Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been debating whether or not to put this photo on the site. I sincerely apologize if this offends anyone. I thought that with all of the injuries pictured, the audience would understand. This young turtle failed to hatch out of a successful clutch of Eastern box turtle eggs removed from a road killed female. Long after the others were out, I inspected the egg and found the hatchling deceased within. Even though this was very upsetting to me, the biologist within wanted to share it.

Thanks for posting that, Ken.

About 3 years ago I had a hatchling here that was deformed: I now regret not having photographed it, of course, because it is difficult to describe the flaw. The hatchling essentially had an undeveloped rear leg, had no tail, and an incomplete carapace.
It actually ate regularly and was able to move itself around (not very well, of course), and it survived for about five months.

You know, I'm actually relieved that this baby did not hatch. It would have been difficult to decide what to do. I probably would have ended up trying to raise it like you did, only to watch it perish. That sometimes happens with seemingly healthy babies as it is. I'm not too much of a bleeding heart, but it's tough when that happens.

I think I know how you feel: to tell the truth, if the little guy we'd had here hadn't been able to eat on its own, I certainly wouldn't have tried to help it.
Ability and/or willingness to eat has always been an indicator of overall health in my pets and the hatchlings I raise for release. I put a tiny worm in front of this one and he/she gobbled it up. I kept offering food for the next few months, but one day it abruptly stopped eating and died 2 days later. Although it saddened us, we were also somewhat relieved.

It's a shame when they don't make it but I look at it this way:
Not all of them are meant to live, they wouldn't all live in the wild so we can't expect all captive bred to live either. It's just nature & sometimes it just happens.

Thanks for posting the photo though, I never find photos like that offensive, they're educational.
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PHRatz