Devastated...found two babies dead!

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sunshine_hugs

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My family and I are absolutely devastated, as we found two of out hatchlings dead this afternoon.

I'm completely lost as to what happened. One of them was "Riddle", the one with split scutes that had and injured shell yesterday....the other was Gruffalo...he was my baby, and had the funniest personality.

I found Riddle half eaten, and Gruffalo was fairly close to her, just completely laid out (all legs and head extended). I'm not sure if maybe he ate her, and then died.

I posted about Riddle yesterday...she had an injured shell, and seemed stressed. After a soak, and a thorough check over, she seemed fine, and I released her back into the main pen.

Early this morning, I saw Gruffalo out and eating (he was always the first one up, so this is normal). I held him for a minute, gave him a soak, and put him back in the pen...then I saw all the other torts, other than Riddle, slowly come out and eat.

I left the house for two hours, and when I came home, I found Gruffalo. That's when I searched the pen for Riddle to make sure she was okay, and to give her a soak....that's when I found her half eaten.

I'm not sure what to think or do right now. I feel super paranoid for the other 4 that are in there. I want to take them all out and redo the enclosure, but I have nowhere to put them...and it's not as if I can even go buy bins or anything today....EVERYWHERE is closed during Carnival. Nothing opens until Wednesday!!

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this...I just feel lost, and don't know what else to do. I'm sad for the loss of two babies...and at the same time, worried about the safety of four other ones.

R.I.P Riddle & Gruffalo...





p.s. sorry if this post is all over the place...I'm kind of scatter-brained right now, and can't even fix it to flow better.
 

Irwin4530

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I'm sorry for your loss!
Do whatever it takes to get those other babies inside and safe.... Even if you have to put them in the tub!
Best of luck to you!
 

ascott

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When you say half eaten? Do mean shell as well? (apologies for seeming forward in asking, but you may have a predator problem--raccoon or such)....is the enclosure completely covered for the babies? If so, did you do a perimeter check to see if there was breach in the top?...I would try to figure these things out rather rapidly....as for bringing the others inside, you can bring them in and place them in any plastic tup or box or anything that you can contain them in for the short day or two....until you determine what the culprit is here...

And I am so so very sorry to hear of this...
 

sunshine_hugs

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ascott said:
When you say half eaten? Do mean shell as well? (apologies for seeming forward in asking, but you may have a predator problem--raccoon or such)....is the enclosure completely covered for the babies? If so, did you do a perimeter check to see if there was breach in the top?...I would try to figure these things out rather rapidly....as for bringing the others inside, you can bring them in and place them in any plastic tup or box or anything that you can contain them in for the short day or two....until you determine what the culprit is here...

And I am so so very sorry to hear of this...

Okay...I just checked out their pen, and removed the four that were in there. I have those four a soak, and checked them over...they all look good and are acting normal.

The pen is not covered...I put them in a sleep box at night, but they roam around a big pen during the day. I do have a hatchling pen that I keep completely covered....there are two hatchlings in it right now ( those two I'm just holding for a friend for two weeks). I emptied some of my kids toy bins and have made a temp pen until I figure out what to do....it's not ideal, but it gives me a bit of peace of mind.

Yes, part of Riddle's shell was eaten too. Gruffalo looked perfect. So, I'm assuming something got to Riddle, but not sure if something killed her, or ate her after she died (she was acting weird yesterday).

We don't have raccoons on the island....we do have snakes, but only garden snakes (which I have seen in my yard) and tree boas. We also have possums, mongoose and rats....I haven't seen any rats or mongoose around, but I have seen a possum. All of these things usually only come out at night...and the only thing that might possibly be able to get into the sleep box, would be a garden snake, size wise.

Also, I'm worried that I didn't get Riddle in the sleep box last night...it was raining, and I was rushing....I was sure I counted all 6....but today I'm second guessing that.

I don't know what else to say now....I know this was ultimately my fault, as it's my responsibility to care for them and protect them, but it doesn't make the hurt any less.


Irwin4530 said:
I'm sorry for your loss!
Do whatever it takes to get those other babies inside and safe.... Even if you have to put them in the tub!
Best of luck to you!

Thank you. I have removed the remaining babies, and they are safely in a temp bin.
 

Tom

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The chew marks in the shell? Big like a dog, or small like a rat?

