Baby turtles!

Berkeley

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
297
Who doesn't like baby turtles? They are one of the cutest things on the earth.

I remember the very first one I hatched, an eastern mud turtle. Back when I was about 11 years old, the pair that I had at the time surprised me with a few eggs. I was not expecting to get eggs at all; in fact, I had not even been trying to breed them. But there they were- one morning I went downstairs to turn on the room lights before I went to school and found three mini-marshmallow sized eggs drifting along in the bottom of their aquarium. I pulled them out, half buried them in some wet sand and covered them with a towel. I then put one of the snake cage lights right over the container they were in and dutifully turned it on and off every morning and night for weeks. It finally paid off when I removed the towel one day and saw a tiny little head poking out of one of the eggs. The little guy emerged, and a second one several days after that. This was long before I even thought about keeping notes, so, sadly, I have no data on what time of the year this was, what the temps I incubated at were, how long the eggs incubated, and so on. I just have the memories!

But enough waxing poetic, here are some pictures of a few other species of turtles and tortoises I have hatched out over the years since then. I never get tired of seeing those little faces.

(forgive the quality of some of the pictures, many were before I really took the time to learn how to take photos, and some I was just plain ol' jittery because I was so excited)

Gulf Coast Spiny Softshells
apa spi.JPG

apa spi1.JPG

apa spi2.JPG

apa spi3.JPG

Redfoot Tortoises. I got my first redfoots in 2004 and built a group of them over the years. The adults started laying for me this last year.
che car.JPG

che car1.JPG

che car2.JPG

che car3.JPG

Common Snapping Turtle. I'm particularly proud of this group because I salvaged 49 eggs from a road killed female and 46 of them hatched. All of the babies were released at the site where the mother was from.
che ser.JPG

che ser1.JPG

Southeast Asian Box Turtle
cuo amb.JPG

cuo amb1.JPG

cuo amb2.JPG

Diamondback Terrapins
mal ter group.JPG

malter hatch.JPG

Asian Brown Tortoise
man emy.jpg

man emy1.jpg

man emy2.JPG

Beal's Eyed Turtle
sac bea.JPG

sac bea1.JPG

sac bea2.JPG

Common Musk Turtles
ste odo.JPG

Redeared Sliderstra scr ele.JPG

Yellowbellied Sliders
tra scr1.JPG

tra scr2.JPG

tra scr3.JPG

tra scr4.JPG

tra scr5.JPG

If you are still with me, thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed.
--Berkeley
 

Berkeley

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
297
Thanks yall, I appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.
--Berkeley
 

cdmay

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10 Year Member!
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Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
Somewhere in Florida
Awesome Berkeley! Bravo on the salvaged snapper clutch as well.
Love the face on the Cuora hatchling too--so clean and perfect.
I had no idea that you were such a turtleman!
 

Berkeley

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
297
Awesome Berkeley! Bravo on the salvaged snapper clutch as well.
Love the face on the Cuora hatchling too--so clean and perfect.
I had no idea that you were such a turtleman!

Ha ha! Yes, I have an affinity for the turtles! Many thanks for the kind words, Carl. Those snappers were quite the treat. It was really neat seeing head after head keep popping out. And that little Cuora was fun too, it was quite photogenic.

--Berkeley
 

cmacusa3

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Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
3,191
Location (City and/or State)
Bixby
This truly ranks up there with one of my favorite threads. Just freaking awesome!! That's pic of the Asian coming out of the egg, just added another for my future list.
 

Berkeley

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
297
Ha ha, Craig! I'm glad you liked it. Cuora are a fun group- I think you will like them when you dive into them.... :)

--Berkeley
 

Berkeley

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
297
Thanks Michaela and TG! I hope to share the day with some hatchlings too- that would be pretty cool. :)

--Berkeley
 

Maro2Bear

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5 Year Member
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
14,712
Location (City and/or State)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Who doesn't like baby turtles? They are one of the cutest things on the earth.

I remember the very first one I hatched, an eastern mud turtle. Back when I was about 11 years old, the pair that I had at the time surprised me with a few eggs. I was not expecting to get eggs at all; in fact, I had not even been trying to breed them. But there they were- one morning I went downstairs to turn on the room lights before I went to school and found three mini-marshmallow sized eggs drifting along in the bottom of their aquarium. I pulled them out, half buried them in some wet sand and covered them with a towel. I then put one of the snake cage lights right over the container they were in and dutifully turned it on and off every morning and night for weeks. It finally paid off when I removed the towel one day and saw a tiny little head poking out of one of the eggs. The little guy emerged, and a second one several days after that. This was long before I even thought about keeping notes, so, sadly, I have no data on what time of the year this was, what the temps I incubated at were, how long the eggs incubated, and so on. I just have the memories!

But enough waxing poetic, here are some pictures of a few other species of turtles and tortoises I have hatched out over the years since then. I never get tired of seeing those little faces.

(forgive the quality of some of the pictures, many were before I really took the time to learn how to take photos, and some I was just plain ol' jittery because I was so excited)

Gulf Coast Spiny Softshells
View attachment 184203

View attachment 184204

View attachment 184205

View attachment 184206

Redfoot Tortoises. I got my first redfoots in 2004 and built a group of them over the years. The adults started laying for me this last year.
View attachment 184202

View attachment 184207

View attachment 184208

View attachment 184209

Common Snapping Turtle. I'm particularly proud of this group because I salvaged 49 eggs from a road killed female and 46 of them hatched. All of the babies were released at the site where the mother was from.
View attachment 184210

View attachment 184211

Southeast Asian Box Turtle
View attachment 184212

View attachment 184213

View attachment 184214

Diamondback Terrapins
View attachment 184215

View attachment 184216

Asian Brown Tortoise
View attachment 184217

View attachment 184218

View attachment 184219

Beal's Eyed Turtle
View attachment 184220

View attachment 184222

View attachment 184223

Common Musk Turtles
View attachment 184224

Redeared SlidersView attachment 184225

Yellowbellied Sliders
View attachment 184226

View attachment 184227

View attachment 184228

View attachment 184230

View attachment 184231

If you are still with me, thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed.
--Berkeley


Old posting I know, but great thread with all these hatchlings. Really nice and what a variety.
 
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