Hi! I just got an Eastern box turtle hatchling from a friend who had eggs. He still has a little bit of the yolk still attached on his stomach, so I know he won't be eating for a week or so. I have him in bed-a-beast substrate that he has burrowed down into. I know that is what they do, so I'm not too concerned about it, although I don't know how he breathes if he's gonna stay down there. However, I wasn't sure how wet to make the substrate, right now it is slightly damp to the touch, and I don't know if I should keep it wetter. Thanks for any other tips, I could definitely use some, as this is my first hatchling to take care of.
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hatchling
seastar427
Sep 16, 2008 06:42 PM
Replies (1)
patsy1
Sep 17, 2008 02:26 AM
my first hatchlings were over fed, heck they were coerced into eating.
This year I have followed Tess' advice of letting them take a day off to digest.
But the real cool trick that my daughter came up with was to wait until they stuck their heads out of the substrate and dangle a tiny piece of moving worm in front of them. It took awhile but they eventually bit and I fed them a bunch. Then I waited until they came back up again and did the same. I don't feed with my fingers. I use either a very long pair of tweezers or a chopstick end or a flat skinny piece of plastic (actually the end of a long zip tie) to dangle the worm. Now they come out and chase the end of the stick for that worm. It has worked really well on 4 different hatchlings.
well, good luck. and show us some pix/p
>>Hi! I just got an Eastern box turtle hatchling from a friend who had eggs. He still has a little bit of the yolk still attached on his stomach, so I know he won't be eating for a week or so. I have him in bed-a-beast substrate that he has burrowed down into. I know that is what they do, so I'm not too concerned about it, although I don't know how he breathes if he's gonna stay down there. However, I wasn't sure how wet to make the substrate, right now it is slightly damp to the touch, and I don't know if I should keep it wetter. Thanks for any other tips, I could definitely use some, as this is my first hatchling to take care of.
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Patsy
