Wildlife ARC care for eleven orphaned baby long neck turtles
VIDEO: Nearly the size of a 50 cent piece and as cute as can be, here’s the amazing tale of how a kind Coastie, local vet and dedicated wildlife carers saved eleven baby long neck turtles.
Central Coast
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ELEVEN soft shelled miracles have surfaced from the tragic story of an injured turtle rescued in West Gosford … and they are all named Paris.
The eight day old eastern long neck turtles have survived a tough ordeal and are now thriving in the care of Wildlife ARC volunteer Sam Chatfield who is caring for the tiny siblings while they find their feet.
The Express Advocate was invited to join the shellebration and visit the newly hatched babies which redefine the meaning of the word cute. They are smaller than a 50 cent piece, with soft shells, however are deceptively fast if you let them run.
Ms Chatfield said the mother was rescued from a kind passer-by in West Gosford in late November. The turtle had severe head injuries, most likely caused by a car, and was taken to the nearby Animal Referral Hospital.
“The hospital was kind enough to do an x-ray and found little eggs inside,” Ms Chatfield said.
“Mum was really badly injured and they weren’t able to save her. But we were really lucky they did the x-ray because they called us in, we got the eggs, incubated them and now two months later we have these little guys.”
Male, female, the smallest or the largest of the bunch, they are all named Paris after veterinary nurse Paris Tootell.
“The nurse who assisted with the surgery to get the eggs out asked if one or two hatched, perhaps they could be named Paris,” Ms Chatfield said. “But now we have over 10 Paris’.”
Ms Chatfield has a tank set up at her home in Lisarow to ensure the babies feel safe and secure.
“I’ll get them feeding and growing and send them back to the wild before the cold season,” she said.
“If gets too close to the cold season we might have to hold them over winter because they have already had a rough start to life. We will find somewhere around the West Gosford area to release the babies so that way mum and dads genes are still going back to where they are meant to be.”
The turtles, who will grow to the size of a dinner plate, are already showing their characters, and are proving to be very curious and adventurous.