Found a prematurely hatched turtle

[wellington]

Keep moist, let yolk snack dry up on its own and start feeding now. Any grocery greens or native edible safe plants. Chop the greens up small and put in a pile and spritz with water. Give him warm water soaks once sack obsorbed and keep it in a humid 80% environment along with the temps Yvonne mentioned. .

 

[Jumhur]

Keep moist, let yolk snack dry up on its own and start feeding now. Any grocery greens or native edible safe plants. Chop the greens up small and put in a pile and spritz with water. Give him warm water soaks once sack obsorbed and keep it in a humid 80% environment along with the temps Yvonne mentioned. .

The yolk sack doesn't look like the type it will get absorbed since it's ripped and that yolk looks like a hard boiled egg's. I piled it some lettuce and cucumbers thinly chopped as you said but I'm not sure if it ate any if them. Right now it's sitting on a damp napkin at around 30 degrees Celsius temp. It's covered from the top so the humidity must be around 80-95%. What worries me is the smell of rot. The turtle also look way more lethargic, doesn't want to open its eyes as much, moves less. I'm wondering if I should call my dogs vet to cut the yolk sac tomorrow morning if the turtle survives until then ?

 

[wellington]

The yolk sack doesn't look like the type it will get absorbed since it's ripped and that yolk looks like a hard boiled egg's. I piled it some lettuce and cucumbers thinly chopped as you said but I'm not sure if it ate any if them. Right now it's sitting on a damp napkin at around 30 degrees Celsius temp. It's covered from the top so the humidity must be around 80-95%. What worries me is the smell of rot. The turtle also look way more lethargic, doesn't want to open its eyes as much, moves less. I'm wondering if I should call my dogs vet to cut the yolk sac tomorrow morning if the turtle survives until then ?

@Yvonne G should the sack be tied off or cut off seeing its dry?

 

[Markw84]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. That is a ruptured yolk sac that cannot be absorbed. It will rot and get necrotic - and very likely then kill the tortoise.

I would tie it off and cut any necrotic looking tissue away. Keep it on a moist paper towel in a small container all kept at 85° (30° C). Try to avoid any bleeding. Very little blood loss can kill a baby. I've successfully save a baby similar to this, but it did not have the red tissue above the ruptured yolk sac like this one. That looks like more than just yolk sac is exposed. Unfortunately it does not look good.

 

[Jumhur]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. That is a ruptured yolk sac that cannot be absorbed. It will rot and get necrotic - and very likely then kill the tortoise.

I would tie it off and cut any necrotic looking tissue away. Keep it on a moist paper towel in a small container all kept at 85° (30° C). Try to avoid any bleeding. Very little blood loss can kill a baby. I've successfully save a baby similar to this, but it did not have the red tissue above the ruptured yolk sac like this one. That looks like more than just yolk sac is exposed. Unfortunately it does not look Good.

Thanks for the advice. Is there any point to cut small parts of the sack instead of removing it whole ? I spoke to a vet over the phone, he will come over and tie the chord and cut off the sack in a few hours probably. Also i dont think its eating at all.Hope it all turns out well. Any additional info is appreciated.

 

[Jumhur]

UPDATE: We cut the yolk sack and applied some antiseptic cream there to kill the bacteria. It almost ripped on its own, we just had to trim around the shell, there wasn't anything to tie off with a stitching thread. It is still not eating, I will see if I can find some nutritional liquid drops to maybe give a few drops in its mouth. What do you think?

 

[Markw84]

That really looks good. Excellent job trimming off the dead tissue.

Keep the tortoise is a fairly small container (I use something about 8"x12"x 4"tall) in a controlled temperature area where it is as close to ideal incubation temperature as possible - 29.5°C. Have it covered with a few small air holes. It needs to hold 100% humidity. Use either several layers of moist paper towels or some layers of broad leaves like grape, mulberry, broad-leaf plantain as a substrate. Then put in finely chopped food = Green leaf lettuce, romaine, red-leaf, escarole, radicchio, plantain, dandelion, hibiscus flower and leaves, etc. IF you still have the egg shell - put that in as well. IF not, perhaps some chicken eggshell crumbled up. The hatchling needs more nutrition and calcium as it did not get to absorb its yolk sac. You could also use a bit of crumbled cuttlebone.

Provide light and get the baby on a 14 hour photoperiod.

Change out and clean everything daily.

Soak in warm (32°) water that is about 1/2 way up the baby's shell for at least 30 minutes a day. Keep the baby tortoise in that way until you see good, well-formed feces in the soak water, and it has gained at least 10% of its current weight. (get a good accurate food scale).

 

[zovick]

UPDATE: We cut the yolk sack and applied some antiseptic cream there to kill the bacteria. It almost ripped on its own, we just had to trim around the shell, there wasn't anything to tie off with a stitching thread. It is still not eating, I will see if I can find some nutritional liquid drops to maybe give a few drops in its mouth. What do you think?

Many baby tortoises don't eat for several days after they hatch. Some may even go 7-10 days before getting hungry. I would not try putting any liquids into its mouth. If it accidentally inhales the liquid, it may get pneumonia and become worse off than it is at present.

I recommend just keeping it warm and offering it various foods for the next several days. If it is healthy, it will begin to eat on its own.

