I am so sorry to ask a bunch of questions but our first Russian Tortoise egg hatched this morning.
I've read several posts on new hatchling care including the How to Incubate Eggs and start Hatchlings. The baby is in the incubator inside a plastic shoe box lined with damp white paper towels. The temp is 30C and 87% humidity.
I understand from Tom's how to start hatchlings that I should have soaked the baby as soon as it left its shell. I am very nervous about harming the baby and was hoping for a bit more specific advice on how warm should the water be, how long should the baby soak, and how high should the water be (for instance up to the side of the shell?) Should I put the soaking pan in the incubator so the baby stays warm while soaking. When I put the baby back in the brooder box I should offer it food today even though its yolk sac is not fully absorbed.
This egg is from the first of three clutches laid over the summer. The clutches were laid two weeks apart with 4, 3, 1 egg in each clutch. They all seemed to be developing well until about a week ago when the shell's of the other three eggs from the first clutch started turning very dark almost black. I am concerned something is wrong but don't want to take them out of the incubator in case they are viable but am worried if something is wrong it could spread to the other four eggs in the incubator. The hatchling is in a different incubator than the eggs (we have two incubators). Has anyone experienced eggs turned nearly dark?
Again, I am sorry for all the questions. I am very nervous as this is our first time with eggs.
Thank you,
Charlotte
I've read several posts on new hatchling care including the How to Incubate Eggs and start Hatchlings. The baby is in the incubator inside a plastic shoe box lined with damp white paper towels. The temp is 30C and 87% humidity.
I understand from Tom's how to start hatchlings that I should have soaked the baby as soon as it left its shell. I am very nervous about harming the baby and was hoping for a bit more specific advice on how warm should the water be, how long should the baby soak, and how high should the water be (for instance up to the side of the shell?) Should I put the soaking pan in the incubator so the baby stays warm while soaking. When I put the baby back in the brooder box I should offer it food today even though its yolk sac is not fully absorbed.
This egg is from the first of three clutches laid over the summer. The clutches were laid two weeks apart with 4, 3, 1 egg in each clutch. They all seemed to be developing well until about a week ago when the shell's of the other three eggs from the first clutch started turning very dark almost black. I am concerned something is wrong but don't want to take them out of the incubator in case they are viable but am worried if something is wrong it could spread to the other four eggs in the incubator. The hatchling is in a different incubator than the eggs (we have two incubators). Has anyone experienced eggs turned nearly dark?
Again, I am sorry for all the questions. I am very nervous as this is our first time with eggs.
Thank you,
Charlotte