One of my ebt eggs started to hatch this morning

[baby box turtle]

The head and leg is out so I moved her/him out of the vermiculite and into a bowl with moist paper towels and poked holes around top of bowl and put a lid on and back into the incubator is this right please respond?????

 

[Tom]

The head and leg is out so I moved her/him out of the vermiculite and into a bowl with moist paper towels and poked holes around top of bowl and put a lid on and back into the incubator is this right please respond?????

That should be okay, but I prefer to leave them in their incubator on the vermiculite until the get out of their egg under their own power. I always add lots of water to the media upon seeing my first pip.

 

[baby box turtle]

That should be okay, but I prefer to leave them in their incubator on the vermiculite until the get out of their egg under their own power. I always add lots of water to the media upon seeing my first pip.

Well I have 5 other eggs in there as well so I was afraid to add any water or to let him hatch fully put in there near them so what should I do??????

 

[Tom]

Well I have 5 other eggs in there as well so I was afraid to add any water or to let him hatch fully put in there near them so what should I do??????

I add the water when I see a first pip in one egg in shoe boxes with 24 eggs. If that one egg is pipping, any other fertile eggs are also close to term and will benefit from the extra water.

Too much water is definitely a problem early in incubation, but its nothing but good when they are hatching. Many species hatch during a heavy rain in the wild, and adding water simulates that. If they get too dry while trying to extricate themselves from their egg, the albumin and other stuff can get like glue. On the flip side, it really can't be too wet when they are hatching.

BTW, have you heard of the water method of raising hatchling box turtles? I don't have experience with tiny hatchlings, but it sounds like the way to go. Its been discussed here on the forum a few times. Baby box turtles are really semi-aquatic and they can dehydrate so quickly.

 

[baby box turtle]

What do I do once they're out of the egg? Do I leave them on the moist paper towels in the incubator and if so for how long? All the other 5 are hatching out as well but the one from yesterday is completely out please respond

 

[Tom]

What do I do once they're out of the egg? Do I leave them on the moist paper towels in the incubator and if so for how long? All the other 5 are hatching out as well but the one from yesterday is completely out please respond

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

 

[baby box turtle]

Can I use gras clippings for the hatchling until the sphangum moss gets here

 

[Tom]

Can I use gras clippings for the hatchling until the sphangum moss gets here

I wouldn't. The grass clippings will begin to rot almost immediately.

They should be in brooder boxes for at least a week, and you don't need moss in those. Use lots of safe branches with leaves from outside and replace the branches daily when you soak and clean their boxes. Mulberry, grape vines, hibiscus, lavatera, rose of Sharon, etc...