Unfortunately it sounds like the younger egg had problems from the start and just wasn't viable in the long run. But the older egg is doing exactly what it's supposed to do!

Yeah, here's hoping. What should the time be between the internal and external pip? There's definitely a head moving around in the air cell, but still no signs of a pip.

Keep an eye on him. If he doesn't hatch in 2 days, you will need to assist. Keep the humidity high in case if he is stuck.

Still nothing There are some hairline cracks in the egg where a pip ought to be, but not an actual pip. Those appeared last night, haven't changed since then.

Are there any veins in the egg? I would take a look at this…

http://www.internationalcockatielresour ... dated.html

Very few veins I can see, and they're tiny.

I have just read the entire thread all in one go, what a journey!
Come one little baby, we want to see your pretty face soon!!!

I am so jealous that they made you touch the eggs so much, I never was able to monitor so closely with that monster of Trilly threatening me in any possible way.

Second egg is definitely dead--I floated it in warm water for a minute and there was no movement at all. I'll open it tomorrow to see what happened, then bury it in my garden.

Hairline cracks had gotten a bit bigger in the older egg and pressed a tad outward, but still no pip. The movement in the egg had been decreasing pretty significantly the last two days; I was checking in every two hours or so and saw barely any movement all day.

I hope I made the right decision--I went into the egg, chipping away a bit where the cracks were. I don't think the baby was in the right position, and the membrane didn't look quite as bad as the glued-to-chick pictures Susanne has, but it was a bit dry and had separated from the egg pretty significantly. I wet the membrane with 100F distilled water (I hope that was a good temp!). I could see only one tiny vein left in the membrane and it was clear, so I enlarged the hole I'd made in the shell and took a toothpick and enlarged the hole near the beak so the whole head was free (the hole he'd made was tiny and just had his eggtooth through it). I got a big chorus of chirping once his head was free, and then he went quiet for a bit. I let him sit under the heatlamp for a bit to see what he did.

He's been sitting for about three hours and has now started chirping a lot. I hope that means he was ready and I didn't jump the gun.


(I have THREE thermometers in there and they each show a different temp The temp is 97.8 in the one I trust the most, but the other two show higher so I'm going to leave it there just in case)

He's got long yellow down but I can't see a yolk sac at all, so no idea if it's absorbed or not. I'm going to leave him overnight, checking every hour, to see what he does. He's gotten really talkative in the past hour so hopefully he's having contractions and pulling in his yolk sac.

He's got something in his mouth--I can't see clearly, but it looks like he's got a little black string on his tongue. Could that be part of the membrane he bit?

I don't really know what to do. I think you should call Sussane. She helped me save my baby Rio. Carolyn knows the best way to ask her for permission.

How does the air cell look like. I personally feel that you should start assisting but I think we should wait for someone more experienced than me to start making decisions.

Is the chick still chirping?

It's great you decided to go in the egg. I feel like you had to but I wasn't sure if it was the right time.

Is the chick still in the egg? Wet a q-tip and start moisting the membrane. Don't let it dry. The chick could be dehydrated. Dribble coconut water in the chicks mouth using a q-tip. Any other way you try feeding the chick will aspirate. The chick has fully absorbed the yolk. He will get his food from the yolk for the next 12 hours. The parents will only feed fluids at this time.