Prepare for some extreme cuteness.... my first RT baby hatched this evening, after just 64 days of incubation! I have been checking the incubator 1x per day with a flashlight, and when I shone it through the little window today, this is what I saw.
Baby #1 from Egg#2 hatched! Eek!
I carefully opened the incubator and took baby and its egg out. She has 4 legs, 1 tail, 2 eyes, 2 nares... and several extra scutes - a unique baby! (I incubated at 89 degrees, which should temp-sex for female... this also sometimes results in extra scutes, which don't harm the tortoise at all)
I carefully weighed her on my postage scale - 14g of cuteness.
Bright eyed and wriggly!
I placed her and her egg back into the incubator in a small plastic container with a wet paper towel. Her yolk sac is already absorbed, she just has the little belly-button scar. I will put some fresh greens in there for her tomorrow, just in case she is hungry, but will let her rest otherwise.
I have 2 more eggs from the same clutch that look fertile and could hatch any day now... plus 3 more eggs from the clutch my Timmy laid 2 weeks later!
Baby #1 from Egg#2 hatched! Eek!
I carefully opened the incubator and took baby and its egg out. She has 4 legs, 1 tail, 2 eyes, 2 nares... and several extra scutes - a unique baby! (I incubated at 89 degrees, which should temp-sex for female... this also sometimes results in extra scutes, which don't harm the tortoise at all)
I carefully weighed her on my postage scale - 14g of cuteness.
Bright eyed and wriggly!
I placed her and her egg back into the incubator in a small plastic container with a wet paper towel. Her yolk sac is already absorbed, she just has the little belly-button scar. I will put some fresh greens in there for her tomorrow, just in case she is hungry, but will let her rest otherwise.
I have 2 more eggs from the same clutch that look fertile and could hatch any day now... plus 3 more eggs from the clutch my Timmy laid 2 weeks later!