A couple pictures of the hatchling terrapins, that will eventually end up in the new 1800 gallon pond I recently built. ( not until next year spring/summer)
This one is named snoozy for obvious reasons.
Hatchling DBTs
- Thread starter Jhn
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jhn; will their skin lighten up as they grow? And, did you hatch them yourself? Do you have a dedicated breeding area or did this happen in your main pond? I tried hatching out some painteds, twice, and both times I lost them all. One time to being too dry, the other because I didn't know I wasn't supposed to tip/move/rotate the eggs once they were laid. Some details of how your hatchlings came about would be interesting!
Michael
Michael
Yes, their skin may lighten as they grow, although some keep that grey/blue tint.
I don't really have a dedicated breeding area in my main pond. There is a sandy beach area under a magnolia tree next to the pond, which the female used this time. So, this is the first time I was able to actually find the nest ( happened upon the female laying eggs). There are a lot of hatchling predators in my pond... large bullfrogs, snakes, etc. so if they have laid eggs before I haven't seen any evidence and the hatchlings would probably be consumed quickly.
Marked the eggs as i removed them from the nest, to keep from rotating them. Incubated them in a styrofoam still air incubator, in shallow plastic bowls filled with an absorbent medium took about 60 days. Buried eggs half in the medium and used a spray bottle to keep the eggs and medium damp.
Incubator has a digital display, so I was able to set temp to 83 and kept the humidity around 88-90% and stable. Then just waited.
I have experience with raising painteds as I use to keep them and they started reproducing like rabbits. First time with terrapin eggs, but still the same idea as raising painteds.
I don't really have a dedicated breeding area in my main pond. There is a sandy beach area under a magnolia tree next to the pond, which the female used this time. So, this is the first time I was able to actually find the nest ( happened upon the female laying eggs). There are a lot of hatchling predators in my pond... large bullfrogs, snakes, etc. so if they have laid eggs before I haven't seen any evidence and the hatchlings would probably be consumed quickly.
Marked the eggs as i removed them from the nest, to keep from rotating them. Incubated them in a styrofoam still air incubator, in shallow plastic bowls filled with an absorbent medium took about 60 days. Buried eggs half in the medium and used a spray bottle to keep the eggs and medium damp.
Incubator has a digital display, so I was able to set temp to 83 and kept the humidity around 88-90% and stable. Then just waited.
I have experience with raising painteds as I use to keep them and they started reproducing like rabbits. First time with terrapin eggs, but still the same idea as raising painteds.
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Thanks for the further info! Appreciated! If you have more photos of your kids (the terrapins!), I'd like to see them! I did some research and wish the price wasn't so steep as I'd like to try one of these, thinking they'd make a great turtle for the pond. Maybe one day!
Michael
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Cute babies!
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Wow - those are really cute! I always liked turtles! I saw one trying to cross a road once and had to stop my car and put him on the other side so he wouldn't get run over!
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That is just fantastic! 