06/02/2026
EDIT: this baby is ALIVE! pls read -
Story time... 📖 Despite our best intentions to give our ♀️Toffee Conda the year off, she gave us 2 clutches this year from one single pairing in the spring of 2025 (4th clutch total from that).
The first two shots are of the 1st clutch from 2-3 weeks ago, when only 1 or 2 eggs still looked viable. When the time came for hatching, just 1 of the eggs looked viable, but by day 55, no sign of life and the egg looked like it was starting to harden and dry out, so I decided to cut that egg open while a friend was here to see what had happened {I do this for my own learning with every clutch if there are any that don't hatch by the time everyone else is out}.
Inside was a perfectly formed, but tiny baby Toffee. No defects or anything, it had just had already gone into blue, so he was definitely late in hatching. As I was examining him, I swear he moved! My friend and I were completely shocked and I quickly cleared the inner membrane away from its face with a Q-tip to see if he would breathe... He DID!!! Y'all, I nearly cried.
I quickly set up a transition tub for him in the incubator with soaked paper towel to try to help him absorb his yolk and hopefully shed. Checked him later that day and gently misted his face and he drank 🥹
He really didn't move much for the next day or two, and seemed really weak despite gentle mistings for hydration 3-4 times daily.. By day 3, I clipped his umbilical cord since he hadn't been able to detach himself. At that point, I finally weighed him, and he is officially the smallest baby I've ever had at only 2.8 g!
I very gently assist fed him a hopper tail and put him back in the incubator so he could digest and shed. Gave him another 1.5 days in the wet transition tub, then officially moved him to his own tub in the baby rack yesterday!!
Checked on him this morning and he is still alive, curled up in his hide on the warm side. He still hasn't shed, but I have a lot of hope that he's going to pull through. I've named him "Lucky" for making it this far against all the odds - he's a little fighter! 🍀💪🏻💪🏻🤞🏻🥹⚜️
