr del]

Don't beat yourself up over this as there may very well have been nothing you could have done.

There are many developmental problems that would only be a problem when the snake reached the stage of pipping and breathing on its own.

The mention of the unique back pattern might hint that is suffered a lesser form of the problem the other one did.

Tying off the umbilical can be done successfully ( see Muddoc's threads for info on these things ) but I wouldn't have tried to force feed the yolk I don't think.


dr del

[Jay_Bunny]

Sorry about the clutch. Unfortunately these things happen. My first clutch was kinda like yours. She laid 6 eggs, all but two went up to hatching. One was so kinked it died in the egg and the other died 3 months after hatching because it couldn't eat. Sometimes things just happen. Don't let it discourage you though. You have plenty more chances at babies this season!

[ClarkT]

Another question I have now...

The other clutches we have were sired by the same male as this clutch. Does that lead to believe that the damsel was likely a culprit in bad eggs? If so, how likely is she to produce good healthy eggs next year?

We picked her up as a rescue. She's at least 11 years old now, as the people we got her from had her 10 years, and didn't know how old she was when they got her.

She is 5-1/2' long, and weighed close to 2900 grams just before she laid. When we started pairing her, she was in the 2400 gram range. She gained weight well, and seemed to be very healthy.

Anyway, just wondering if I should expect the same results from her next year. She never had been bred before we had her.