Hi I don't know whether I should be concerned or not but Miffy buried herself into the substrate last night (completely disappeared) and has not reappeared yet this morning despite the lamp being on since 6am (its now 9am)..should I be concerned? I am worried it may have been too cold for her last night as she was in the conservatory. In addition out other egg that pipped 36 hours ago seemed to be doing ok last night and we could see the hatchlings head emerging. This morning the hatchling has gone under the shell, I am worried that he/she may be unended in the substrate. Miffy only took 12 hours from pipping to full walking away from the shell. Do you think he/she will be OK...at what point should we intervine? Gosh this is such a worrysome time. I am sure I should just leave them to it but the whole household is up in arms. Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you. Nicole
Any idea what the temperature was in your conservatory last night? The chances are Miffy is probably doing what comes natural to a small hatchling; hiding away from would-be predators.
If you're concerned your newest hatchling is the wrong way up, by all means take a look, but as Viv said they do need to make their own way out of the egg in case the egg sac hasn't been absorped properly.
Miffy is still buried. I have scraped some of the substrate off her and can detect some slight movement. I just expected her to be up and about by now and hope to get some food into her today. Do you think it would be OK for me to pick her out of the substrate? I think the temperature would have been about 15 degrees last night...I was under the impression that she would be OK during summer nights but obvoiusly it can sometimes get quite chilly. I will get a ceramic night heater I think so we don't have this concern again. Miffy was certainly strong and bright eyed. I will give the shell bound hatchling until this evening and then I will try some gentle investigation...again do you think it is OK to pick it up as such? Thanks for being there for us :o) Nicole
If it was a bit chilly last night, by all means warm her up with a bath - though I've no doubt she'll come out when she's hungry:-). Don't worry too much about her not eating, sometimes it takes a few days.
Gentle investigation will be fine if it is to determine she is the correct way up, so long as she comes out of the egg herself and you don't remove any of the shell at all. They can take days to hatch after they've pipped.
Hi Nicole, yes I agree with Darren (plus I know Darren is a complete expert in this field).
You say that the conservatory was 15 degrees, which is fine for night time temps, even if you put a ceramic heater on you would only need to set it for around 12 degrees so the heater wouldnt make any difference! Is the basking lamps at the right setting? Also as soon as I see the sun shining I get my babies outside to make sure they get a dose of the good rays!!
