diff --git a/declarative-config-bridge/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridge.java b/declarative-config-bridge/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridge.java
index 0421148323e6..314c99d6b5ed 100644
--- a/declarative-config-bridge/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridge.java
+++ b/declarative-config-bridge/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridge.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.function.BiFunction;
 import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 
 /**
@@ -51,6 +52,9 @@
 final class DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridge implements ConfigProperties {
 
   private static final String OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_PREFIX = "otel.instrumentation.";
+  private static final Pattern EXPERIMENTAL_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\\.experimental[.-]([^.]+)");
+  private static final Pattern EXPERIMENTAL_IN_NAME_PATTERN =
+      Pattern.compile("\\.([^.]+experimental[^.]+)");
 
   private final DeclarativeConfigProperties baseNode;
 
@@ -178,11 +182,22 @@ private <T> T getPropertyValue(
   }
 
   static String[] getSegments(String property) {
+    // Remove "otel.instrumentation." prefix if present
     if (property.startsWith(OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_PREFIX)) {
       property = property.substring(OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_PREFIX.length());
     }
-    // Split the remainder of the property on "."
-    return property.replace('-', '_').split("\\.");
+
+    // Transform experimental patterns:
+    // - ".experimental-foo" or ".experimental.foo" becomes ".foo/development"
+    String transformed = EXPERIMENTAL_PATTERN.matcher(property).replaceAll(".$1/development");
+    // - ".foo-experimental-bar" becomes ".foo_experimental_bar/development"
+    transformed = EXPERIMENTAL_IN_NAME_PATTERN.matcher(transformed).replaceAll(".$1/development");
+
+    // Replace dashes with underscores for property normalization
+    transformed = transformed.replace('-', '_');
+
+    // Split into segments on dots
+    return transformed.split("\\.");
   }
 
   private String translateProperty(String property) {
diff --git a/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridgeTest.java b/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridgeTest.java
index 29f9d424cd9d..d4718a4fa40c 100644
--- a/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridgeTest.java
+++ b/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/config/bridge/DeclarativeConfigPropertiesBridgeTest.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ void getProperties() {
         .isTrue();
 
     // common cases
-    assertThat(bridge.getBoolean("otel.instrumentation.runtime-telemetry.enabled")).isFalse();
+    assertThat(bridge.getBoolean("otel.instrumentation.runtime-telemetry.enabled")).isTrue();
 
     // check all the types
     Map<String, String> expectedMap = new HashMap<>();
@@ -141,4 +141,18 @@ void agentTranslation() {
     assertThat(bridge.getBoolean("otel.javaagent.experimental.indy")).isTrue();
     assertThat(bridge.getString("otel.javaagent.logging")).isEqualTo("application");
   }
+
+  @Test
+  void developmentTranslation() {
+    String prefix = "otel.instrumentation.runtime-telemetry";
+    assertThat(bridge.getBoolean(prefix + ".experimental-gc-profiler.experimental-metrics"))
+        .isTrue();
+    assertThat(bridge.getBoolean(prefix + ".experimental.gc-profiler.experimental.metrics"))
+        .isTrue();
+
+    // experimental in the middle of the property name should be preserved
+    assertThat(
+            bridge.getBoolean("otel.instrumentation.runtime-telemetry.emit-experimental-telemetry"))
+        .isTrue();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/resources/config.yaml b/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/resources/config.yaml
index 5f8bbd1943b0..9f3b591c4cfb 100644
--- a/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/resources/config.yaml
+++ b/declarative-config-bridge/src/test/resources/config.yaml
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ instrumentation/development:
       full_name:
         preserved: true
     agent:
-      experimental:
-        indy: true
+      indy/development: true
     runtime_telemetry:
-      enabled: false
+      emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true
+      enabled: true
+      gc_profiler/development:
+        metrics/development: true
     example_instrumentation:
       string_key: value
       bool_key: true
diff --git a/instrumentation-api-incubator/javaagent-testing/src/test/resources/declarative-config.yaml b/instrumentation-api-incubator/javaagent-testing/src/test/resources/declarative-config.yaml
index 8c6c7dbe60ef..18379249f803 100644
--- a/instrumentation-api-incubator/javaagent-testing/src/test/resources/declarative-config.yaml
+++ b/instrumentation-api-incubator/javaagent-testing/src/test/resources/declarative-config.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ instrumentation/development:
   java:
     http:
       client:
-        emit_experimental_telemetry: true
+        emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true
         url_template_rules:
           - pattern: "http://localhost:.*/hello/.*"
             template: "/hello/*"
diff --git a/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-2/src/testDeclarativeConfig/resources/application.yaml b/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-2/src/testDeclarativeConfig/resources/application.yaml
index 6b24c0ee67fa..6a552dba4218 100644
--- a/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-2/src/testDeclarativeConfig/resources/application.yaml
+++ b/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-2/src/testDeclarativeConfig/resources/application.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ otel:
   instrumentation/development:
     java:
       runtime-telemetry:
-        emit_experimental_telemetry: true
+        emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true
       http:
         client:
-          emit_experimental_telemetry: true
+          emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true
diff --git a/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-3.2/src/main/resources/application.yaml b/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-3.2/src/main/resources/application.yaml
index 0533d63c9b88..924a63db7be1 100644
--- a/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-3.2/src/main/resources/application.yaml
+++ b/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-3.2/src/main/resources/application.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ otel:
   instrumentation/development:
     java:
       runtime-telemetry:
-        emit_experimental_telemetry: true
+        emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true
       http:
         client:
-          emit_experimental_telemetry: true
+          emit_experimental_telemetry/development: true