new pictures of Laura’s hatchings!

Hello there all, I borrowed my mom_s digital camera yesterday and went snap-happy. You can see the results at: http://community.webshots.com/user/abhainnshell I am so pleased at how well they turned out_ they sure are photogenic little guys! 5 of the 13 eggs hatched out strong and healthy. One of the other 8 started to hatch out but his yolk sac was far too large and he too weak_ I think his egg split too soon due to excessive humidity while incubating. Another egg (of the 8) had a severely deformed yet fully formed dead embryo in it. 5 of the 8 had embryos of various stages of development that failed to progress fully and had split as well about one to two weeks after the 5 had successfully hatched out. The one final egg was torn right from the get go and nothing was ever clearly visible inside when candled. There are two __chesapeakes__. Both were almost exactly the same hatch weight and grew at the same approximate weight until one disappeared from his tank for 26 days. He was found on the floor of the furnace room when doing renovations in our basement_ alive! He apparently poked up his head when he heard my fiancͩ banging around. That caught Les_ attention because he promptly screamed for me to come and he placed this tiny turtle in my hand. He was all balled up and then proceeded to stick his head out to try and see what was going on. I was soooo ecstatic! Found! Alive! …after 26 days of who knows what! I wish I could hear his story. The __Little Lost Dude__ spent the night floating around in a clear deli-type container with some water in it on top of the water with his long lost tank mates. The next day he was swimming at eating in the tank with the others_ although he hid most of the time. Now he_s out swimming with the big guys_ and looks sooo tiny in comparison! I think they are all beautiful. Please feel free to take a look and let me know what you think! Thanks for letting me share. Michelle McGuffin