Happy Post: Tiny Tortoises

[dizzojay]

Kathryn, a lady I work with, has two pet tortoises, George and Yoshi.  They have been in her family for years, Yoshi (the male) is approximately 55 years old, and she reckons George, the female is about 40.

Now George and Yoshi aren't shy about getting down to 'it' (the sheer mechanics of that act in tortoises still breaks my brain) and Kathryn has seen George lay eggs several times, although she's never had a successful outcome.

Until now...

George's latest clutch of five eggs, hatched about two weeks ago and produced a healthy clutch of four little hatchlings - one egg was a dud.

Now, I've never seen a teeny tiny baby tortoise before, but last Friday we all piled into Kathryn's car and went back to her house one lunchbreak to visit the little week-old babies ... and they were sooooo teeny-tiny!!

As the babies hatched, Kathryn had marked each one so that she'd be able to tell them apart, so at the moment their names are one, two, three and four.  As you can see, I was playing with one and four.

Just for scale - this is my hand that the little guys are sitting in.

Comments

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

So cute. And yes, they are teeny tiny. How big will they get when full-grown?

So, um.........how to turtles mate? I've never really thought about it, but when you said it breaks your brain, now I'm really curious.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

They are so tiny right now. Hard to know how big they'll get, but Mum is about 8 inches long and Dad is about 10 inches long, so probably around that sort of size I would imagine.

Tortoise rumpy pumpy is a very clumsy and awkward affair, but somehow they manage it, even though they're totally undersigned for it!

[septembers-coda.livejournal.com]

OMG so CUUUUUUUUUTE! I was just chatting with reapertownusa all about my love for reptiles. And wow, to have them in the family for so long and suddenly have grand-tortoises--that's a wonderful story. <3 <3

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

They are such little cuties, I've never been that close to such a young tortoise before. I said to Kathryn they're not like mammal babies which are smaller, squisher, cuter versions of their parents, these are perfectly proportioned tortoises - just adorably tiny!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhh so blooming adorable!

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

They certainly are :)

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, they are so sweet! And so tiny! I'm so pleased for the happy parents after so many attempts, bless them!

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

The human parents are delighted. The tortoise parents don't even acknowledge their existence. Apparently tortoise mothers lay the eggs, then bugger off and leave the hatchlings to get on with it!!

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

They adorable!! :D

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

They certainly are :)

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yup! :D

[reapertownusa.livejournal.com]

Goodness, George and Yoshi made some adorable little ones. The last reptile show I went to had baby sulcatas and the cuteness was nearly too much. But in the US it's not legal to sell tortoises as small as the little fellows you're holding, so I've never gotten to see ones that tiny let alone touch the cuteness, you lucky gal! What species are they?

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

It's the same here, tortoises are protected and there are strict rules about breeding them and selling them.

I don't know what species they are. they're not the huge ones. Mum is about 8 inches long, and Dad is about 10 inches long, so that's probably about how big they'll get.

Also, Mum has a very round, quite highly-domed shell, whereas Dad has a more oval-shaped, slightly flatter shell with a 'frill' around it, so I wonder if they're different breeds and the babies will be a mixture!

[reapertownusa.livejournal.com]

But your country's rules probably actually protect the tortoises--our 4" law was put in place because parents couldn't remind their children to wash their hands or keep them from putting baby turtles in their mouths...

Wow, it sounds like they do look really different and adorable ♥ Whatever they are, George and Yoshi and made their own super cute tortoise species!

[a-newdream4xmas.livejournal.com]

So adorably cutely tiny little buddles! :D

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

They certainly are :)

[sandy79.livejournal.com]

Nawww, cute!

[supernutjapan.livejournal.com]

Awwww 😍