Looks like you need to build metal cage around your tortoise area.

So sorry for your loss. I feel horrible for you.
 

sunshine_hugs

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Tom said:
The chew marks in the shell? Big like a dog, or small like a rat?

Looks like you need to build metal cage around your tortoise area.

So sorry for your loss. I feel horrible for you.

The top of the shell was in almost perfect shape...something just ate the bottom. I say "almost" perfect, because of whatever got to her shell yesterday. So, if her injury yesterday morning was from an animal (I thought it was from a sharp rock that I removed from the enclosure), then it was something small. She was small, at 2.5" and whatever ate at her, ate about half of the bottom (I can't remember any terms right now) part of her, and most of her insides. I still have her in a box, but just can't bare to look again or take pictures.

I'm going to keep the others in the temp set up until stores open on Wednesday...then I'll get to work on completely enclosing their pen.
 

sibi

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You definitely have a predator who ate half of your baby. Now, you must determine what it is and kill it. Relocating the predator isn't gonna work. It will only come back! Possums could of done it. I doubt it was a snake. Snakes often swallow their food whole. A garden snake is harmless. A really big rat could have done it too. I would put out a trap with yummy bate. you're doing the right thing by taking the remaining babies and moving them inside until you can find the culprit. Keep us posted, and I'm so sorry you had to experience this.
 

Yvonne G

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Oh, man...that really sucks, big time!

I'm so very sorry this happened to your little babies.

Sounds to me like a smallish predator...like a rat or something. Now the bite mark you showed us the other day makes more sense. Whatever it was that sampled the baby the other day came back to finish the job today. None of your babies will be safe for a while until this predator realizes there is no more food here and moves on.
 

Tom

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I ask what size predator you are dealing with because that will dictate your countermeasures. Rats can squeeze through the smallest of holes, while dogs or opossums can be stopped with most commercially available metal welded wire or hardware cloth. Rats will need a full force attack with traps and all.
 

sunshine_hugs

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Tom said:
I ask what size predator you are dealing with because that will dictate your countermeasures. Rats can squeeze through the smallest of holes, while dogs or opossums can be stopped with most commercially available metal welded wire or hardware cloth. Rats will need a full force attack with traps and all.

We had a metal hardware cloth on the sleep box...so it's possible for a rat to still get through that?

Like I said, I haven't seen any rats, but it doesn't mean that they're not around. I know we have them on the island, and that they can be a nuisance.


Yvonne G said:
Oh, man...that really sucks, big time!

I'm so very sorry this happened to your little babies.

Sounds to me like a smallish predator...like a rat or something. Now the bite mark you showed us the other day makes more sense. Whatever it was that sampled the baby the other day came back to finish the job today. None of your babies will be safe for a while until this predator realizes there is no more food here and moves on.


Thank you Yvonne. I know....I wish I had realized it was bite marks, as I maybe could have prevented it. :( I guess I had to learn the hard way.


sibi said:
You definitely have a predator who ate half of your baby. Now, you must determine what it is and kill it. Relocating the predator isn't gonna work. It will only come back! Possums could of done it. I doubt it was a snake. Snakes often swallow their food whole. A garden snake is harmless. A really big rat could have done it too. I would put out a trap with yummy bate. you're doing the right thing by taking the remaining babies and moving them inside until you can find the culprit. Keep us posted, and I'm so sorry you had to experience this.

We're going to set traps tonight. This goes against what I normally believe in, but I can't have anything killing my babies.


Thank you to everyone who has sent sympathies. It's an emotional day at my house, but I'm trying to focus on protecting the rest of my tort family.
 

torilovestorts

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I'm so sorry.. :( that's horrible to hear.. I hope your other ones stay happy & healthy!
 

kathyth

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I am so sorry for your terrible loss!
Glad you brought them in the house. Safety first, comfort later. This is just so awful!
Glad you posted here to get advice and prevent further problems.
I went through something similar, in the past and it was heartbreaking.
Again, I'm sorry for your loss.
 

oknursedana

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I am so sorry for your loss!!! I can't imagine how you and your family feels. Keep us posted.
 

AnnV

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What an awful thing to happen. I am sorry for you and the two little lost ones.
I hope you can eradicate the culprit.


Ann from CT
 
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