HI

We are so excited and scared.We have today discovered our one of our tort eggs have started to hatch so  ANY advice for our very first baby tort really would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Paul & Donna

Paul Donna

dont know where everyone is today :-) someone will be along soon.

I'm no expert but have had 2 hatch 1 last year and 1 this summer and yes every time is very worrying but I do know a baby takes its time coming out and when your just sitting waiting, watching, going back to see every 1/2 hour :-) it seems a very long time, can take 1 or 2 days but everyone recommends to just leave alone and try to be patient :-) keep warm in the incubator, once out and if the egg sack has been completely absorbed give it a warm shallow bath they're very thirsty, then put back in incubator to keep warm, sometimes the egg sack has still to be absorbed in which case if possible try to leave in 1/2 of shell until its been absorbed, this is important that it doesnt get ruptured which can cause infection to the baby, sorry if I dont make sense, mine have always hatched with their egg sac fully absorbed, I think that's why its important to let them take their time and give egg sac time to be used up .

Hope this helps a little, I'm sure Vivian will be along soon, best of luck, keep calm     xx Cath   

Hi

Thanks Cath for advice. We are trying very hard to be patient and we thought our days of worrying about the young was over. haha

Paul & Donna

You lucky things!! We have our very first clutch of 6 eggs in the incubator. It's now been 60 days since they were laid. I'm really hoping we will see some action soon!! How long since yours were laid

Karen

Hi Paul and Donna

Firstly, congratulations on your new baby  there is nothing like watchng a baby tortoise hatch :)

Cath has given you some really good advice - be patient and try not to interfere - Mother Nature generally knows best!  They can come out of the shell in a couple of hours, other times it can be a couple of days, but when they are taking longer it is generally because they have an egg sac to absorb.  Soemtimes, the inner membrane of the shell stick like glue to the tort, but a little warm water will losen it off.  They are generally pretty thirsty when they finally emerge, and a bath is really important to let them top up on fluids.  Then it is a case of putting them into an enclosure - baby torts are fully self sufficent on hatching.  They tend to hide away a lot during the first couple of months, and it can take a few days before they eat, the important things are:

Temperature

Nutrobol on every feed

Fresh water always available in a shallow dish

daily bath to prevent dehydration

good uv light

diet of weeds from day 1

For the first few days, I tend to keep mine on a clean towel, or kitchen paper, just until the tummy has healed over, then they go on sand/soil mix.  Oh, and dont worry if he is a bit lop sided when he first hatches, they can be odd shapes, but this rectifies itself within a few days

Hope this helps, any questions, please dont hesitate to ask

Arlene TPG

Paul Donna

Hope things are going well, loved to see some pictures when you've time :-)

xx Cath

Hi All

Firstly thank you all for your advice its invaluable to us as this is our first! We will post some pics when he/she emerges and will wait patiently for that time! We found the eggs by luck while looking for one of our 3 year olds who had buried himself in the outdoor enclosure, so were not sure exactly when the eggs were laid, we have 2 eggs in the incubator and our estimate was that they should hatch in around 3-4 weeks from now, but clearly they had been in the ground longer than we first thought because they have only been in incubation for 35 days! Again thanks for all your advice and we will keep you posted as to the new arrival! It looks like it might be a very long night.....

Paul & Donna