Hey everyone, sorry we are late to the thread. We have been in constant communication with Heidi.
Tom, to answer some of your concerns, this hatchling was offered at a discounted price do to the mis-scute on the shell. While hatching in the incubator, the incubator got too dry toward the end of incubation which I think caused the mis-scuted shell. It was a smaller hatchling but was eating and moving around just like all the other hatchlings, so I felt good about offering it to a new home. It was nice to find out Heidi is a veterinarian technician, she has ran a wet mount and a fecal float and their is no sign of build up of bacteria or parasites. With the new growth starting now, maybe it is just a "runt" that needed a little more detailed attention.
For what its worth, I refunded Heidi awhile ago for this situation so she would have a little extra funds to try to help the tortoise along. Kinda sounds like this hatchling got into the best environment for it - with Heidi.
Tom, to answer some of your concerns, this hatchling was offered at a discounted price do to the mis-scute on the shell. While hatching in the incubator, the incubator got too dry toward the end of incubation which I think caused the mis-scuted shell. It was a smaller hatchling but was eating and moving around just like all the other hatchlings, so I felt good about offering it to a new home. It was nice to find out Heidi is a veterinarian technician, she has ran a wet mount and a fecal float and their is no sign of build up of bacteria or parasites. With the new growth starting now, maybe it is just a "runt" that needed a little more detailed attention.
For what its worth, I refunded Heidi awhile ago for this situation so she would have a little extra funds to try to help the tortoise along. Kinda sounds like this hatchling got into the best environment for it - with Heidi.
