On day 57 of incubation I saw that egg #3 had begun to dent in, so I was expecting the others to follow suit in the following days since they are nearing the end of incubation.
But now it is day 64 of incubation and still egg#3 is the only egg that has dented in. The egg is pliable to the touch with light pressure and the shell feels very thin. I took a light to the egg and the baby inside is alive and active.
All of the other eggs have felt a little more pliable but they haven’t begun denting, again they were all candlelight and the babies inside are all responsive.
All of the eggs have been consistently incubating at around 87-88°F, there’s no temperature differences within the box that would warrant one egg developing faster than the others. There is no condensation on the eggs, no water spots, egg #3 does have a bit of a window but its been there since the egg was laid.
I’m only used to incubating Kingsnake eggs and they don’t really dent in or thin at all before hatching so this a bit new to me.
How long is too long for BP eggs to incubate? From the things I’ve read and seen most breeders say is that their eggs begin pipping typically between day 55-60, but not really any mentions of being longer than that.
I also really want to avoid any egg cutting until I know at least a few have already pipped, or otherwise absolutely necessary…
Has anyone else had BP eggs incubate for a period outside of the norm? Just concerned because of the egg denting situation.
They should be pipping any time now. I’ve seen some mention their eggs taking to day 65 when kept at your temps.
If they were my clutch, I’d maybe consider cutting egg 3 to get a baseline for the others tomorrow.
I don’t keep my eggs directly on the substrate. They’re usually raised up on a egg crate to make sure the bottoms don’t get too soggy and such. The contact could be why the eggs haven’t dented yet. They might have a bit more goo inside them from the contact with the moist media. As long as the eggs feel more pliant and soft the babies should be able to pip regardless of the water uptake. But day 65 is pretty much the cut them all and see phase for me at that temp.
Now if the pairing was potentially a scaleless BP… I would have cut earlier because iirc there’s some debate on if they can reliably create an egg tooth to cut out with.
No scaleless, scaleless head or micro scale as far as I’m aware in both parents. I don’t pay much attention to those traits so idk if that is a recessive thing or not, lmk.
I feel really nervous about cutting them, I’ve only ever cut after seeing a few babies already pipped… but I see the fact that they technically should be fully developed and ok once they pass day 55 at the temps I’ve had them at right? All of the eggs definitely feel softer to the touch. I will elevate the eggs with some 3D printed grid thats basically just like egg crate I have lying around and see if that helps.
Thankfully it’s not recessive in BPs. So you’re okay there!
At this point they should just be developed and absorbing more yolk. Day 60 is the average for temps you provided from most of what I’ve seen.
If you do cut and they seem content to just stay in the egg that’s fine. I would make sure the cut isn’t too big, just enough to see if they’re moving if you give a little poke.
I made a mistake of cutting early once. I kept the area I cut moist by using some bottled water to spritz around it when peeking in. They will figure it out, just obviously don’t pull them out unless necessary which would only really be in the case of a tangled umbilical cord.
Awesome!
If the others don’t pip over today then that would definitely be a sign to me to cut and see what’s up in the others.
Hopefully they’re just being lazy about getting out of bed
I think given that the first one didn’t pip until today, coupled with the fact that the rest of the eggs still look so plump, I would just wait a few more days before intervening. If the temps have been a little lower than you thought, then the development has been retarded across all of the eggs. Let nature do it’s thing. If every egg has pipped but one, and that goes a day or two beyond the rest, then I might consider cutting. There is absolutely no upside to cutting an egg. If the baby is healthy, it will hatch on it’s own, If it it has some complication, cutting usually will not save it. Best of luck.
I am not a breeder but what you say makes a lot of common sense. If it’s a viable baby it will pip and emerge on its own nature’s way. If it’s not a viable baby cutting the egg won’t save it……
