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Should I be worried?

I wasn't intending to dog on you about it if thats how it came across but yeah I can see the simple mistake of thinking you may have scored some crazy babies. I wouldn't worry too much about them drowning since the egg is already open.
 
I really regret advising you to cut, now. :( I hope that they all survive for you. Keep us posted.
 
I would check your temps again too because babies that were in for that long shouldn't be that underdeveloped. Check inside the temp inside the container. Sounds like they were incubating at a low 80's range which will cause them to need a lot longer time to cook.
 
Yeh, the temps check out..which is so weird. Maybe the incubator failed at some point and I missed it??? Who knows. It doesnt make sense to me that they would be underdeveloped. I am 100% on the date, so, something had to had gone wrong in incubation somehow. Dustin, I understand where you were coming from. My husband said the exact same thing to me when he came home and told me Im not allowed to make any decisions without him anymore. Lol. I seriously did not think they were underdeveloped until closer inspection though so thats what screwed me up. Our breeding year has gone crappy this year, so, whats one more crappy thing to happen? Anyhow, what is done, is done. Im not even going to bother posting a pic because after inspecting them this morning they are even more underdeveloped then I thought. One is for sure going to die because I had cut into a vein when I was cutting. The others, who know. One is still pretty spunky, the other two, not so much. They are in some yolk and this evening when I get some paper towels I think I will put damp paper towel around the edge of the dixies to keep the humidity up. If they start to dry out I will add some water and try what I can, but, at this point, Im not hopeful. Matt, its okay, I shouldve listened to my instinct and not cut. I posted on here because I felt I shouldnt cut but wanted to see what others thought and even texted some of my friends who said the same about cutting, so, when faced with so many agreeing opinions..:) I shouldve listened to my gut though and will know for next time. Since I started breeding ball pythons 3 years ago it has been quite the learning experience, and, this is just one more thing I needed to screw up on so that I know not to do it again. :) Thanks everyone for your help...even if it may have not been the best, lol. If you have any suggestions for the little ones please let me know. I really dont want to see them die but Im not sure how development can continue after their egg has been severed. Laters!
 
Even though you cut through a vein they should still be good as long as the temps are right and they have their yolk sac to feed off of. I mean at this point its just hoping and praying things turn out but at least keep us posted on how it turns out.
 
I know there are a few people that cut really early and obviously have success with their clutches. If you've cut the membrane and/or major blood vessels early on, though, I'm not sure what will happen.
 
Just wanted to update on the babies..
They are starting to get color in and their heads are starting to look a little more formed, which is nice.

Pretty sure the one with the cut veins is a gonner. Havent seen movement from it for quite sometime and starting to look cloudy. Figure I dont want to jump the gun (yet again) and throw it away, so, gonna wait til it gets stinky.

What I have been doing is keeping them in larger delis (the ones that are appropriate size for baby balls & a tad larger). These have pre drilled air holes so I covered up the sides with damp paper towels that I have been changing out every 3-5 days.

They all seem to be good on yolk thus far but got some purified water just in case I need to do some refilling. Im hoping not though as Im worried about drowning with pulling such things.

They have been moved to an incubator which has been reliable for me many times so hopefully they will actually develop on a more regular schedule now.

If anybody knows of any info online about the life cycle of a ball python embryo that would be a great help as I would like to use that information to determine what theoretical 'day' these embryos are on, i.e. compare the embryos with others and figure out how much longer they have..(yes, I know they are on day 58 + however many days it has been since I cut). Does anyone know when they usually start getting the color in? That would give me a little idea.

Thanks
Shantel
 
Well I have some that have been in for 35 days and already have color but I think its around 40 days. It can vary depending on temperatures and what not.
 
I think they begin getting color around day 35-40 typically.

As for the babies, I think they will be okay as long as they don't dry out and they are kept at decent temps. When I cut and the goo gets milky, I will replace the goo with water. Works a charm. The babies won't drown if they are still in the membrane inside the egg - drowning is only an issue if the membrane has already been punctured and they can't escape the outer egg.

The deli cups should do the trick, keep us posted and don't give up on the cloudy one, he may have a chance :thumbsup:
 
scratchypen said:
Pretty sure the one with the cut veins is a gonner. Havent seen movement from it for quite sometime and starting to look cloudy. Figure I dont want to jump the gun (yet again) and throw it away, so, gonna wait til it gets stinky.
Click to expand...

If any of the cut eggs start looking cloudy (on the surface of the liquid), I usually dab it off with a Q-tip, or a papertowel. I can't tell you that it "helps", but it makes me feel better to get the "gunk" off the top. Just seems like cleaner would have to be healthier.
 
Well.. I just did something really stupid.
I thought I was on day 43, and decided to cut.. one baby is coloring, the other is pure white. Went back and counted, sure enough.. I'm on day 33 :shootfoot F&*^ me.
So that answers your question of when they get color. Around 40.
Now I get to have a pain staking extra 30 days. Wish ME luck now! :detonate:
 
well.. there's only 2 left of the original 4 she layed anyway. One was just a good looking slug and the other went bad about a week ago (it was a rollout egg).
Hopefully these 2 will make it.
Darned if I wont try my hardesst!
 
Yeah all I can say is I hope you guys learn fast on these between you and the OP. Always candle them before you ever cut. If you don't see a lot of pattern and color to them then don't cut just wait it out. I'm sorry you learned the hard way, keep us updated on the results, I would hope they will be fine as long as you leave them alone and let them just sit in the incubator without being disturbed.
 
I was candleing and the veins were all over. Babies were moving a good deal as well. Mistakes are made and we learn from them. Shantel saved all but one of the babies and hopefully i`ll be able to to the same at least
 
Yeah I know mistakes are made, I wasn't picking on you that wasn't my intent. I was just saying for future reference if you can't see a lot of color and pattern you shouldn't cut them. This last clutch I cut one egg really early at day 38 or 39 I think and then I thought about it and stopped cutting the rest. The one egg I cut that early had all its color and I didn't lose any eggs but the reason I though they were further along was because they all had full color.
 
Yea the first one I cut was the colored one and it looks like a lesser so I just figurd lesser. It wasn't until I cut the second one and thought I was looking at a white belly and realised it was a back! Thank goodness I didn't make my usual X cut and only made a slit in each!
 
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