Today I am reaching out just for support during a hard time.
Recently I had found that my adult female Florida box turtle, Beans, had laid eggs in her enclosure. While I was moving some things around, I unearthed a nest of two eggs. Both of her previous batches had yielded only 2 eggs, so I was excited, covered them back up, barricaded them off, and put the date on my calendar.
So I was digging around in another spot in the pen and found three more eggs! Wow! How exciting! Five total! I covered them up and barricaded them off as well.
And that was that.
However, this morning when I went out, I found a dead baby in the water. I am heartbroken. I poked around and found where he had hatched from -- and there was another egg there too. Unfortunately, the other egg had been found by ants (I assume because they were attracted to the egg that had hatched). I am upset at myself for missing this third nest, and not being able to protect this sweet little baby. If I had blocked this nest off, the little baby would have been safe inside its walls, and wouldn't have drowned. I feel guilty. I feel sad. I feel gross. I am finding it impossible to not blame myself for this beautiful little creature's death.
So mostly, this post is just to "speak" my heartbreak. To help myself to cope with the loss of such a sweet innocent thing.
Thanks, fellow tortoise-forum-ers, for your continued help and support!
Recently I had found that my adult female Florida box turtle, Beans, had laid eggs in her enclosure. While I was moving some things around, I unearthed a nest of two eggs. Both of her previous batches had yielded only 2 eggs, so I was excited, covered them back up, barricaded them off, and put the date on my calendar.
So I was digging around in another spot in the pen and found three more eggs! Wow! How exciting! Five total! I covered them up and barricaded them off as well.
And that was that.
However, this morning when I went out, I found a dead baby in the water. I am heartbroken. I poked around and found where he had hatched from -- and there was another egg there too. Unfortunately, the other egg had been found by ants (I assume because they were attracted to the egg that had hatched). I am upset at myself for missing this third nest, and not being able to protect this sweet little baby. If I had blocked this nest off, the little baby would have been safe inside its walls, and wouldn't have drowned. I feel guilty. I feel sad. I feel gross. I am finding it impossible to not blame myself for this beautiful little creature's death.
So mostly, this post is just to "speak" my heartbreak. To help myself to cope with the loss of such a sweet innocent thing.
Thanks, fellow tortoise-forum-ers, for your continued help and support!
I appreciate it.
