A few months back, my husband uncovered a nest of turtle eggs at the job site. “What’s with all the ping-pong balls?” he asked. My older son identified them as turtle eggs and brought them home where the younger kids filled a bucket with dirt, put the eggs in and then covered them with more dirt. They parked the bucket in a sunny spot in my flower bed, but after a couple months of nothing happening, I ordered the bucket gone, so they moved it over by the tool shed.
Last week, my younger son checked on the eggs. “They’re probably all rotten,” my husband said, so my son tore one of the eggs open. And inside was a baby turtle…ALIVE. It was all slimy and still attached to a large yolk sac.
My son placed it on a damp paper towel in a box, positioned a lamp above, and ever since then he’s been obsessed.
He wakes early to observe his premature pet, and he spends hours each day researching all things turtle. He’s identified it as a snapping turtle (oh joy) and spews all sorts of turtle-y facts to anyone who will listen. He’s relocated the rest of the eggs to a box of sand and set it under a heat lamp to speed the process (again, oh joy).
We keep warning him that Chomper (ha) might not make it, but that hasn’t stopped him from building a very large (oh, so hopeful, that child!) home from cardboard, tinfoil, and tape for when Chomper is grown.
And he’s made a survival chart. He proudly checks off each day the turtle stays alive.
And rather miraculously enough, it’s still alive! The yolk sac—its only food source for now—is shrinking daily, so I guess it’s getting the nourishment it needs.
In the beginning, the turtle looked, and acted, mostly dead (every 15-30 seconds it’d take a giant breath and we’d all exhale, too), but now the turtle blinks, wiggles its very long tail, sticks out its head, and creeps about.
This same time, years previous: the quotidian (8.29.16), peach crisp, it all adds up, they’re getting it!, grape parfaits, 2011 stats and notes, roasted tomato sauce, pasta with sauteed peppers and onions.
8 Comments
Athanasia
They are nasty. All they know how to do is snap, it is their nature. I hope he does not expect a lot of love in return for all his care 🙁
Dr perfection
Turtle soup
sarah e blog
are you going to crack the rest of the eggs open? cuz ya know it would be favoritism if you didnt lol ;0
Second Sister
So cute. I certainly won't be swimming there with that dire warning.
Rosanna
So cool to see the yolk sac disappearing, and I've always thought the hatchlings were super cute! Still, snapping turtles killed my sister's cat and I've never forgiven them. Soup is good but a lot of work, and the grown up turtles are difficult to kill and deceptively fast.
Susan
Rooting for the little guy (your son is adorable) but be prepared to move that little bugger out fast – they can take a finger off at an early age…
ShirleyHS
Amazing. Love the chart and the pool, especially. And the Mad Science book. Rooting for chomper!
Suburban Correspondent
Oh, that is the most awesome chart ever!