# I haven't seen too many hatching tortoises here...



## kbaker (Jan 6, 2010)

This was taken about an hour ago...enjoy!! 
Kevin

I seem to be having trouble posting an attachment.

I think I got it now.


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## Meg90 (Jan 6, 2010)

Use the IMG tag if your picture is uploaded to a site such as photobucket.  Sulcata?

What's the *unseen*  babies name?


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## Stephanie Logan (Jan 6, 2010)

OOOOHHHHHH...brand new! Hope the hatching went well...congratulations! It's a tortoise!


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## kbaker (Jan 6, 2010)

I was thinking more of hatching tortoise and not hatchling, but maybe I did miss the pictures. This site has a lot of posts.

I do not have a name, yet. It must have started to hatch yesterday and I missed it. Usually they peep for a day and do an arm swing the second. This one had totally collapsed it's egg shell.


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## egyptiandan (Jan 6, 2010)

Very nice 

There are a few pictures of tortoises hatching in the picture section. Some are mine 

Danny


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## ChiKat (Jan 6, 2010)

Great pic! Thanks for sharing


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## Weloveourtortoise (Jan 6, 2010)

I want to see more!!! please keep us updated! I love seeing that hatching and hatchling pics!!! Congrats on the new addition!


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## Isa (Jan 7, 2010)

CUtteeee  Congratulations!


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## sammi (Jan 7, 2010)

Yes more please!! Moooore pictures!  So cute! Congrats!


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## kbaker (Jan 7, 2010)

Here are some pictures from Nov-Dec 2009.



View attachment 3701



View attachment 3703




...more...

...and more.


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## Isa (Jan 8, 2010)

Awww Beautiful pictures.
Your babies are adorable!
Thank you so much for sharing


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## sammi (Jan 8, 2010)

Soo cute! What kind of tortoises are the last 2? They are sooo adorable! =] 

[Thx for the pictures by the way! ]


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## kbaker (Jan 8, 2010)

sammi said:


> Soo cute! What kind of tortoises are the last 2? They are sooo adorable! =]
> 
> [Thx for the pictures by the way! ]



They are Sulcatas and the other ones are 3-toed box turtles.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 8, 2010)

*Oh No!!* The dreaded Sulcata breeder!!!

(Be kind forum members...remember that Kevin is new to the forum and hasn't learned to understand our weird sense of humor.)


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## kbaker (Jan 8, 2010)

emysemys said:


> *Oh No!!* The dreaded Sulcata breeder!!!
> 
> (Be kind forum members...remember that Kevin is new to the forum and hasn't learned to understand our weird sense of humor.)



Thanks, Yvonne.

I do have my issues on how many I should (or should not) hatch. Maybe one day I will take on the discussion in another area of this forum.

I don't consider myself a "breeder". I believe a breeder is someone who has reproduction as a goal/purpose. My purpose/goal is to take care of my tortoises the best I can. And of course, the results usually involve good eggs. Maybe I am an "incubator" (LOL) because when I do get eggs, my purpose is to keep the eggs alive (long past hatching).


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## kbaker (Jan 10, 2010)

Update picture....
I named the hatchling 'Happy'. 

Also, the second picture is of another egg hatching. I was worried because it did not hatch sooner, but it appears fine. The picture is from my phone and washed out. You can't even see the writing on the egg. The arrow is pointing to where the egg is peepping.

You might notice that I changed containers and incubating media, too.


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## BethyB1022 (Jan 10, 2010)

Aww, what sweet babies, thanks for sharing!


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## kbaker (Jan 12, 2010)

The second egg hatched, but he has irregular/split scutes. Happy has one split scute which I can over look.

I've hatched a total of ten sulcatas in two years with the incubator set to 88F and these two are the only ones with split scutes. I will lower the temp a little and hope the rest come out better.


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## Meg90 (Jan 12, 2010)

Aww! Split scutes are beautiful! They add to the uniqueness of a tortoise! I'd love to see pics of all the babies. Happy is adorable.


