Was spending some time going through my photos of this year's hatchling cherryheads and trying to figure which one was which. What I usually do (instead of using nail polish which would make way more sense) to identify the hatchlings I might want to hold back for a while is to take photos of their heads. As each one has its own pattern of head scutes and is unique, this usually works.
But what comes to mind when going through the photos is how cool some of the little ones look as they begin to age. Each individual's head, regardless of its color, is like some work of art. I never get tired of looking at them.
The following are a series of photos taken of a few hatchlings within a few days of their coming out of the incubator compared to how they look now. Some were hatched as early in the year as March while others just appeared in late August or early September. I tried to take fairly closeup pictures and in some cases when I did the color of the tortoise came out somewhat more yellowish orange than they actually are in real life. Also, I discovered that the hatchlings might have bits of their food (in these cases greens) still stuck to their faces even though I tried to rinse them off before photographing them.
This one is a couple of months old now. In these first two photos, taken when it was less than a week old, his head pattern looks fragmented. The actual color is a mixture of red, oranges and a bit of yellow...
...it was also a very big hatchling...
...this is what it looks like now. Again, the flash makes it look more golden instead of reddish orange...
This is one that hatched in late August...
...it was kind of a pale pinkish orange and had a strange little 'H' marking above its nose. Also has orange on its mandibles. This is what it looks like now...
Here are two that both hatched on August 23rd. This was taken when they were three days old...
The one on the left today...
....it has very red color and was the only hatchling this year out of 33 with an extra scute. The next two photos are of the one on the right. Again, it is actually a good bit more red than it looks in the pictures...
Sometimes, you can tell who will be the movie stars when they are right out of the egg. This one hatched on March 1st...
this what it looks like now...
Like I said, every one is unique and attractive in its own way. It would be really interesting if it were possible to follow each baby from egg to adulthood and keep a photographic record of how it changes as it grows.
Thanks for looking.
But what comes to mind when going through the photos is how cool some of the little ones look as they begin to age. Each individual's head, regardless of its color, is like some work of art. I never get tired of looking at them.
The following are a series of photos taken of a few hatchlings within a few days of their coming out of the incubator compared to how they look now. Some were hatched as early in the year as March while others just appeared in late August or early September. I tried to take fairly closeup pictures and in some cases when I did the color of the tortoise came out somewhat more yellowish orange than they actually are in real life. Also, I discovered that the hatchlings might have bits of their food (in these cases greens) still stuck to their faces even though I tried to rinse them off before photographing them.
This one is a couple of months old now. In these first two photos, taken when it was less than a week old, his head pattern looks fragmented. The actual color is a mixture of red, oranges and a bit of yellow...
...it was also a very big hatchling...
...this is what it looks like now. Again, the flash makes it look more golden instead of reddish orange...
This is one that hatched in late August...
...it was kind of a pale pinkish orange and had a strange little 'H' marking above its nose. Also has orange on its mandibles. This is what it looks like now...
Here are two that both hatched on August 23rd. This was taken when they were three days old...
The one on the left today...
....it has very red color and was the only hatchling this year out of 33 with an extra scute. The next two photos are of the one on the right. Again, it is actually a good bit more red than it looks in the pictures...
Sometimes, you can tell who will be the movie stars when they are right out of the egg. This one hatched on March 1st...
this what it looks like now...
Like I said, every one is unique and attractive in its own way. It would be really interesting if it were possible to follow each baby from egg to adulthood and keep a photographic record of how it changes as it grows.
Thanks for looking.