The umbilical cord? Help!

[Alicewave]

The Ichiryu's clutchmate entered the world today. I think when I came home at around 4:30 today she had just finished getting out of the egg. She still had the umbilical cord attached and looked pretty slimy. I've been watching her and she doesn't seem interested in doing anything with it. I assume they eat it since the first hatchling left no sign of a cord in the delicup. How long does it take for them to finish eating it or for them to be ready to eat it. I'm a little concerned.

[drewlowe]

I wouldn't be to concernd unless around a week goes by and it is still there. Or if you notice signs of infection. Thats what i think. i have had a few hatch with the U.C. still there and it was gone within a few days. Hope this helps.

[Tim and Julie B]

It is either absorbed in the egg(partially or completely) or dries up and goes with the first shed. Don't worry though unless there's infection like drewlowe said

[Alicewave]

Ok she did bite it off but she left a little blob of stuff behind. She doesn't look as healthy as her clutchmate. Her tail doesn't seem to be fully formed, it looks short and it curls to one side a bit at the end. She is a bit smaller than her clutchmate as well. I hope she does ok. She's got a lot of spunk and looks healthy otherwise. I suppose I should have expected this since I transported the eggs by car and probably handled them more than I should have.