Hatchling Not absorbing yolk

[tjteach14]

My first clutch of the season and eggs are hatching fine, pipping on their own and doing well. I went to check on them this morning and noticed that the first egg which pipped a few days ago was not making any progress on absorbing its yolk, while the rest where almost gone. Left it till this afternoon to see if any change occured and came home to now change. Did some research and took what I think to be appropriate measures. The video explains what I did. I would apprecaite any advice on this one.

Thank you in advance.

-Toby

[Marrissa]

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. Thank you for posting so we can learn from it. Fingers crossed everything turns out fine.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

In the event there is no progress within the next 36 hours I would recommend that you cut the yolk sac off. After that of course the animal will require assist feeding (most likely) within the next few day. (you obviously do not want to wait for him to get his first meal like at the time his siblings will have their first meal.

Cutting the egg yolk of if necessary is easy you can see it done here http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ighlight=Lucky while the issue is slightly different the end result is pretty much the same.

[tjteach14]

Thanks Deborah

I just went and checked on it and it had separated from the yolk on its own. The yolk felt more like silly putty, some i'm guessing there was an issue there. I'll keep an eye on it and try feeding it soon with some help. I does look like it did get some food in it prior to the issue and the belly looks like it will heal up fine.

here's a pic of the separated yolk.
[IMG][/IMG]

[Blue Apple Herps]

I had a hatchling a few years ago (my first pied ever, so I was doubly anxious) who crawled out without absorbing his yolk. I put him in a deli cup with a moist paper lining and he absorbed 80% of it in the next 48 hours, a small nub never absorbed and eventually fell off a half a day later, similar to yours just much smaller.

He ended up recovering just fine. Without a reference its hard to tell just how much was absorbed, you can tell better than us. if he absorbed some, I might try waiting until after he sheds and offer him food then; if he didn't absorb much at all, then I agree, wait a couple of days and then offer food or assist feed him to get some nutrients into him.

I'm sure he'll be just fine - good luck!

[don15681]

can you give us a weight on the lesserbee? and how does he compare to the others size and weight wise. thanks don

[Simple Man]

I had this happen last year and acted too slowly for one baby. I lost a triple gene Mojave female but I was able to save her sibling Mojave YB. I simply sterilized my hands and undid the tight part where it was twisted on the umbilicus. I massaged the yolk up the umbilicus and into the babies belly carefully. I then used sterilized scissors to cut the umbilical about an 1.25" below the belly and tied it off with new waxed dental floss. You do not want to tie it up too far or it can be sucked up into the belly and present a whole different problem. I kept her in the incubator in an ICU cup (small packed with moist paper towels) until the umbilical healed and fell off. Today she's one of my best eating 2012 hatchlings and a fine example of a Mojave YB. Because I was able to get the yolk into her stomach I did not have to assist feed. She eagerly took food 10 days after the "surgery".

Regards,

B

[tjteach14]

Weight is 40g on it. About 20g lighter than siblings. It is active and I can tell it got some yolk prior to things stopping up. As it is still active and looking good I'm holding out on a stressful assist feed for at least a couple of days while I observe its behavior. If it seems to slow down I will get some food in it.

Thanks for the replies.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Glad I followed this thread. Now I just have to remember these helpful tips in a couple years when I'll hopefully be looking at some eggs.

[tjteach14]

Quick update...The little lesserbee is a girl and her belly has healed up nicely and she is quite active. Today I was able to assist a pink asf rat into her. Just got it in her mouth and hooked on her teeth and she did the rest. I'm hoping this little meal will get her through the shed.