I'm so excited ... one of my Libyan eggs hatched! Now what do I do with him? Should I put him on a paper towel for a while and leave him in the incubator like I do with the box turtle hatchlings? Any advice would me much appreciated!
jrcrist4 said:PICTURES?????? congrats!!
GBtortoises said:Different people have different methods here mine if it helps: Upon hatching (completely out of the egg) I first place them in a shallow water dish to drink. The water is tepid to slightly warmer. It is suprising how many day old babies will drink immediately. I then place them in a brooder. My brooder is simply another incubator with the temperature in the mid 80's (84-86) degrees. In that I have 6" x 6" x 4" containers that contain about 2" of sphagnum moss that is kept moist but not really wet. I also have an open water container within the brooder to keep the humidity up. I place the tortoise on top of the moss along with it's egg shell. Many baby tortoises will consume their own egg shell as their first food. I keep the babies in the brooder anywhere from 3-5 days depending on the progress of their yolk sac suture. Once it is basically closed up I place them in a regular enclosure which is a miniture version of the adults.