New baby Leo in SA - food help plse?!

[itbyl]

Hi there!

I am a new user to the site - it seems awesome!

A bit of background on my problem:
We have a male & a female leopard tortoises (for a few years now) - we adopted from friends... They mated (regularly!), and the female laid eggs on 09 Febr & 11 March 2009. On Friday (16 April 20100 the first egg hatched. It was amazing! This is our first (and only hatchling so far), and it is quite scary...:

The adult leo's are so happy in our garden, and roam about as if in the wild. But my problem is with the little baby: I gave it fresh lettuce, tomato, grass, water... But it doesn't seem to eat any. The yolk sack is almost gone, and I am worried that it will die of hunger...

I keep the baby in the house in a large open-top container. It has sifted ground, a few rocks, a very shallow water bowl, and we also put her in a sunny spot every now & then.

I need advice on her eating habits: should I be worried, is the yolk sack still providing enough nourishment...?

 

[itbyl]

Little 'tamatie's birth...

 

[jblayza]

What are the temps in the hatchlings enclosure? Temperature is important for hatchlings. My temps range from 78 to 97 with temps in the 80's in between the cool and hot side.

 

[itbyl]

It ranges from 75 to 85. I presume it should be warmer..? Will it help her to eat?

 

[Tom]

Someone with more breeding/hatching experience ought to chime in soon, but from what I know they won't start eating until several days after the yolk sack is absorbed. I've heard up to two weeks.

This is still out of my area of expertise, but that will be remedied in a few days when my eggs start hatching. Up until now, I have only gotten babies AFTER they've already started eating.

Do you mean SA as in the RSA? What part? Welcome to the forum.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi itbyl:

to the forum!!

Don't worry about your baby eating. When he gets hungry he'll eat. They survive on the nutrients left over from the yolk sac for a couple weeks after it has been absorbed.

 

[itbyl]

Wonderful!! Thanks so much to all of you! I am SO relieved to hear this - I almost want to cry... What I also find amazing is that the eggs were laid in February and March 2009, and only hatched 13 months later! Is this normal...?

Yes, SA as in RSA. We live in the North-West province - about 200km from Johannesburg. We have a bit of a cold front coming through today... Winter is on its way...