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## kbaker (Jan 12, 2010)

Here are some pictures of Happy. He is doing well and ate for the first time today.

(It would be easier to write about if he had a name) The other hatchling is still in the nursery absorbing his yolk sac. As you can see from the pictures, he is not as cute as he could be.


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## tortoiseman777 (Jan 12, 2010)

nice torts and turtles! are you using the SIM for incubation?


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## kbaker (Jan 12, 2010)

tortoiseman777 said:


> nice torts and turtles! are you using the SIM for incubation?



I bought a SIM to try while waiting for the last clutch of eggs. I found out that Sulcata eggs are just too big and round to use with a SIM. I do use it for a nursery.

They are suppose to come out with a larger SIM and I might try it.


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## kbaker (Jan 13, 2010)

If you are interested, I posted some pics of my hatchling under this post:
RE: Leopard X Sulcata hybrid torts will be at Pomona Show! what a sight to see!! 

I did not want to post the pictures twice and I am not sure how to link, yet.

Here are some clearer pictures from today of Happy...enjoy!!


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## Yvonne G (Jan 13, 2010)

They're so clean-looking when they're new like that!


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 13, 2010)

So what do you do with your hatchlings if you are not a breeder?


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## kbaker (Jan 13, 2010)

maggie3fan said:


> So what do you do with your hatchlings if you are not a breeder?



That sounds like a loaded question "if you are not a breeder".

I kept the first one I hatched and found homes for the rest. Whether you consider me a breeder or not, I can't possibly keep every one I hatch. I wish I could.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 13, 2010)

You are breeding tortoises, so that obviously makes you a breeder...and I simply wanted to know what you were doing with the animals you hatched out. No loaded question, but that really sounds defensive. What part of the country do you live in? I know that most rescues on the West Coast are having problems finding homes for Sulcata, so I am just wondering how you were getting rid of them...No hidden agenda, just asking.


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## kbaker (Jan 13, 2010)

maggie3fan said:


> You are breeding tortoises, so that obviously makes you a breeder...and I simply wanted to know what you were doing with the animals you hatched out. No loaded question, but that really sounds defensive. What part of the country do you live in? I know that most rescues on the West Coast are having problems finding homes for Sulcata, so I am just wondering how you were getting rid of them...No hidden agenda, just asking.



Yes, I was being defensive. I apologize.

I am in MI. Hatchlings sell for $125 to $250 in pet stores here. I sell mine for $40 - $60 (I have given a couple away). So far they have been to local people. I don't think I hatch enough to sell outside the state and to get health certificates for.

"You are breeding tortoises,..."
What I do is take care of my pet tortoises. When I bought my first hatchling, my intent was not to 'raise it up, get eggs and make money'. Back then (9 years ago), they did not temp sex them or scope them like they do now. I had a cute hatchling named "Dudley" and she turned out to be a girl.

I guess to make this short...whether I get eggs or not, they are my tortoises until I die. If something were to happen to one of my (2.1) adults, I would not just buy another adult so I would continue to get eggs.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 13, 2010)

Please don't let's turn this into another thread about not breeding sulcatas. The OP just said that he hasn't seen any pictures of babies hatching out of eggs. And he showed us some of his babies. What he does or doesn't do with the babies is his own business. And its not up to us to condone or condemn. Let's all just accept this member as a new part of our forum family and learn from him what he has to teach us. Be kind.


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## Stephanie Logan (Jan 13, 2010)

OK, I am going to be helpful here. I had to use my thesaurus as a cheat sheet though. 

Charming, enchanting, bewitching, entrancing, captivating, cute, fascinating, delightful, lovable, sweet, winning, irresistible, appealing...and the list goes on, but that is all I am willing to share because I need to keep some to myself for later use to describe these infatuating little hatchlings!

As I've said before, I'd be scared to handle them as they are so tiny and fragile-looking! 

