Well it took too long, and I was starting to get worried. The baby was chirping quite frantically in it's egg, so I decided to take the plunge and assist it to hatch this morning.
Here is a picture of it yesterday morning... I was showing it to a breeder forum that I'm part of, and they told me to be ready to assist if I have to.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...nn24/pips2.jpg
Here was the egg this morning. The baby was frantically trying to pip as much as it could. It was struggling.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2026.jpg
When I first started opening the egg, I noticed that the inside membrane was completely dry and was trapping the baby into place. So I gently peeled back some shells and started to put sterile drops of water on the membrane to soften it up... then kept peeling to see if it had absorbed all of it's yolk
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2028.jpg
It did
Then nature took over and the little one fought the rest of the way out into my hand
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2030.jpg (note the teeny little foot above his head at the top of the shell)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2032.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/DSCF2033.jpg
Here is the baby and his older sibling. They are 5 days apart... they look similar in size... the baby should have hatched a couple of days ago. I worried and prayed all day that it would survive... here is what I saw when I got home
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4/NewImage.jpg
The baby standing is "Christmas". He's starting to walk around
The new baby is still gaining strength, but it's poofed up so much... my little miracle
I'm so proud to help bring it in to this world.