Weirdness In The Eggs / When Is It Safe To Remove A Live Baby?

[hotelvoodoo]

Hello helpful friends. Looking for some advice.

Every clutch I have hatched this year has pipped on day 53. Up till now.

My Black Pastel Het Albino to Black Pastel Het Albino clutch ran to day 57 without a sign.
My husband and I sliced the eggs on day 57 to see what was going on. Looks like 4 healthy hatchlings and two big ?
Predictably both hatchlings are supers. The one is a super black pastel, the other a blizzard ball. Both looked a little strange in the egg. We could see neither head and the bodies seemed off. Now, we've two other deformity issues this year, one fused hatchling, and one a two headed fusion that we suspect was a malformed set of twins. Both were in our first clutch of the season so we've been a little panicky about anything that looks odd. We've had a few others that looked strange only to turn out to be perfectly normal and healthy hatchlings.
I should state that we incubate at a steady and well circulated 88 to 89 degrees. No spikes or dips that I know of, though it is a new incubator this year.
It is now day 59 and none of the hatchlings are out yet. The super BP has flipped around and we can see his head now. It looks to be in one piece. However, it's body still looks odd, and it hasn't stuck its head up yet out of the yolk. The blizzard is still the same, no face to be seen, swirled up in its vertical egg.
Both snakes are still alive.

The question is, when is it permissible to remove them from the eggs to see what's going on? They both have quite a bit of yolk left to consume, but I worry about umbilicus tangling or masses or anything else I can help, especially considering their genetics and the blizzard being in a vertical egg. Could I possibly tilt the vertical blizzard down to slice it more and see better what's going on? At what point should they be removed from their eggs? I know we are not to that point yet, but I like to plan for the future.

We knew the risks of the genes when we bred them with the blizzard being one of our dream snakes when we began 7 years ago. Anything I can do to help the situation, I will do.

[dr del]

I normally leave them be ( aside from cleaning gunk and misting if the eggs look low on fluid ) after I cut - they normally rotate to face upright just before they would normally have pipped.

It comes down to balancing the risks sadly. pulling them around can lead to tangled umbilicals and the like - but if they are deformed or not going to make it anyway then waiting won't hurt anymore than helping.

[zina10]

If they are deformed, pulling them out early won't change a thing. Cutting early and handling eggs to often does more harm then good. Day 58 is not late by any means.

Honestly, in my opinion, you have more to loose then gain by disturbing them this way. True, sometimes you can intervene if they are in trouble, but even then, it usually doesn't end well. And far more often trouble is actually caused by cutting/handling/disturbing the egg/hatchling to much or to often.

I had one vertical egg in my last clutch. That hatchling didn't seem to have any problems at all because of the position of the egg. I think you risk more by changing the position, the hatchling could scare/spook and try to put himself back in his former position, getting all tangled up in the process or drowning.

I can't tell you what to do . Sometimes its a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of situation. You will have to make the ultimate choice. But what I can say is that in my many years of reading/learning about Ball Pythons and owners experiences, taking one out of the egg early rarely ends well.

I wish you best of luck, it would really be a huge bummer if you lost this snake after working towards one like it for so long!!! I'm crossing fingers and toes that this little one is just chilling and taking his time, and will come out looking great when ready !!

[zina10]

Please let us know how things are going. Hope the little ones are still alive. Did you try to help them? Did they pip ? Are they still chilling ?
Still crossing my fingers that all will be well!!

[ElliotNess]

I would love to see pics cause this is my 1st year breeding and I am trying to learn as much as I can...

[Hannahshissyfix]

I second leaving them be. If there's a deformity then it won't change anything being able to see it earlier. I'm surprised you have so many pips on day 53 as that's pretty early but they're just now in the "average" pip range so I'd wait another 3-4 days before getting too worried. If they have a lot of yolk let to absorb then they weren't ready to pip. Hope they turn out alright!

[zina10]

Any updates ? Did the little ones make it ?