Question: how long does it take one of these munchkins from pip to pet? Do you ever have to "help" them shed their shells?


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## kbaker (Jan 14, 2010)

Stephanie Logan said:


> Question: how long does it take one of these munchkins from pip to pet? Do you ever have to "help" them shed their shells?



It varies from hatchling to hatchling, but in general:

First day they pip.



By the end of the second day, they stick an arm out and spin around in the shell. This basically breaks the egg shell in half.





I then transfer them to the nursery which is a container I keep inside the incubator.





They stay in the nursery until their yolk sac is absorbed. This usually can take 2 -3 days, but if it is large, a few days longer.





It will take another 2-3 days (sometimes longer) for them to start nibling on greens. By day 15, they should be eating, pooping and growing. At this point is when they can be considered for a home.



To answer your other question:
No, I don't have to help them with the egg shell. They do a pretty good job all by themselves.


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## Stephanie Logan (Jan 14, 2010)

Wow, what a great photo essay! You must be amazed by the miracle of life every time you see it.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 14, 2010)

Holy crap! I asked what he was doing with his hatchlings, because I was interested in what part of the country he was in and how he was getting rid of what he was hatching. Are we not allowed to ask questions? I even explained to him why I was asking. I told him I had no hidden agenda, I told him about rescues on the West Coast and I just wanted to know. That's all. I was interested. But I guess there's a rule against asking questions because the word Sulcata was in there. Maybe it's not fair to jump on a newbie who's breeding Sulcata (even before anyone has jumped on him), but it is also not fair to jump on me before I said anymore. You *assumed* I was going to jump on him, you *assumed *even tho I had just said I had no hidden agenda I just wanted to know. The *LEAST* you could have done was waited to see if I was going to say anymore...but instead you jumped on me. Thanks a whole lot.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 14, 2010)

Yipes!


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 14, 2010)

I have spent years believing that Sulcata were like feral cats, over bred and filling up the rescues, but by asking questions and talking to people like this I have found that they are not over bred every where and some regions of the country are wanting Sulcata. But if I never asked anyone or talked to anyone about it, I would never know that...
One can only learn by asking...


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## miss_kristyn (Jan 14, 2010)

KBAKER... WOW that is very impressive!!! I have no idea how much it takes to hatch eggs... I am glad for your diary of what you did!!! And what happens in the process of an egg hatching! You make me very confident you are great keeper of your tortoise eggs!  They are amazing!!!! WONDERFUL JOB!!! And I love your quote... so now may all "your" hatchlings find GREAT homes


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## kbaker (Jan 18, 2010)

Here is an Update...

Happy is no longer Happy. His new name is Charles. His new keeper came by Sunday to meet him and should be taking him home next Sunday. 

The hatchling with the irregular/split scutes has a name now. It's Liberty (as in the Liberty Bell).

I had another tortoise start hatching on Saturday. See the pictures.

Here is a question to anyone who might have a clue...
Liberty came out with bad scutes and a ding in his shell. Also, on his left hand two fingers are fused together. He seems to be eating and growing fine. I assumed my incubator was set too high or was getting warmer than I thought, so I turned it down a couple of degrees.

The new hatchling was from the same clutch and incubated in the same container. Why is his scutes fine?? He is perfect except for a flat spot on the side of his shell. I assumed that if I did incubate too high that I would have some degree of scute issues. Why such extremes between the two hatchlings?

more...


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## Meg90 (Jan 19, 2010)

Can you post more pics of Liberty? The "dent" I thought, was just from being folded up in her egg--hasn't she smoothed out at all?


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## kbaker (Jan 19, 2010)

Meg90 said:


> Can you post more pics of Liberty? The "dent" I thought, was just from being folded up in her egg--hasn't she smoothed out at all?



I will either have to delete some pictures or find a hosted site because I am at my limit for pictures on the forum.

From my experience, once they hatch they are what they are and they don't fill out. And remember, they are folded with their bottom folded in.


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