Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I was at the pond today looking for black racers (oh, and I found a 5footer BTW). And I saw a hole that had a bunch of shell pieces in. So I dug a bit in the hole and found 2 eggs. I thought that whatever inside was dead cause if it was alive it would have left like the others. So I opened the eggs and found they were baby snappers and both are alive. I then found a 3rd egg. I poked a hole in the egg but that turtle is still inside. I bred boas so I know to leave them in the shell as long as possible to absorb as much yoke as possible. Both the hatchlings have a yellow yoke attached to the belly. Both of the shells are extremely soft, I even may have deformed one while holding them. Well I have them in a bucket with some water on one end and they are wrapped in wet/damp papertowels. I can use some advise on keeping these guys alive. I may have opened the egg too earily for them. These 3 were deeper in the ground then the others. Also, I know snappers eat fish and earthworms. But what do the tiny hatchlings eat. Please help with advise. This just happened this morning. Thanks

>>Ok, I was at the pond today looking for black racers (oh, and I found a 5footer BTW). And I saw a hole that had a bunch of shell pieces in. So I dug a bit in the hole and found 2 eggs. I thought that whatever inside was dead cause if it was alive it would have left like the others. So I opened the eggs and found they were baby snappers and both are alive. I then found a 3rd egg. I poked a hole in the egg but that turtle is still inside. I bred boas so I know to leave them in the shell as long as possible to absorb as much yoke as possible. Both the hatchlings have a yellow yoke attached to the belly. Both of the shells are extremely soft, I even may have deformed one while holding them. Well I have them in a bucket with some water on one end and they are wrapped in wet/damp papertowels. I can use some advise on keeping these guys alive. I may have opened the egg too earily for them. These 3 were deeper in the ground then the others. Also, I know snappers eat fish and earthworms. But what do the tiny hatchlings eat. Please help with advise. This just happened this morning. Thanks

don't worry about what to feed them, they might be tiny but their mouths aren't! worms and feeder fish should do just fine. i'll leave it to others to contribute tips on keeping them alive. (aside: i was planting a shrub in my box turtle pen a dozen or so years ago and accidentally unearthed 4 eggs. I'd seen no breeding activity, observed no digging/laying, so i had no idea how old the eggs were. I buried them shallowly in a shoebox of moist sand, and they hatched--the next day! 4th of july, by the way. i kept one of the babies for a number of years. Anyway, if i'd been planting a few days later i'd have missed them completely.

>>Ok, I was at the pond today looking for black racers (oh, and I found a 5footer BTW).

I meant to say, in my other reply: i was surprised to see in the Field Guide to R & A that the record for the northern black racer is 77", just shy of 6 1/2 feet. I've seen some that were probably around 5' and they always seemed big to me, at that size. Are people regularly seeing five and six-footers?

This is my 3rd one I found this year and all 3 were over 4 1/2ft.. I also found one 2 years ago that was 5ft. Man they are fast. I caught the one today with one hand cause i had 3 baby turtles in the other hand.