ACKSONVILLE, Fla — A tiny saltwater crocodile burst out of its shell at the Alligator Farm today.
Its eyes wide opened and looked up at Jen Walkowich who held him in her hands. “I love to be here for all the hatching out. It’s a great way to start the day,” she said early this morning.
She’s the reptile keeper at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, and she has waited for this day for three months.
One by one, the 10 saltwater crocodiles poked their noses through their eggshells and started hatching.
Walkowich and Reptile Curator Kevin Torregrosa helped them by peeling away some of the eggshell.
Torregrosa helps the hatchlings out of the shells because, “the eggs in the wild would naturally deteriorate because of the soil they’re incubated in. We try to recreate that here, but we can’t really do it. So because of that the eggs can be a little harder.”
Walkowich laughed as one of the tiny sat in her hand with its toothy mouth open. “He looks just like his father,” Walkowich chuckled, “with his mouth wide open!”
The proud papa is Maximo, the Alligator Farm’s largest animal. Maximo is longer than 15 feet and weighs more than 1,200 pounds.
“He’s not any bigger than Maximo’s foot,” Walkowich said.
The mother crocodile laid 35 eggs originally but some were infertile. In the end, 10 eggs survived the incubation process.
Ten was an interesting number of eggs to hatch on Oct. 10, 2010.
Walkowich exclaimed, “Ten, 10, 10. We’ll have 10 babies on 10-10-10!”
The babies even cried, sounding similar to a squeaky toy. Those cries were heard from inside and outside of the eggshells.
“When you hear the crying from inside the eggs, that’s them crying for their to come crack the egg,” Torregrosa explained. “Once they’re crying outside of the egg, that’s because someone as big as Jen is holding them and they think Jen going to eat them so they’re calling mom to get Jen first!”
But Jen Walkowich was no threat. In fact, she was as nurturing and as proud as a mother to witness Maximo’s babies hatching from their shells.
The baby saltwater crocodiles will be nurtured for a little while away from visitors. Soon, they will be on exhibit at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.