On Sunday July 21 my eggs hit 55 days laid and in the incubator. Theyre now dented and becoming more so. I can see movement out of all except 2 which have spots on them. When should I know if I need to help them hatch by cutting the eggs?
The picture is from today!
Ignore the cords in the back. I only stuck them in to make sure I had an accurate read on temp and humidity.
Eggs will start to dent as early as almost 2 weeks before hatching sometimes. It’s normal.
Depending on the temps you incubated at, babies can start pipping in a couple days. I would not cut until you see the first little head peeking out or at least a couple cuts in the eggs.
I have had a consistent 88-89° with 100% humidity. They really started to dent about 2 weeks ago.
This is my first personal clutch of ball pythons so I just want to make sure that I’m doing right by them.
Especially for your first time, I would wait for the first pip.
Some breeders will cut earlier, but when you don’t know the right timing that means your hatchlings can sit in the eggs and have complications if they’re exposed to air too soon and such.
Better to be anxiously waiting than to hurt them by accident
Contrary to 99.99999% of the videos you will see online, eggs do not need to be cut. I have been breeding for over a decade and the only time I cut an egg was when it went to 70 days and I had already accepted it was dead given the rest of the clutch had failed weeks earlier
As Christina noted, just let them be. They will pip when they pip. I have a clutch at day 56 right now and the only thing I am doing with it is checking the incubator each morning
