# Non-proportional hatchling and theory



## lvstorts (Oct 7, 2011)

Hi all,
This little Ibera hatched today and he's a little off! I'm interested to see if anyone has any opinions on my current theory. I've hatched 12 other Iberas this summer and all but 2 have come out symetrical. The two that weren't symetrical were found by chance while doing standard maintenance in the pens (digging, turning soil, etc.). I put the eggs in the incubator and they hatched a month later. 

My theory: he's non-proportional because of the josteling from being dug up. He was far enough along to surrvive the josteling but it messed up his development a bit.

What do you think?


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## EricIvins (Oct 7, 2011)

It happens.......I've seen it from Incubated Eggs and clutches hatched in the ground......Similiar to what we see in split scutes, it may be genetic, it may be environmental, but no one has a concrete answer as to why it happens yet.......


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## jbean7916 (Oct 7, 2011)

Wow, I've never seen that before. Is the hatchling functional? I would be worried about what his insides look like if he's that off


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## Neal (Oct 7, 2011)

All of my indian stars that hatched out this year looked like that, they are almost folded inside of those eggs. All of them "evened out" eventually, I wouldn't be surprised if yours did the same after a couple of weeks.


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## l0velesly (Oct 7, 2011)

Very interesting. I hope their organs are fine and that they will even out?


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## ALDABRAMAN (Oct 7, 2011)

We have had some aldabras that were bent/crooked as they hatched out, they always leveled out and grew fine.


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## cdmay (Oct 9, 2011)

Fairly common to have that happen. As the others have said, it will even out in time.


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## lvstorts (Oct 9, 2011)

I have no doubt they will straighten out in time. Everything is functional. My main question was if people agreed the non-proportional form could be a result of being jostled from the manor it was found.


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## african cake queen (Oct 9, 2011)

hi, strange little dude.sounds like hes gona be okay. he is still very cute to me. lindy


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## GBtortoises (Oct 9, 2011)

It's probably more due to the fact the hatchlings are usually "folded" in the egg and those that are lopsided when they hatch didn't develop in the egg in the typical manner of "feet to feet" but instead with it's head closer to one point of the egg and it's rear closer to the other point. It's not unusual, happens often. All of mine that have hatched that way even out over the course of a few weeks usually. I doubt very much that it had anything to do with moving the egg during development. Once the egg shell is firm the only thing that is going to affect the embryo inside is serious mis-handling such as shaking, dropping, spinning or turning upside down. Any of those actions can injure or suffocate the embryo inside.


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## cdmay (Oct 10, 2011)

lvstorts said:


> I have no doubt they will straighten out in time. Everything is functional. My main question was if people agreed the non-proportional form could be a result of being jostled from the manor it was found.



I sort of doubt that jostling has anything to do with the folded shape (or lopsided shells) that some hatchlings possess upon emerging from their eggs.
More likely it results from the dimensions of the egg they come from. Hatchlings that come out of eggs that are elongated instead of round tend to be misshapen as the hatchling grows inside of a place with a 'low ceiling' so to speak. On other occasions I have found that sometimes a hatchling comes out of an egg that seems too small for it and these oversized neonates are typically more folded too. 
In these cases what happens is that the growing neonate simply squeezes into the container its in and the result is the somewhat odd look to them.


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## Yvonne G (Oct 10, 2011)

That's an interesting theory, Therese. Its obvious that the baby is not oriented inside the egg in the normal direction, and it might stand to reason that turning the egg while in development could have had something to do with that. I wish someone would do a study and give us a clue.


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