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Murphy & My First Clutch (graphic pics)

AliCat37

AliCat37

Michelle's Candied Corns!
Since I saw no more pippies this week.. and a "smell" started to creep from some eggs, I decided to go ahead and cut one. Right under the shell I could see scales, I poked the little creature in hopes to have it recoil.. but no. So I cut a little more and found a baby DIE.

Well. I decided to go ahead and cut the rest of them.

I started with 14 eggs. 2 hatched last week. 2 had nothing in them at all... and the other 10 were DIE :( I am so heartbroken. My first clutch where I had bred the parents, loved and cared for the eggs, prepared for a clutch, stocked up on frozen pinks... only to have this happen. I guess Murphy likes to hit first timers to weed out those that may be too faint of heart to deal with this. But next year I will try again, with different snakes.

All these DIE were kinked and many were cranially deformed. The two hatchlings from last week seem healthy, and they have pics at the end.


Deformed jaw...
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REALLY deformed..
ig9jb7.jpg


All together...
ehdkye.jpg


the last two were so far "gone" that they literally pulled in half when I gently removed them from the eggs :(

They are now resting in the yard, next to where my first corn snake, Jasper, lies.


Here are the healthy two... tiny, tiny kids...

344a3vd.jpg


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I like this pic because of the "orb". Dust, reflection, I don't care. It still makes me smile that maybe these two have a "guardian angel" (snake angel) with them.
jrg1gn.jpg
 
I am so sorry. It does get frustrating when so many have perfect clutches that are oops and you spent so much time carrying and planning to have this happened. Hoping for a better year next year.
 
I'm so sorry... but on the bright side, you have helped to create life, and no matter how little, life is such a wonderful thing!
 
Thanks, they are really pretty little normals.
I probably will not be using this pair again, mom proved to *probably* not be het motley, amel, or anery. I will try again in two years to see if she is het caramel, but that's all.
 
I'd be fairly certain this is due to incubation conditions rather than genetic, especially the 'conehead' deformity. Most likely the humidity was too high or there was a heat spike. Try not to be too down-hearted, most of us have the lows as well as the highs in breeding, better luck next year
 
diamondlil said:
I'd be fairly certain this is due to incubation conditions rather than genetic, especially the 'conehead' deformity. Most likely the humidity was too high or there was a heat spike. Try not to be too down-hearted, most of us have the lows as well as the highs in breeding, better luck next year
Click to expand...

Never saw a heat spike of any sort...
I used sphagnum moss to incubate, it usually felt dry to the touch. Maybe I will try finding vermiculite next year, but I couldn't find anything less than a 50 lb bag when I looked.
 
AliCat37 said:
Never saw a heat spike of any sort...
I used sphagnum moss to incubate, it usually felt dry to the touch. Maybe I will try finding vermiculite next year, but I couldn't find anything less than a 50 lb bag when I looked.
Click to expand...
I lost most of my clutches a few years back with horrific DIE kinking. I'd done everything the same as in successful years, so can only put it down to heat spikes as it was a hot summer that year
 
diamondlil said:
I lost most of my clutches a few years back with horrific DIE kinking. I'd done everything the same as in successful years, so can only put it down to heat spikes as it was a hot summer that year
Click to expand...

Interesting. I suppose anything is possible. I do keep all the critters in my room in the basement, and usually the temps don't go over 85, but I am not watching those thermometers 24/7! Hopefully next year will go better.
 
Murphy at least left me with two..

the two surviving hatchlings are wonderful little critters. So cute and absolutely curious, they love to crawl into your hand when you put it in their cages!

Even better news..

They BOTH ate today, WITHOUT any coaxing, the first time they've been offered food :D
 
I know this is an old thread, but still... im glad you got some healthy hatchies out of it.
I have never had anything this bad, but I did lose 2 clutches a little while back that ended up with a lot like these... the incubator failed and the heating unit went on overload. it was 126 degF when i got home from work! with 5 clutches in the incubator! the top clutch was completely gone... the two under that were all kinked up and none lived to 6 months old.
Sometimes though you get DIE babies even though nothing like that happened... I had a few this year that just didnt make it up to the hatching day. their chests never closed up and you could tell there were other issues.
some say it could be an issue with the mother having "old eggs" - similar to a child born to an older woman has a higher chance of having down syndrome.
regardless... i hope this bad experienced doesnt prevent you from breeding in the future... its not a common occurrence, so dont let it got you down :)
 
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