# Sulcata Egg Hatching - Blood Spot



## zoergoff (Aug 4, 2020)

Hello, this is my first time posting to the forums and my first time hatching a tortoise egg. I had a sulcata tortoise egg arrive this morning, it was shipped overnight. I noticed when I opened the package that there was a small blood spot where the egg had started to hatch. I had not read about this prior, and I am struggling to find more information. I contacted the breeder and am waiting on a response. In the meantime, I have been setting the egg up with heat and misting the enclosure to get the humidity right. Could anyone here tell me if this is normal or something I should be worried about? Thank you so much.


----------



## Tom (Aug 4, 2020)

zoergoff said:


> Hello, this is my first time posting to the forums and my first time hatching a tortoise egg. I had a sulcata tortoise egg arrive this morning, it was shipped overnight. I noticed when I opened the package that there was a small blood spot where the egg had started to hatch. I had not read about this prior, and I am struggling to find more information. I contacted the breeder and am waiting on a response. In the meantime, I have been setting the egg up with heat and misting the enclosure to get the humidity right. Could anyone here tell me if this is normal or something I should be worried about? Thank you so much.


Mine hatch on vermiculite so it would be harder to see if something like that were happening. I've never noticed any blood.

Is that perlite in the deli cup? Remove the egg from there ASAP if yes. Like right now! Stop reading and walk over there right now. Perlite will kill your baby. 

Read this for the correct way to start a baby:





How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings


I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...




tortoiseforum.org





Do you have an incubator? You need one. I suppose you could put your brooder box in the enclosure and close it all in and make that like an incubator.

Here is a thread detailing all of this info. Keep reading to the end, as I go into much more detail about exactly what to do:





Sudan Sulcatas (This never gets old...)


My very first clutch of true 100% pure Sudan sulcatas is now hatching. I don't care how many times I see this, it just never gets old. I dig up the eggs carefully place them in my prepared shoe boxes, watch the temperature in the incubator and tend to them for months, and then... When that...




tortoiseforum.org





If you are misting the cage, then I already know you haven't got the right cage. You'll need a closed chamber in about 7-10 days when your baby is ready to be in an enclosure. Here is all that info:





The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise


I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...




tortoiseforum.org





Be aware that most of the care info you find for sulcatas is wrong. We've been doing it all wrong for decades and most of the tortoise keeping world has not kept up with the new discoveries and improvements in care.


----------



## zoergoff (Aug 4, 2020)

Tom said:


> Mine hatch on vermiculite so it would be harder to see if something like that were happening. I've never noticed any blood.
> 
> Is that perlite in the deli cup? Remove the egg from there ASAP if yes. Like right now! Stop reading and walk over there right now. Perlite will kill your baby.
> 
> ...


I am not sure if it is perlite, it looks like the substrate was used to keep the egg secure during transit. I will definitely be moving it!

Thank you for the linked threads, they were helpful to read. The breeder has already gotten back to my emails, so I am hoping to learn more about the blood spot specifically soon too.


----------



## Toddrickfl1 (Aug 4, 2020)

Tortstork?


----------



## zoergoff (Aug 4, 2020)

Toddrickfl1 said:


> Tortstork?


I actually got the egg from Sin City Reptiles. I found a lot of positive reviews online and the breeder has been very communicative and helpful.


----------



## Toddrickfl1 (Aug 4, 2020)

zoergoff said:


> I actually got the egg from Sin City Reptiles. I found a lot of positive reviews online and the breeder has been very communicative and helpful.


Ahh the competition lol. Just joking, they're friends. I had done a Cherry head egg from Tortstork.


----------



## Alexolivia (Mar 12, 2021)

zoergoff said:


> Hello, this is my first time posting to the forums and my first time hatching a tortoise egg. I had a sulcata tortoise egg arrive this morning, it was shipped overnight. I noticed when I opened the package that there was a small blood spot where the egg had started to hatch. I had not read about this prior, and I am struggling to find more information. I contacted the breeder and am waiting on a response. In the meantime, I have been setting the egg up with heat and misting the enclosure to get the humidity right. Could anyone here tell me if this is normal or something I should be worried about? Thank you so much.


Did your baby turn out okay? I am interested in ordering an egg from him but want to make sure everything will be okay. Do you have any tips to help me with the hatching stage?


----------

