Urgent Care :: White RES hatclings

[sharvyn]

I found these two guys some hours ago. First off, are these albinos? Or, as I suspect, may these two be premature? They came from my rescued >5yrs old RES.
I don't know how the hell I should care for them. Someone guide me through all the steps. I don't want to see them die.

One has a soft body while the other has a squishy one. One is moving when I lightly apply pressure on it, while the other doesn't show any activity and response.

~~~~ EXCERPT OF PURITY ~~~~~~
I have a square of soil for eggs purposes. Its surface seemed ruffled today. I dug through, damaging one egg and maybe killing one hatchling too. This patch of land usually has red ants in it. They have decimated a few eggs in the past. It feels like true luck to have found these RES today. I am not sure how much time they have been there, and they survived till this fluke encounter. I am glad.

[litefoot]

Not albinos. Yes premature ! Still very undeveloped / translucent need a few more weeks and hopefully egg sac is there so they can feed off it. If you can keep them alive they will have a chance , all you can do is your best. It's up to mother nature if they were meant to be and little help from you. Ground may of been to moist causing the eggs to split early ? Picture's do not show if the egg sac's are still attached. Do Not handle much will cause internal damage to them. Don't even try to clean them up could cause damage. Maybe just for a second dip them in some warm water to get some of the sand off that's all. Do not rub any ! If egg sac's are there may have a small chance to fully develop. Will be attached to the plastron. They look roundish / yellowish in color. All you can do is try . Out of paper towels make something like a birds nest , keep moist not wet and keep them warm inside . Not direct light but keep temp "consistent" about 85* ! Have a "mister" to keep paper towels moist do not run under water faucet. Do not move them around let nature do what it can to help. Or better yet from a plant store get some "vermiculite" holds moisture very well without being wet. Don't forget to keep warm . Paper towels do work but have a tendency to dry out when you are not looking. I have had better success with the vermiculite to stay moist. Don't forget to keep warm. Maybe a rescue center near by may help. Must develop more before you can do anything else. If it was meant for them to be mother nature will finish it's part then they will have a chance with some help from you. If they survive may have some deformity be prepared for that and the special care they may need.

Unfortunately not much if any documentation on this subject out there. Even mother nature is not always 100% , info above is only my experience in this matter. Let's hope for success and natures help.

[sharvyn]

[----]!!! I am now depressed. I ripped the egg sac from one of them. I thought it was a vestige of the egg state. I feel bad now. I may have killed the only 'healthy' one. The other one, I assume, has died but i am still hoping it might move tomorrow.

In the end, purity doesn't work in ways we expect. [----] THIS. I hate when things go wrong. AND I AM TRULY SORRY FOR CUSSING! I wish I had enough money to give my turtles the lives they deserve.

*Yes, i am drunk while I am writing this, but I would feel worse if I was sober*

[litefoot]

I understand getting drunk. The hurt will still be a memory decades from now. That's why even when money is limited I always preach doing homework that's free. One can always produce or make from whatever is available. I have learned many ways to improvise. One must research to see "all" that's involved in this hobby. We all have a learning curve and yes it can hurt !

This is just one of many reasons I preach doing homework in this hobby. There is such an over population of RES’s we do not need more. Humans have used many RES’s in research and the rest unwanted. Unlike human’s female turtle’s can hold even from several males sperm for over three years. Even one clutch can have offspring from several fathers. This is well documented. So even if your girl is mature and has not seen a male in your time with her does not say she hasn’t been with a male. So years later she can still produce eggs that will be fertile. Even a turtle that has never seen a male will still produce eggs and must lay them , just be infertile. Nature has given some animals like turtles they way to survive since the beginning of time. Yes decades ago I hatched eggs but today with all the unwanted turtles in the world I changed. It’s hard enough to raise one turtle correctly what would you do with 20 more if a full clutch hatched. You can if lucky only give so many away , what are you going to do with the others. In the wild … may not even be a climate they could survive or even legal to do so.

Purity/clarity/clearness only comes from "proven documented fact" in the proper research and homework we do so we can discern the truth // not just from one's experience that may of worked. The hurt will go away but not this memory. Hope you feel better soon.

[PokePony]

It's okay to make mistakes, you didn't meant for this to happen. You didn't ripped the egg sac with malicious intent. Just, as litefoot said, do intensive research on it. Look into DIY incubators for turtle eggs, reptiles eggs in general, etc. Since the eggs were viable, it might happen that your RES will pond again and the eggs can be fertilised even if you have separated her from males (they can store viable sperm).

That being said, I would advise against keeping the eggs and recommend cracking them. RES are not a native species of Mauritius and a LOT of Mauritians will A. Won't take care of them properly and B. Will probably release them in random rivers and lakes when they will be fed up. There's countless of RES in pet shops that are sold as hatchlings for very cheap, and I would bet at least 80% die after a few month because of improper care.

Unless you plan on keeping every turtles or you are 100% sure you can place them in a home where they will be well taken care of for decades, please think about it.