Did breeders who have DIE hatchlings have necropsies done to find cause of death?
Is there any chance the hatchlings died of causes aside from drowning? How do they know the egg tooth was not lost in the process of it trying to slit the egg open, or even shortly after?
I've had hatchlings with a very visible egg tooth, and hatchlings with absolutely no detectable egg tooth just hours out of the egg. (And I don't cut, ever, so they did their own slitting and the egg tooth disappeared shortly after)
The fact is we have NO data whatsoever on how many develop without egg tooths, how many lose them in the process of pipping, and how many die due to internal defects/undetectable defects that are not visible to the naked eye.
And chances are we likely won't ever get this data.
People can justify cutting in any way they choose. The snakes belong to them and no one else and of course everyone is free to do what they choose. I just won't, because all these reasons for cutting don't have any sound explanations behind them.
When people start getting necropsies done on their DIE hatchlings, I'd be more inclined to believe they were preventing a death by cutting.
However I still won't agree that preventing said death is for the betterment of the species. If a snake is genetically too weak to exit their egg, why should they be in the gene pool?
Reply With Quote