Severely deflated eggs

I think you fell into the overzealous first time breeder/hatcher mentality that many people do. I hope that all works out for you this season, and I am sure you will refine your technique with time. No one masters anything on their first try!!

Wasn't able to watch all of it because my internet is crawling lately. Takes minutes to get through a few seconds of video.

Less chainsaw, more finesse.

Here's a pretty good video on how to pip eggs by Justin Kobylka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU8SwTiMK-0

Color is one of the last things to come in during incubation. Fingers crossed for some healthy babies for you. Now's the time to leave them be to crawl out on their own and no poking around in there.

Hey everyone just thought i would give you an update, i have some bad news. One of the eggs that i cut i noticed the baby was small compared to the others. I didnt think much of it because i figured it was smaller because it came out of the worst looking egg. Anyway i noticed a smell in my room and i checked on the eggs to find that the baby had passed. i pulled the snake out of the egg to find the umbilicus was wrapped around its tail. I dont know how i didnt notice it and im kind of pissed off at myself because it could have been saved. I guess i just have to learn from my mistakes and move on. On the bright side the other babies look good and should be hatching in the next few days ill be posting pictures when they do. Thanks to everyone here that has helped me during this very stressful time .

Originally Posted by ApReptiles

Hey everyone just thought i would give you an update, i have some bad news. One of the eggs that i cut i noticed the baby was small compared to the others. I didnt think much of it because i figured it was smaller because it came out of the worst looking egg. Anyway i noticed a smell in my room and i checked on the eggs to find that the baby had passed. i pulled the snake out of the egg to find the umbilicus was wrapped around its tail. I dont know how i didnt notice it and im kind of pissed off at myself because it could have been saved. I guess i just have to learn from my mistakes and move on. On the bright side the other babies look good and should be hatching in the next few days ill be posting pictures when they do. Thanks to everyone here that has helped me during this very stressful time .

Anthony,

I'm sorry for your loss and I hope you do learn from it, but I think it's important to also understand why this happened. A wrapped late stage wrapped umbilicus would not be the cause of death. When a ball python hatches, it fully absorbs its yoke before leaving the egg. The reason they get wrapped or even stress leaving the egg prematurely is due to pre-mature egg cutting and fussing with the eggs. That baby if you left in the egg uncut for let's say the next 10 days probably would have been just fine. I will put together a video on how I go about incubating, cutting eggs, etc. Again, I'm sorry for your loss but I already saw it happening from the video unfortunately. I wasn't always perfect, and I've made mistakes in the past too. I have bad stories to share, so don't think I'm picking on you, I understand how it is. I've been there too, I'm just here to help too. It's hard to be patient with these animals. It's so much FUN, and feels like Christmas morning all over again. It just takes a discipline that I've learned to respect tremendously. Hope the others do well for you and you share some pics!

Originally Posted by MajorLeagueReptiles

Anthony,

I'm sorry for your loss and I hope you do learn from it, but I think it's important to also understand why this happened. A wrapped late stage wrapped umbilicus would not be the cause of death. When a ball python hatches, it fully absorbs its yoke before leaving the egg. The reason they get wrapped or even stress leaving the egg prematurely is due to pre-mature egg cutting and fussing with the eggs. That baby if you left in the egg uncut for let's say the next 10 days probably would have been just fine. I will put together a video on how I go about incubating, cutting eggs, etc. Again, I'm sorry for your loss but I already saw it happening from the video unfortunately. I wasn't always perfect, and I've made mistakes in the past too. I have bad stories to share, so don't think I'm picking on you, I understand how it is. I've been there too, I'm just here to help too. It's hard to be patient with these animals. It's so much FUN, and feels like Christmas morning all over again. It just takes a discipline that I've learned to respect tremendously. Hope the others do well for you and you share some pics!

I understand, you and everyone else in this thread have helped me alot. I feel terrible that i allowed this to happen and i have definitely learned from this experience. Im gonna exercise better discipline from now on. When would u say is a safe time to cut? After the first egg pips? Or a certain day into the incubation period? Thank you again for all the help. I will not be making the same mistakes twice on my second clutch.

Originally Posted by ApReptiles

I understand, you and everyone else in this thread have helped me alot. I feel terrible that i allowed this to happen and i have definitely learned from this experience. Im gonna exercise better discipline from now on. When would u say is a safe time to cut? After the first egg pips? Or a certain day into the incubation period? Thank you again for all the help. I will not be making the same mistakes twice on my second clutch.

As you learn your method of incubation, temperature, etc you learn the proper duration that works for you consistently. I have an idea when all my babies come out within a 1-3 day window. Learning this is best to wait for first pip. After enough data you can then work backward on when an appropriate time to cut would be. If you cut at day 54 and you're babies weren't meant to hatch until day 61 and they were cut poorly, and oxygen and blood flow was jeopardized, positioning is changed, it can really be a recipe for disaster. Learning when your babies are ready to come is most important and the best way is simply waiting for the first one to pip on its own. Just because I incubate at let's say 88 and I cut on day 56, doesn't mean it's the same for someone else who incubates at 88. They may have a different incubator, medium, etc.

The cuts I make on my eggs are small. Typically a "V" about 1.5cm x 1.5cm and its typically the day they are due to pip in my incubation schedule. This opening allows me to peek on what it might be and allows an opening for a baby to come out without being trapped and drowning. Once a ball is found breathing on its own for about 8-12 hours I cut some more if blood flow has stopped in the vessels and began to be absorbed. I think this whole process is crucial as I've had such an amazing amount of success with babies getting started easily. I'll try to put together a video when I get some time and my helper (fiancé) around. She's a zookeeper so she's really the one who has taught me protocol, structure, and discipline. She got to yank a baby giraffe out of its mother this year just a month ago here at the San Diego zoo with a rope. Baby was stuck and was quite the experience. I suggested naming her "rope" in Swahili. Lol. Anyways, talk about a strange example of the right time intervening with birth, however with snakes I really believe these guys are hardy and really only do poorly when mismanaged.

I do my cutting at day 54, they are typically out at day 58. I incubate at 87.8. I am really sorry that you lost a baby in such a dynamite clutch. With time and effort comes experience, I don't think there is a snake keeper out there that can say they have always done everything right. "

Put your failures in the past and use your successes to carry you into the future."

thanks for all the kind words and great advice everyone. Im gonna wait until the first egg pips for now on. That is amazing btw that your fiance works at a zoo and helped give birth to a baby giraffe. Talk about a dream job

2 of the babies have come out and look ok they weigh 64 and 54 grams. The second one to came out had its umbilicus still attached it looked like a long string with a ball on the end. I tied it off with some floss and cut it. I think these are 2 queenbees? The final snake in the egg is a butterbee and should be coming out soon it has very little yolk left to absorb.