brishe Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Hi, i posted a topic about two months ago regarding "Turtle eggs". We had them floating in a container in the top of our discus tank and to our surprise one of them started to hatch yesterday afternoon!! After the initial shock of it as i had no idea that they would hatch i now have a few question regarding the babies..... The hatchling is now swimming in a small tank with heated water and a light and access to a flat rock, it still has its yolk sac, is that normal for it to still be attached?? it hatched out about 7pm last night. The other egg hasnt hatched yet, do i leave it?? or do i try and open it?? Anything else i need to know would be great too. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 If they have any real yolk sack I leave them where they hatched as they are still feeding on it. Only move them when it is used up as if it is damaged they will die. They have it showing for a while before it seals over and that is not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 The other egg hasnt hatched yet, do i leave it?? or do i try and open it?? if he doesnt make it out by himself, it is probably too weak to survive any way alanmin4304 has it right on the yolk sac, can take up to a week to go, we feed the young, guppy fry and shaved oxheart to start off others may have different first foods good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 leave them in the hatching container till the belly button is gone,cover them with a damp paper towel to prevent dehydration,usually they come out and bury themselves into the medium,then when they are ready surface and start looking for water.The yolk sac is very prone to infection or rupture if you put them in the water too soon.As for the other egg,if its clean and white just wait,there is no fixed time even for eggs of the same batch,tampering will result in tradgedy.you probably could put some acrflavine or similar in the water,but i would advise take it out paint the area with some dilute iodine etc after a day or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 leave them in the hatching container till the belly button is gone,cover them with a damp paper towel to prevent dehydration,usually they come out and bury themselves into the medium,then when they are ready surface and start looking for water.The yolk sac is very prone to infection or rupture if you put them in the water too soon.As for the other egg,if its clean and white just wait,there is no fixed time even for eggs of the same batch,tampering will result in tradgedy.you probably could put some acrflavine or similar in the water,but i would advise take it out paint the area with some dilute iodine etc after a day or so.[/quote Hi, thanks for the advice we still have 5 other eggs that are due to hatch in a month so i will know better for next time, the first hatchling is doing great though ,very active and his belly button is almost sealed and looks really healthy... I opened the other egg as the shell started to look a little mouldy, the turtle was alive but very weak so i am not too confident about this one. He was completly squashed by the large yolk sac it seemed to cover him and he was squashed against the side of the egg shell his left side is deformed in the way that his eye looks cloudy his front leg is very weak and the claws are deformed, he also holds his head to the right, so i am doing my best for him but when i hold him in the water he gets quite active. It is in a small container on a damp handy towel but i will cover him with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted September 16, 2007 Report Share Posted September 16, 2007 keep the temp of his water quite warm,say 29-30ish.this will boost his metabolism and they eat more and do alot better in my experience.The deformed shell of the other one means nothing and is quite normal,have seen them come out really mishapen but they soon flatten out to normal,have even had a few that got the egg shell stuck on and the shell appeared to be hardened in that shape but a few days in the water you could not tell which one it was.You cannot ever think that the eggs will come out in a certain number of days either,I have had them from 65 days to 120 days.Some even in the same batch can vary alot.Patience is something you need when breeding reptiles,if it can`t hatch on its own it was probaly no good anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 16, 2007 Report Share Posted September 16, 2007 I agree with the above advice. I was advised once one hatched to assist the rest and it resulted in disaster. Now I leave them to hatch by themselves and only remove them when the egg sac is used up. Dont even help them from the shell as they generally still have a lot of yolk left. If you keep the shell moist (and therefore soft) they will come out when ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 JUst an update, the first hatchling is doing great has almost doubled his size since birth (even though he is still not activly eating yet) but sadly the second one died, i didnt have much hope for it any way but we have 5 other eggs to hopefully hatch in a few weeks and i am hoping that at least three will hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 My advice would be to keep the shells moist (and therefore soft) and let them do their own thing. There can be major differences in hatch times even in the same batch and the temptation is to try and rush it. They sort it out themslves best I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 My advice would be to keep the shells moist (and therefore soft) and let them do their own thing. There can be major differences in hatch times even in the same batch and the temptation is to try and rush it. They sort it out themslves best I think. I do wonder if i was a bit quick in rushing in, i was worried that it may have been trying to get out and presumed that seem it was laid the same tim e it would of been ok, but i will know for the next lot. 3 of thgem look nice and round but two have folded up underneath so we may be lucky to get three babies. they are due about the 13th of october. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 The folded ones are usually not fertile, but not always---patience is the go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 I have had eggs that collapsed like that and they were still good,just got a bit dry towards the end,you can rehydrate them if this is the case by draping a wet paper towel over them and moistening the substrate,something that comes with experience,on the other hand I have had eggs that swelled up from too much water and even burst.ateaspoon or two of water warmed in the palm of your hand and sprinkled over the egg would not hurt,followed by the damp towel,check if they fill out a bit after a day or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 I have had eggs that collapsed like that and they were still good,just got a bit dry towards the end,you can rehydrate them if this is the case by draping a wet paper towel over them and moistening the substrate,something that comes with experience,on the other hand I have had eggs that swelled up from too much water and even burst.ateaspoon or two of water warmed in the palm of your hand and sprinkled over the egg would not hurt,followed by the damp towel,check if they fill out a bit after a day or so. The first two eggs did this too hence why i was so surprised that one hatched i had resigned myself to the fact that they were no good, but i will try your advice and see what happens, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 You are way ahead of us. We got our first eggs of the season laid this week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 You are way ahead of us. We got our first eggs of the season laid this week Really? she has laid three clutches of eggs in the last two months!! she seems to have settled down latley though, but i certainly have enough eggs to look after at the moment, especially for begginers!! The first hatchling is now one week old and has finally started to eat some blood worms, is there anything else i can try and feed it?? we have tried frozen turtle food (broken into tiny peices) and turtle pellets but its only inetrested in the blood worms so far. Also how old does it need to be before we can rehome it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 I feed JBL baby turtlefood and white worms as well. I usually feed the whiteworms when I first remove them from the incubator as they instinctively go for live food that is moving (siphon off any excess regularly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 I should add that I put mine into a bare heated tank with no filtation or airstone as I think a decent filter would blow them all over the place. Whiteworms will stay alive about a day and I siphon off what excess there is each day and put in fresh. I only feed whiteworms for the first week to give them a good start, them start giving as many other foods as I can get to get them use to it. I don't sell them until about 7 weeks but I go by size. I have a heat lamp and reptile light for the babies (not the adults) as they are in the garage with no windows. The water goes green after a while and I use that to grow daphnia (fed also to the babies) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted September 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 I should add that I put mine into a bare heated tank with no filtation or airstone as I think a decent filter would blow them all over the place. Whiteworms will stay alive about a day and I siphon off what excess there is each day and put in fresh. I only feed whiteworms for the first week to give them a good start, them start giving as many other foods as I can get to get them use to it. I don't sell them until about 7 weeks but I go by size. I have a heat lamp and reptile light for the babies (not the adults) as they are in the garage with no windows. The water goes green after a while and I use that to grow daphnia (fed also to the babies) Ok thanks for that. i will start offering more variety i actually saw it eat last night which was great as i have only been presuming from what food is left over so i feel a lot better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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