Two days ago the last of my North American Wood Turtle eggs finished up hatching. I have been breeding these for quite some time now and I have never experienced any oddities with hatchlings, that is until now. The very last egg starting pipping in the morning and by mid afternoon a complete surprise was revealed to me. In this egg was a fully developed WHITE wood turtle. It was not albino because he exhibited black eyes. It also had a black markings on the top of the head and a tiny bit on the shell. I was so shocked and so excited to see such a phenomenon. Unfortunatley the little turtle died later that evening. I will be preserving the animal and I am hoping to hatch another like it next year. It came from one of 2 females in my group. They were the last 2 of the girls to lay their eggs this year and I put their clutches together in the same deli cup. I have both of them and they have been with me for years. They are in top shape and health and hopefully next year this will happen again with better results.

I hatched an eastern box that was all white 2 years ago but it had no eyes, it too died.

Along with this white wood turtle I also hatched a "pastel" wood turtle and so far it is doing very well.


You can also veiw pics of all the wood turtles and all the other turtles I work with here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/loon1103

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