Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone had a deformed hatchling survive for any length of time? One of mine is quite deformed but is still living after three months: the only egg of the clutch of six to hatch, no temperature fluctuations (that I'm aware of) during incubation, so I'm not really trying to figure out why it happened, but rather what I can expect.
Thanks for any insight
Stephanie

I know of many tortoises that have survived for a long time with deformaties.
I once hatched out a Leopard tortoise that had one eye. I'm kinda sorry I didn't keep it because you would never know the eye wasn't supposed to be there.
I gave it to a dealer who gave it to a teacher. It lasted 3 years before I lost track of it.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Stephanie, what kind of deformities are we talking about? Depending on the type of deformity we might be able to guess what is in store of your turtle. Shell deformities are the least likely to affect the turtle. Is he missing a limb? Does he only have one nare, or one eye? Of course the thing that most concerns us about deformed turtles is what is going on inside the turtle! If he has been eating well, defecating and growing, perhaps he is a normal turtle inside
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Shell is deformed, plastron is complete, has no left rear leg, no tail (just rectum). Eating is challenging (leverage an issue), digestion seems quite normal...is pooping normal looking little turds. Showing signs of a little growth (but not much)
It actually gets around pretty well, all things considered, and does not get 'picked on' by the other hatchlings. Doesn't seem to be able to dig into the substrate at all, but it may not be trying.
Certainly has already exceeded life expectancy in the wild.

Stephanie