Turtles

Mama Gertie Pond Side

She is quite spoiled.

Night Crawlers & mango

Had 11 eggs total. Nine of Gerties and two of

 Maudes- all hatched:) Incubated for 86 days

at 84 degrees / 85% humidity.

Two other clutches left outside laid late August.

Will see- they acutually can hatch but stay underground

dormant till spring.

Once they broke through it was not uncommon for them to stay in the shell

for up to 3 days while the egg yolk was used up for nourishment.

The plastron closes at about 5-8 days at

 which point I started them in

shallow water. Too much chance of

infection before it closes up.

A weak one that I hydrated in a soup spoon.

Made it just fine!

Eggs marked with marker. They must stay at same position as when they were laid.

They can't be turned as bird eggs - can kill the embryo.

Below is pic of egg as I candled with a flashlight. Was awesome

watching them develope and start to move.

Good pic of the egg tooth. Falls out at about one week.

Gertie

TADA

MERRY CRISTMAS  !!!!!!!!!!

Spending some quality time with Gertie.

My box turtles which will be another page another day...

Lil guy I got from  Vet Tech Jill