Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got 2 pinkskins that are verry tiny. They still have thier egg tooth, and yoke sack attached. how long does it usually take them to absorb this all the way, and when can I expect them to start feeding ?

Thanks for any help -

Do you have them in a tank already? If there yolk sacs are still attached I would put them in a small container of damp peat moss or some other substrate to give high humidity until their yolk sacs are fully absorbed and healed. Depending on how much is still there can determine whether it will take a couple of days or a week or so. AS long as they have their yolk sac and it is in good condition, they will not feed or need to feed until this is gone. Once this is over, place them in their tank and offer small to medium minnows. (Rosy Reds, Guppies, Swordtails, bait fish , mosquito fish, etc...) Use goldfish at your own (and your turtles') risk. You will be surprised that they usually can catch the bigger minnows first when they start to "fish". I offer my hatchlings small aquatic pond snails (Tank raised in my house as opposed to wild collected ones which could harbor parasites), small ghost/glass/grass shrimp. These are called many different things due to different varieties but its basically all the same. Clear freshwater shrimp that eat left over food, dead animal and plant matter, etc.... Baby crawfish, baby frogs, water boatman, marsh insects will all stimulate feeding responses. I've received hatchling with fresh sac scars that ate as soon as they were out of the shippping box and then I've had some that took 2 weeks to eat. Don't worry. When you turtle gets hungry, it will eat as long as you have given him/her good "wild" choices. Once they start feeding on live food you can put in a few high quality pellets but do not use this primarily. Wish you the best of luck