Congratulations, how exciting.
Hatch rite substrate for incubation
- Thread starter Kat99
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Thanks! Little Pip has broken through the shell and turned around, but is still sitting inside the shell. Not sure whether to move him/her to the brooder box just yet. I should wait till the hatchling moves away shell, right? I don’t want to risk any damage to the yolk sac. But at the same time, I don’t want them to ingest any substrate!
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Well, he/she climbed out of the shell, received a shallow warm bath and is in a paper-towel-lined mini brooder box in the incubator with water, shell fragments, and a bit of escarole as we await the hatching of the second egg! Pip was scared and tried to burrow under the paper towel, but I put a towel over the incubator to make it nice and dark and I think he/she is calm now.
Hatching is a process, not an event!
I don't bother them until they leave their egg under their own power and I find them walking around in the incubation box. Then they get a rinse and a soak while I prepare their brooder box.
You can get away with paper towels for a day or two, but then they will try to eat them. I don't use paper towels any more. I use grape or mulberry leaves as "substate" in the brooder boxes. If it's a time of year when I don't have those, I use romaine leaves instead, but I always put in differing food items to eat and hide in.
Thanks. I waited for the baby to move away from the egg on its own before moving to the brooder box with the egg shards, some water and some escarole. “Pip” seems to want to burrow under the paper. Now it’s dark and hopefully he/she will not feel too stressed. Tomorrow I will switch to romaine and add a hiding spot. Thanks!Hatching is a process, not an event!
I don't bother them until they leave their egg under their own power and I find them walking around in the incubation box. Then they get a rinse and a soak while I prepare their brooder box.
You can get away with paper towels for a day or two, but then they will try to eat them. I don't use paper towels any more. I use grape or mulberry leaves as "substate" in the brooder boxes. If it's a time of year when I don't have those, I use romaine leaves instead, but I always put in differing food items to eat and hide in.
Baby “Pip” is in a Romaine-lined brooder box now, with water, escarole and a hiding spot, chowing down on shards of his/her egg. Thanks for all the tips! I was so nervous, afraid to make a life or death mistake, but so far, so good! I really appreciate the guidance.
Pip’s sibling hasn’t pipped yet. Hopefully in a day or two, maybe more, who knows?
Pip’s sibling hasn’t pipped yet. Hopefully in a day or two, maybe more, who knows?
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The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Those analog humidity meters can be inaccurate, I would recommend you get a digital one.
I use the analog meter in combination with the incubator’s digital humidity meter and thermometer, as I explained above.
It's crazy how they eat their own shells, right? I can't remember where I learned that tip, but it's a good one. In the wild they would stay underground in their nest and they eat some of the dirt, their egg shells, and sometimes the moms leave some poop in there for them to eat. All of this seeds their GI tract with the necessary flora and fauna, and the egg shells give them a little calcium boost to start their little lives with. At least in some cases, the babies stay underground in the nest until it rains, and the rain is what brings them topside where they then scramble to find cover and hide from predators.
Just before I hatched my first tortoise eggs I can remember reading that they live off their yolk sac and don't eat for a week or two after hatching. Heck, a well known "reputable" breeder of Testudo that makes lots of YT videos and is mentioned and recommended here frequently is saying that in one of his current videos right now as he moves newly hatched babies into a tub of sandy soil with no food in it... How could he not know this?
I sat and watched those first hatchings a lot. They ate when they were still in their eggs, after they got out of their eggs, and the first day I moved them into their brooder box. I used to use damp paper towels on the bottoms of my brooder boxes, and there were nibbles on the paper towels after a day or two. They don't eat a lot at first, but they definitely do eat. That is why I stopped using paper towels.
I remove the hatchlings from the incubation boxes with the media as soon as they leave their eggs. They don't spend much time walking around in there and only have access to the media for a short time. After 7-10 days, hatchlings will start making their first poops, and there is always little flecks of vermiculite in it. This has been the case with every species I have hatched.
Why on earth would somebody put brand new hatchlings that are going to sample everything on sand and soil, skip the brooder box entirely, and not offer food for two weeks? And then make fun of the people who disagree with them? Makes no sense to me.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Sorry, missed it!
See the vermiculite flecks? Aren't you glad you got him off the perlite?Another exciting development today: Pip’s first poop!
Everyone should remember this when told they don't eat for a week or two after hatching because they live off of their yolk sac.
I can see the little reflective grains in the picture. And yes, the second egg hatching is very exciting news! I'm very happy for you!I have not inspected the poop just yet. Got too excited about the second egg hatching! But I will take a close look at it. And yes, thanks for the advice about switching to vermiculite!
Egg #2 still mid-hatch.
Yesterday I accidentally left the temperature sensor hanging outside the incubator and it caused a temperature spike up to about 91 F for an hour or so.
Poor Pip was agitated but I got the temps stabilized back at 86 F as fast as I could afterward, and then he/she went into their little hiding place. But today since his/her morning bath Pip hasn’t moved at all. When I pick him up, he doesn’t react or move at all. I’m afraid he/she didn’t make it. I feel so terrible. I think it was too much for little Pip’s body to handle. I think killed the poor little baby with one stupid mistake.
The hatching baby still seems to be ok, one leg and head sticking out of the shell and moving around.
Yesterday I accidentally left the temperature sensor hanging outside the incubator and it caused a temperature spike up to about 91 F for an hour or so.
Poor Pip was agitated but I got the temps stabilized back at 86 F as fast as I could afterward, and then he/she went into their little hiding place. But today since his/her morning bath Pip hasn’t moved at all. When I pick him up, he doesn’t react or move at all. I’m afraid he/she didn’t make it.
I feel so terrible. I think it was too much for little Pip’s body to handle. I think killed the poor little baby with one stupid mistake. The hatching baby still seems to be ok, one leg and head sticking out of the shell and moving around.
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Are you sure the tortoise is really dead? I don't think a temp of 91F for just one or two hours should be hot enough to kill a tortoise. I've hatched lots of baby tortoises and they were fine at temps close to 100F and for more than an hour at a time.Egg #2 still mid-hatch.
Yesterday I accidentally left the temperature sensor hanging outside the incubator and it caused a temperature spike up to about 91 F for an hour or so.
Poor Pip was agitated but I got the temps stabilized back at 86 F as fast as I could afterward, and then he/she went into their little hiding place. But today since his/her morning bath Pip hasn’t moved at all. When I pick him up, he doesn’t react or move at all. I’m afraid he/she didn’t make it.
The hatching baby still seems to be ok, one leg and head sticking out of the shell and moving around.
If it really is no longer alive, you have my sympathy and condolences. Maybe there was another problem besides the temp of 91F.
Pip still hasn’t moved. The temp may have gotten higher than that, but the other baby seems to be okay, so I cannot be sure…
Awe bummer. I agree with Zovick. 91 would not harm a baby. I wonder what went wrong? Rarely they will have an internal congenital defect.
