I first found Bert while shopping for fish food at a new local pet shop. He was dynamic, cuddly, talkative, and clownish. I fell in love at first sight. He was 4 months old when he came home. About 6 months later, HE fell in love at first sight with a 6 month old female white- faced cinnamon we later called Earnie. I kept them separated until Earnie was 1 1/2 years old, so they wouldn't breed too early. I knew she was ready to breed when my Vet had to put her on birth control to stop her from laying eggs. They have had 6 clutches, so far. This is the story of their latest.

In the last week of January of 2000, Earnie laid 5 eggs. The first four were live and the last was a dud, as is her custom. She always lays one more than she needs to rid her body of excess minerals needed to produce the eggs. Hatch day was scheduled for Febuary 18, 2000, as it takes 21-24 days for the eggs to incubate. The eggs were well cared for, the humidity and temperature just right, and everything was going just fine until Febuary 20th.

The first egg pipped and tooth marks could be seen, but the baby seemed to have died in the effort of being hatched. I named him "Amadeus", because it seemed as if God missed him too much to let him be born.

The second also had problems. I kept a close eye on him all night. Occasionally, there would be pipping sounds, but they were weak. The next morning, I helped the baby out of his shell. It's always a risky business trying to tell when to help and when to let Nature take it's course, but I couldn't let him suffocate in a partially cracked shell that was drying out and getting harder. He arrived, alive, but cold and weak. I placed him in a pre-warmed cotton cup towel and ran to get something warm for him to eat. It's not usually necessary for them to eat for the first three days after hatching, but I needed to get him warm. All my efforts were in vain, though. He died the next morning. I named him "Farley" and buried them both in the flower bed in the back yard.

That left just two viable eggs, but they weren't scheduled to hatch for another three days. "Bonzai" came out of his shell quicker than snot and was a good sized newborn. He was feisty and active, which warmed my heart because I knew he'd be okay. The last viable egg took it's own sweet time and waited the last three days to join the world. I named him "Mickie". After those two were hatched, Earnie wouldn't let me touch them for the next three days, so I didn't get these photos until Bonzai was 7 days old and Mickie was 4 days old. Mickie seemed small and uncoordinated, next to his brother, but he ate and grew and maintained his temperature, so I waited to see what would happen.

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