Re: blue beauty eggs and manual pipping

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ]

Posted by Clay (A.R.B.) on July 23, 2001 at 04:23:55:

In Reply to: blue beauty eggs and manual pipping posted by Ronda on July 22, 2001 at 21:02:54:

I have experienced the same thing as Walt with the eggs resealing. I will relate a couple of relevant expereinces of mine with Taiwan beauty eggs which are extremely tough shelled as well.
The first year I produced Taiwans, I lost some data on my computer, including the date the clutch was laid. I had also failed to write this down on the incubation box, so I had no idea how long they had been incubating.
I had also read what you have on the possible need to slit the shells manually to aid the neonates in hatching. I got nervous and slit the shells. Not just small slits, but I went so far as to remove a triangle out of the shell large enough for the hatchlings to emerge through.
I ws a little over two weeks later before any babies left the egg. In this time the eggs had all resealed by developing a tough film over the cuts, and were even turning quite black around the cut areas. All the babies survived and were very healthy. I kept them for 3-4 months to make sure before I released them for sale.

On the other side on the coin, this year I had 13 eggs. I'll admit I wasn't paying close attention to how long they had been incubating, and thoght they had another week or two left. Last Tuesday my son came and told me there was a Taiwan hatchling moving around the egg box. I looked and found that 5 had already left the egg, and each end of those eggs were just shredded, despite the shells toughness. They had no trouble getting out. I made some small slits in the remaining 7 eggs and while some of them extended those slits, some made their own in an entirely different place.
The total incubation time was 78 days (laid on 5/5). This is a little longer than normal, but I left the clutch with the female for a week before putting them in the incubator to see if she would leave them on her own, which she didn't. The incubation temp also varied from 79� to 84�F.

So I would suggest you just wait them out a little longer, they should be hatching within a week or two. If by then you feel you need to slit an egg or two, just do it carefully and no harm will come to the babies.

Clay

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: I have experienced the same thing as Walt with the eggs resealing. I will relate a couple of relevant expereinces of mine with Taiwan beauty eggs which are extremely tough shelled as well. : The first year I produced Taiwans, I lost some data on my computer, including the date the clutch was laid. I had also failed to write this down on the incubation box, so I had no idea how long they had been incubating. : I had also read what you have on the possible need to slit the shells manually to aid the neonates in hatching. I got nervous and slit the shells. Not just small slits, but I went so far as to remove a triangle out of the shell large enough for the hatchlings to emerge through. : I ws a little over two weeks later before any babies left the egg. In this time the eggs had all resealed by developing a tough film over the cuts, and were even turning quite black around the cut areas. All the babies survived and were very healthy. I kept them for 3-4 months to make sure before I released them for sale. : On the other side on the coin, this year I had 13 eggs. I'll admit I wasn't paying close attention to how long they had been incubating, and thoght they had another week or two left. Last Tuesday my son came and told me there was a Taiwan hatchling moving around the egg box. I looked and found that 5 had already left the egg, and each end of those eggs were just shredded, despite the shells toughness. They had no trouble getting out. I made some small slits in the remaining 7 eggs and while some of them extended those slits, some made their own in an entirely different place. : The total incubation time was 78 days (laid on 5/5). This is a little longer than normal, but I left the clutch with the female for a week before putting them in the incubator to see if she would leave them on her own, which she didn't. The incubation temp also varied from 79� to 84�F. : So I would suggest you just wait them out a little longer, they should be hatching within a week or two. If by then you feel you need to slit an egg or two, just do it carefully and no harm will come to the babies. : Clay

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ]