Worst nightmare might becoming true please help!!

[SunnysHumanSlave]

So my friend who is breeding dragons has her first clutch that started hatching on Wednesday and they still have not come out of the egg. The eggs looked cracked or split like but it's been about 4 days. Can you please tell me if its something to worry about? They were laid on the 1st of may and started hatching a bit earlier than expected. Please please please tell me this is normal. I really hope it's nothing bad.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....no, it's not normal. I've never had a baby take more than 2 days to emerge. If you poke them very gently, is there any movement ? Most babies will react , even with a slight movement, if touched while hatching. I've heard of people cutting the egg VERY gently at times, but I can't recommend it one way or the other. By the way, do you know the type or morph ? And are the temps. definitely below 90 F ? And is the substrate dry by chance ? The babies can have a hard time hatching in those conditions.

 

[SunnysHumanSlave]

Temp is 84 substrate is wet. I went over to look at them today and the eggs are just a little split lookin no opening yet and they are all moving one was moving allot. We are keeping a close eye on them but we are thinking that maybe the babies are just becoming more active as they come closer to the hatch date which is roughly the 28-30th. Which is what we expected originally. So they are alive and that's what we think is going on in the eggs. So she is just going to wait a bit longer but they seem to be ready to come out they just are not right on the money yet. We are thinking another week and then we will worry more. It's the first clutch for this specific female and she is lucky to have a whole clutch alive.

 

[AHBD]

Aaaa...that's confusing ! So they aren't actually split [ pipped ] yet ? Because they are either slit open or they aren't. If they had started with a slit last Wednesday and still not come out, they'd be dead by now.The start of hatching is just a tiny slit.....but then they emerge within 12 -24 hours average, unless they they haven't started yet.

 

[SunnysHumanSlave]

Okay hard to explain. The egg is not open yet at all. There are a few dark lines that look like cracks. So when she explained it to me over the phone I didn't understand and thought they were dead. When I saw them today they were not open at all some have dents in them that pop back up again. Some have the dark lines that look like cracks. So we are thinking that they may be starting the hatching process. They all moved when she touched them. Some moved without touching and one was wiggling allot. So it looks like there activity is starting to split the egg or they are starting to try and get out. Only about 3 have the dark line crack looking things. They were the ones moving the most. So I don't know what's going on with the eggs I'm no breeder. Hoping they are going to hatch and be healthy and strong.