{"id":3110,"date":"2009-10-04T19:29:44","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T00:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=3110"},"modified":"2010-01-16T11:39:23","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T16:39:23","slug":"unusual-terrapin-hatchling-discovered-on-lieutenant-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=3110","title":{"rendered":"Unusual Terrapin Hatchling Discovered on Lieutenant Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"special-006-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unusual Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A “wild nest” at the base of Turtle Point’s scruffy dune yielded 12 hatchlings that had scrambled from an emergence hole into the abutting salt marsh and one very unusual baby at the bottom of the egg chamber.\u00c2\u00a0 (ASIDE:\u00c2\u00a0 We protect a small percentage of nests that we discover during the June-July nesting season.\u00c2\u00a0 Those nests that we don’t find until they begin to hatch in September, we term “wild nests” since they have not been protected by predator excluders.\u00c2\u00a0 The ratio of protected nests to “wild nests” is greater than one to twenty.)<\/p>\n

\"special-011-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Large Yolk Sac and Fly Larva<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The unusual hatchling had pipped, but had\u00c2\u00a0not completely emerged from its eggshell.\u00c2\u00a0 Its head, the anterior of its shell and its forelimbs were exposed.\u00c2\u00a0 This hatchling’s eyes had not yet opened and its shell contained very little pigment.\u00c2\u00a0 The greatest and most immediate concern, though, was an infestation of fly maggots that had invaded through the pipped eggshell.\u00c2\u00a0 Maggots were feeding on the egg white and had become embedded in the exposed umbilicus and large yolk sac.<\/p>\n

\"special-010-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Comparing Unusual and Normal Terrapin Hatchlings<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Comparing a typical terrapin hatchling in the background with the unusual hatchling in the foreground, you can see boh the lack of pigment in the shell and the sealed eyelids.<\/p>\n

\"special-033-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Limited Pigment, White Tail, Six Vertebrals, Five Right Costals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Additional anomalies included six vetebral scutes rather than the normal five and five right costal scutes rather than the normal four.\u00c2\u00a0 The mostly white tail also lacked normal pigment.<\/p>\n

<\/object>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Unusual Terrapin Hatchling Discovered<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The video above documents my initial examination of the unusual hatchling after it had had an opportunity to hydrate in warm water and after maggots had been removed.<\/p>\n

\"special-018-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Closeup of Challenged Terrapin Hatchling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once this little hatchling had been bathed in warm fresh water for about thirty minutes, its eye completely opened and it began to track visual stimuli normally.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, the lack of pigment makes for a very unusual looking terrapin.<\/p>\n

\"nest-136-002-closeup-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Protected Nest 136 Hatches<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The same day the wild nest which held this unusual baby turtle hatched, protected Nest 136 also hatched.\u00c2\u00a0 The picture above and the video below provide a good comparison to contrast a normal emerging terrapin hatchling with this most unusual baby.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Normal Hatchling Emerges from Protected Nest 136<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unusual Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling A “wild nest” at the base of Turtle Point’s scruffy dune yielded 12 hatchlings that had scrambled from an emergence hole into the abutting salt marsh and one very unusual baby at the bottom of the egg chamber.\u00c2\u00a0 (ASIDE:\u00c2\u00a0 We protect a small percentage of nests that we discover during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3110"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3913,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions\/3913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}