Where my husband works the snapping turtles will lie their eggs in the piles of dirt or rocks. my husband would load them into a dump truck. well now he looks out for them and brings them home. we hatch them and when they are big enough we take them back to his work and let them go by the river. this year i met someone that cares for them till they are big enough to take care if them self. right now they are so tiny. Today when i came home from work i looked in on them. and sure enough we have our first baby. but the umbilcal cord is still on it. and i dont remember if we just left it or what. can someone please help me.
2007-08-30 15:58:23 · 4 answers · asked by skbonnayer713 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
then what do you call the sack on the turtles belly???
2007-08-30 16:21:09 · update #1
Thank you for helping me. I had called around and asked everyone that i knew that would have been able to help me. my husband or myself could not remember what happened the last time we did this. we didnt keep notes we didnt think we were going to find any eggs again. this year we have been keeping a notebook. and taking pictures. thank you again
2007-08-30 16:37:02 · update #2
If you're talking about where they're connected to the yolk sack, let them be. They will absorb the rest of the yolk and anything left will fall off on it's own. But usually they don't come out of the egg until the yolk is completely absorbed. Like snakes, they may cut the egg open a day or two before they actually come out of it. You're not removing them from the egg when they cut it open, are you? Let them come out on their own. It's definitely beneficial for them to absorb all of the yolk sack, rather than cutting it off. And you may or may not already know that turtles eggs should never be turned over. When found, you should mark the top with a pencil. If turned, the baby may very well die in the egg.
2007-08-30 16:34:23 · answer #1 · answered by madsnakeman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yep, the yolk sac will absorb and that's all the hatchling needs for a while. What I found amusing though, was this... "this year i met someone that cares for them till they are big enough to take care if them self", and here's why. Reptiles have been (for the most part) taking care of themselves from hatching for several million years, why, all of a sudden, would snapping turtles be unable to fend for themselves from the time they hatch? Yes, some will become food for other animals, but that's the whole scheme of things and why reptiles (in general) lay as many eggs as they do. Anyway, just remember, a turtle that doesn't learn to look out for predators from the time it's hatched stands no chance when released into the wild.
2007-08-31 00:44:32 · answer #2 · answered by gimmenamenow 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's not an umbilical cord, it's the yolk sack, which is a remnant of the yolk.
It nourishes the turtle for the first few days- don't cut it off.
2007-08-30 16:26:34 · answer #3 · answered by Dion J 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nice try...
LOL
They are hatched form eggs so there is NO umbilical cord.
2007-08-30 16:07:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