 

[Sarah2020]

Cute tortoise! You have good advise from experts above. Good luck and keep us posted. Weigh him on digital kitchen scales and maintain a log , so you can monitor growth and / or loss

 

[Meesh]

That's 100% a Hermanns tortoise! You found this near a construction site? Are you in USA? & yes that is his for lack of better words "umbilical cord" keep it moist & the turtle will absorb it. And most hatchlings look folded in half a little its normal. He/she will round out in a cple days. Hope this lil ball of cuteness makes it💙

 

[Jumhur]

That's 100% a Hermanns tortoise! You found this near a construction site? Are you in USA? & yes that is his for lack of better words "umbilical cord" keep it moist & the turtle will absorb it. And most hatchlings look folded in half a little its normal. He/she will round out in a cple days. Hope this lil ball of cuteness makes it💙

I found it in bulgaria, eastern thrace.Thanks, it's alive so far, but still haven't seen it eat so still a bit worried l. I found it upside down today , trying to flip on its belly, its a cutie for sure. It seems to be in good spirit but I need to see it eat before being more positive about its future.

 

[Sarah2020]

Yes hatchlings will flip , add some small rocks in the enclosure they can get their claws on and flip back. Re food try the soaking in shallow warm water in a high sided container with pureed carrot for about 10 mins, try cutting fresh leaves really fine and leave in so it can graze. He should be asleep now so try tomorrow.

 

[Jumhur]

Hey guys, I thought to give you an update.
I am doing everything you guys recommended. I change its bedding every 12h, tried giving it all sorts of different stuff, thinly diced or the puree and also I managed to find its egg shell in the construction, cleaned it up and smashed it to small pieces but it hasn't touched any of them, also understandably no feces. I give it 30 min baths every day and plenty of sun, it enjoys it a lot, sticks its neck out and soaks the sun 😂. I wonder if I can think that it has made it out of the danger zone now and name It? The exposed part of the yolk chord doesn't smell bad and considering it hasn't died yet, i assume there isn't any internal infections. Any informed suggestions would be welcome. It's been over a week since I have it now, just for perspective

 

[Markw84]

The yolk scar is looking good. I would put the little guy in a small enclosure and try to give it an environment where it can feel more natural and secure. Fir bark, or coco coir substrate, moistened and put in a few plants with overhanging leaves to hide beneath. Pothos, spider plant, prayer plant. Some small branches loaded with leaves from a hibiscus or rose of sharon would be great. Small tortoises do not like to be in the open. Give it plant cover to hide in and it will greatly reduce stress and may help it want to eat. Right now it may simply be too stressed and security is overcoming hunger.

I would be concerned about it not eating and that is the biggest issue now. Unlike @zovick 's comment, I never see hatchlings go more than a day from hatching to start eating, the way I start them. In fact, my average for 100s of babies and many species is a 8%-12% weight gain in the first 7-10 days while I have them in the brooder box and then transition them to their first enclosure. Since your guy did not get to absorb much in nutrients that would have been in the yolk, it is very important to get it eating ASAP.

 

[AmandaF]

Hey guys, I thought to give you an update.
I am doing everything you guys recommended. I change its bedding every 12h, tried giving it all sorts of different stuff, thinly diced or the puree and also I managed to find its egg shell in the construction, cleaned it up and smashed it to small pieces but it hasn't touched any of them, also understandably no feces. I give it 30 min baths every day and plenty of sun, it enjoys it a lot, sticks its neck out and soaks the sun 😂. I wonder if I can think that it has made it out of the danger zone now and name It? The exposed part of the yolk chord doesn't smell bad and considering it hasn't died yet, i assume there isn't any internal infections. Any informed suggestions would be welcome. It's been over a week since I have it now, just for perspective

Morning

I unfortunately can’t give you any advise as I dont know anything about hatchlings. You seem to be doing a good job. Please keep us update.

Ernie (tortoise) & Amanda

Hey guys, I thought to give you an update.
I am doing everything you guys recommended. I change its bedding every 12h, tried giving it all sorts of different stuff, thinly diced or the puree and also I managed to find its egg shell in the construction, cleaned it up and smashed it to small pieces but it hasn't touched any of them, also understandably no feces. I give it 30 min baths every day and plenty of sun, it enjoys it a lot, sticks its neck out and soaks the sun 😂. I wonder if I can think that it has made it out of the danger zone now and name It? The exposed part of the yolk chord doesn't smell bad and considering it hasn't died yet, i assume there isn't any internal infections. Any informed suggestions would be welcome. It's been over a week since I have it now, just for perspective

 

[Jumhur]

Today I went around some pet shops,maybe like 6 and managed to find baby tortoise food. Its like little pellets, as soon as I put tjr food infront of it, it started munching. Its not touching the greens but destroyed the turtle food. So far so good. Will wait to see how poo poo comes but things seem good. I am also good with arduino robots, will make an enclosure around 1 sq meter , with plants, maybe a small cave and 10cm thick ground with a humidifier for it to keep it nice. I'm pumped !

 

[zolasmum]

Today I went around some pet shops,maybe like 6 and managed to find baby tortoise food. Its like little pellets, as soon as I put tjr food infront of it, it started munching. Its not touching the greens but destroyed the turtle food. So far so good. Will wait to see how poo poo comes but things seem good. I am also good with arduino robots, will make an enclosure around 1 sq meter , with plants, maybe a small cave and 10cm thick ground with a humidifier for it to keep it nice. I'm pumped !

Congratulations ! That's wonderful news !
Angie

 

[Ink]

Wonderful job on helping the tortoise!

 

[Jannra]

Maybe try clover or dandelion leaves if you can find any those are favorites of my Hermann's tortoise

 

[AmandaF]

Well done, I am so pleased. It’s so positive that he’s eating.

Amanda& Ernie