baby question

[Danny]

hi every1 another three eggs have hatched but im a bit concerned about 1 of the babies, it hatched early morning yesterday but its food sack has not completely absorbed into the tortoise and its starting to harden up, should i be worried and is there anything i can do?

(i have successfully hatched 11 tortoises and this has never happened before).

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Danny:

Some folks will put the baby in a small container with a moist paper towell on the bottom to keep the yolk sac moist, but Egyptiandan, one of our very well-known tortoise keepers here on the forum told me a while ago that he puts some anti-biotic ointment, such as Neo Sporin, on the yolk sac to keep it moist. He told me that they might absorb a little too much moisture from the moist paper towell.

 

[tortoises101]

You don't want to put a newborn baby tort that still has it's yolk sac on a substrate such as cypress mulch. Personally I think that Yvonne's method is the best way to go.

I wouldn't worry about UVB either, for the time being a ceramic heat emitter with a small fluorescent bulb is the best choice. Keep the temps at around 82F with no hotspot. You should also keep a small water dish just in case.

 

[Danny]

Thanks guys for the help