egg question

[jsmith]

i have eggs and its about time for them to hatch. 7, of the 31, eggs now have needle sized holes with the yoke coming out, but nothing more. its been almost 2 days since the first egg broke, but the others just broke yesterday. not even 100%, but i beleive they're milk snake eggs, could possibly be hognose, i've never seen either egg before.

anyway, i did cut the first egg open and i see a black "snake" inside i guess. and its still surrounded by the yoke and a few blood vessels. just curious what it could be?

the eggs are slit, just a needle sized hole, poked out, not in. so i guess they're trying to get out. but not slitting? how long will it take? any suggestions?

[dr del]

Hi,

I'm a little puzzled - where did you get the eggs that you don't know what's in them?

And given that how do you know it's time for them to hatch - is it because they started pipping on their own? How did you decide what temp to incubate them at?


dr del

[jsmith]

i'm sorry, a little info on myself. I am an amateur field herpetologist, i spend most of my time out studying herps of all kinds. i report all data to the state, and a few other orgs. i am into conserving herps, and not killing them.

a lady that knows me and my passions said she eggs near her shed that she beleived to be snakes. I have previously relocated snakes for her as she will kill them if i do not. so she allowed me to collect the eggs before she threw them all out. i put them in a plastic container, with the dirt from their nest, as to keep it similar. they are currently residing in my shed with a towel over the container to keep out light when the doors are open. i tried to keep it as close as possible to their natural nest. My plan is then to get them started on food and release them to another location.

milks, garter, racers, are all common here, with garters ruled out automatically. black rats could be there, as could hognoses. i just guessed milk as thats what i normally find, and because of the location.

two night ago an egg pipped. no slit, just a small hole with yoke coming out. then yesterday 6 more did. all just small holes.

any idea?

[jsmith]

i'll also add that i have seen and heard reports of fresh hatchling out already. though i know each clutch can varry depending on temps and environment. so its right around that time, with eggs pipping.

[dr del]

Hi,

O.k. That explains it.

Sadly I will be of no help in all likelyhood.

Only thing I can suggest until the more knowledgable people get here would possibly get some pictures of the eggs with a size reference in shot and sone close ups of the openings.

Then hopefully someoen can help with the ident and suggest if slitting is needed or anything else of use.


dr del

[jsmith]

thanks, i'll get some pics up tonight prolly in abuot 4 or so hours from now. the more i read i'm beginning to think black racer eggs could be a better guess. i've been trying to get ahold of some biologist from the area but no responses yet. a breeder friend suggested slitting them after a day or two. so far a slit 2 eggs open and nothing happened. both were slit last night, they are the first two pipped. the rest i will leave alone until further help.

and i do need help, i know a good amount about the herps of PA but i have never bred or hatched anything, so i am out of the loop here and need help.

thanks

[jsmith]

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...7crow/egg1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...7crow/egg3.jpg

[ev477]

holy mackeral that is a lot of eggs! Is that a belly shot in the last one?

[jsmith]

no the eggs are black racers. i cut an egg open. it was the first egg that pipped, two days later i slit it, and on the third i cut it all the way open. its like another soft egg, inside of the egg, the snake is inside of it. i decided to let the eggs be as this one seemed as if its not ready to some out, unless it just died.

i don't know

[blackcrystal22]

no the eggs are black racers. i cut an egg open. it was the first egg that pipped, two days later i slit it, and on the third i cut it all the way open. its like another soft egg, inside of the egg, the snake is inside of it. i decided to let the eggs be as this one seemed as if its not ready to some out, unless it just died.

i don't know

You can cut eggs, but they have to exit the eggs by themselves. Don't remove the snakes from the eggs.

I'm thinking that they may not have had enough humidity and temperature to incubate properly, but I could be wrong. Just looks awfully dry in there.