Taipei Zoo has welcomed seven newborn Roti Island snake-necked turtles so far this year, with another brood expected this month.
The zoo in 2018 partnered with Austria’s Turtle Island conservation center to acquire the critically endangered turtles native to Indonesia.
After producing two hatchlings last year, the turtles laid another clutch that began hatching on April 11.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
Seven hatchlings emerged weighing from 3.5g to 3.9g, about 20 percent heavier than the two hatched last year, showing that the mother turtles’ nutrient intake has improved, the zoo said.
The second clutch of 11 eggs is expected to hatch soon enough that zookeepers have set buckets of water in a hallway near the enclosure with insect larva, which are easier for young turtles to catch.
The carnivorous creatures typically eat small aquatic animals, but the zoo also feeds the adult turtles mouse pups, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp and other meat.
However, newly hatched turtles are picky and only eat live, moving creatures, although they are not yet skilled enough to catch small fish and shrimp, the zoo said.
Therefore, in addition to providing fruit flies and their larvae, zookeepers also harvest tadpoles of different species of tree frogs to give the hatchlings more variety.
However, their size — roughly equivalent to a NT$50 coin — belies their appetites, the zoo said, adding that the seven hatchlings, although only about two weeks old, can already consume nearly 100 tadpoles at a time.
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