Diamondback Terrapin Egg Initial “Pip”
A diamondback terrapin hatchling pecked a tiny hole in its egg about 1 pm this afternoon, August 19th, after 63 days of incubation. This egg came from a nest deposited on June 17th inside a slate stone walkway off Lieutenant Island’s Marsh Road and relocated to Turtle Point for safety. Turtle hatchlings are equipped with a tiny sharp egg tooth that they use to “pip” through the egg shell. Once the shell is pierced, they use their sharp and powerful claws to rip open the egg. The process from initial “pipping” until emergence can take from four to five days, during which time hatchlings are extremely vulnerable to predators from insects to raccoons.
Turtle Journal expects to see our first emerged hatchling of the season within the next 24 to 48 hours.