Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,

We have our first hatchlings coming out today. Soap and Sponge are their names..hehe. Anyway, we were wondering whether we need to assist them in any way. Their egg shells are cracked right down the center and it looks like they have ample room to breathe. Now my questions are: 1) Do we need to keep them incubated (with high humidity) or just keep the cover off? 2)We have a light shining on them. Is that ok or should we move them to a darker spot?

Thanks a lot! This is quite the experience!

Johnny and Chi

I think the best bet is to keep them in a calm, quiet, dark place until they are walking around freely on their own. In a nest naturally they would pip, cut up the egg a bit, rest to absorb their yolk and heal, then exit the egg and nest when ready. I take their pacing around the deli cup as notice that they are ready to move into their baby home, and out of the "nest".

Hmm..gotcha, thanks.

It's been the 3rd day now and they're fully exposed but still hiding inside their egg shell "cradle." I keep wondering whether it's the temperature (which has gone down to about 74 F), or lack of humidity (no fogging up on the covers)that is preventing them from wanting to leave. I'm trying to raise the temperature to around 80F and watering the medium to keep it moist. So the lamp is back on and they're out of the complete darkness.

Would that stimulate them to come out? I don't want to rush them if they're still absorbing their yolk sacs but they don't seem to be moving much...just changing their position in their egg cradles from time to time...

Thanks. =)

Trust me, they'll bust on out of there when they are ready. It can take up to a week from pipping to running around for some of them. Most don't eat for a week after leaving the egg anyway, so there's no worries there.
Once they are free of their own choice, move them to their new quarters and start their daily soaking and start offering food (don't expect it to be eaten for a week or so, though).

Hey thanks again for the advice.

Should the humidity levels be kept up (medium moist) and temperature around 80? I guess lifting their covers up to check on them constantly is intimidating them....that's why they're not coming out. Ugh..i just don't want them to die without me knowing...considering I brought them all the way over on a plane.

Thanks again!

Yeah, treat them the same as you did incubating them, moist, warm, etc. Remember, some die. It sucks, but it's just how the species is. Of my incubated clutch I got three eggs, one died hatching, one died a bit after hatching, and only one is left. That's probably the worst %'s of any clutch I've incubated, but it happens. Box turtles seem (to me) to have a much higher mortality rate than aquatics and others.