Best time to get a hatchling

[Tortellini0000]

Hi!
Iv seen lots of comments on babies being “started” correctly and I’m wondering how many weeks/months is the best time to get a hatchling from a breeder that is set up successful and ready for the new tortoise parents to continue on, what does that time line look like? Thank you!

 

[turtlesteve]

My opinion:

If you are not previously experienced with hatchlings, the right age to get one is 3-6 months old. And the key is: At this age you are looking for a lot of growth, and smooth growth. If a breeder is selling babies that are the size of fresh hatchlings, you can’t visually tell if they are indeed fresh hatchlings or they are older and have not grown due to poor care. At 6 months babies of most species have doubled or possibly even tripled their hatchling weight. They are now much less sensitive, and seeing the proper growth rate also confirms that the baby was started well and isn’t sick.

If you are more experienced, you can go a bit younger, maybe down to about 4-6 weeks or so. New growth should be evident, which is critical in proving the baby is healthy, but they’re still delicate at this age and require more perfect care from the new owner.

I don’t suggest buying any hatchling before they have started to put on growth. Either they are too young, or they’re not thriving.

 

[wellington]

Never buy if the spot on the plastron where the egg sack was attached isn't fully healed closed and if they still have an egg tooth. Both of these mean they are too young.

 

[RandyTortoise]

It depends on the species and your experience. To everyone’s points above. If you have some basic skills, there is no real difference between a hatchling and one a few months old. I think for people who have had a few it doesn’t matter. But the older they get the more hardy they are, generally speaking.
When hatchlings you may find yourself doing a lot more finely chopping of veggies!
If you are buying from an experienced trusted breeder you can get one slightly older that has a smooth shell with no pyramiding which would be a good sign of having been raised properly.

 

[wellington]

It depends on the species and your experience. To everyone’s points above. If you have some basic skills, there is no real difference between a hatchling and one a few months old. I think for people who have had a few it doesn’t matter. But the older they get the more hardy they are, generally speaking.
When hatchlings you may find yourself doing a lot more finely chopping of veggies!
If you are buying from an experienced trusted breeder you can get one slightly older that has a smooth shell with no pyramiding which would be a good sign of having been raised properly.

A hatchling should not be sold without the egg sack scare closed/healed or the egg tooth still there. It's a matter of health, especially if the egg sack scare is still open. Let the breeder take care of it if there is a problem with it instead of expecting a buyer to deal with it.

 

[RandyTortoise]

A hatchling should not be sold without the egg sack scare closed/healed or the egg tooth still there. It's a matter of health, especially if the egg sack scare is still open. Let the breeder take care of it if there is a problem with it instead of expecting a buyer to deal with it.

Yes you are right. For me, a “hatchling” is without an egg sac. I was thinking a week or two old. My leopards were “hatchlings” and about a week and a half old when then arrived.

 

[Tom]

Hi!
Iv seen lots of comments on babies being “started” correctly and I’m wondering how many weeks/months is the best time to get a hatchling from a breeder that is set up successful and ready for the new tortoise parents to continue on, what does that time line look like? Thank you!

Double or triple the hatch weight is a good guideline. And this should happen within a few weeks or months. If the baby is 10 months old and only double the hatch weight, something is wrong.

You can also tell by asking the right questions:
1. Was the baby soaked daily?
2. Was the baby incubated on vermiculite?
3. Did the baby spend 7-10 days in a brooder box BEFORE going into an enclosure?
4. When the baby did go into an enclosure, what was the substrate?
5. Was the baby introduced to a wide variety of foods including lots of "natural" weeds, flowers and leaves?
6. Was the first enclosure a closed chamber, or an open topped tortoise table.

Here is all the right info for how to do it. Read this to better understand what questions to ask and how to interpret the answers. Few breeders do it correctly:

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

 

[Tortellini0000]

Thank you all for your great responses!

 

[144 Grandpa Turtle]

Please Be careful in the use of the word breeder People that buy two tortoises, and they have baby's call themselves Breeders Thats why I call myself a collector cause these people are not breeders, as you can tell I don't like the word Breeder

 

[wellington]

Please Be careful in the use of the word breeder People that buy two tortoises, and they have baby's call themselves Breeders Thats why I call myself a collector cause these people are not breeders, as you can tell I don't like the word Breeder

Totally agree. A couple clutches does not make a breeder.

 

[RandyTortoise]

Please Be careful in the use of the word breeder People that buy two tortoises, and they have baby's call themselves Breeders Thats why I call myself a collector cause these people are not breeders, as you can tell I don't like the word Breeder

Pretty good distinction actually. I call myself someone who is obsessed with tortoises as endangered species on this earth. Will I have some babies soon, yep. But unless I can find proper homes for them, they will stay with us forever.