Man Helps Tiny Twin Tortoises Free Themselves From Egg

When a Western Hermann’s tortoise was giving birth to a hatch, Garden State Tortoise founder, Chris Leone, noticed that one hatchling was having an issue breaking out of its egg. That’s because it was actually two babies in the one egg!

Leone doesn’t usually intervene, but he was glad he did this time. “The egg contained TWINS. Perfectly formed, sharing the same yolk sac, the slightly larger of the two was the one trying to break out,” he wrote.

“It’s always best not to interfere with these animals but sometimes it’s needed,” he wrote in the video of the two babies. “In this case, our help was needed for their survival.”

After the yolk sac was absorbed, Leone needed to separate the twin tortoises (as they were stuck together), so he used a piece of dental floss to help them detach from one another. It took a few days but they successfully separated.

They’re so tiny and adorable!