Posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 by pelf and filed in Turtle Talks

This is my first attempt in becoming a photo hunter and I hope the picture above isn’t too “predictable”. I’m not exactly a creative kind of person, which explains why I couldn’t find a picture that depicts “empty” in my collection of pictures, hahhaha :) So yea, anybody wants to take a guess?

If you guessed “empty egg shells”, give yourself a pat on the back. And if you guessed “empty terrapin egg shells”, give yourself another pat :)

These are empty river terrapin egg shells that we collect over time. The terrapin eggs that we purchased from the egg collectors were incubated in styrofoam boxes. At the end of the incubation duration of about 80 days (on average), the terrapin hatchlings pip and crawl out of the egg shells. And when the styrofoam boxes were emptied to analyze the contents of the “artificial nest”, all the empty egg shells will be uncovered, washed and stacked away.

These empty egg shells make very good educational materials because they’re light and can be easily brought and displayed in any exhibition. By just using the empty egg shells, we will be able to explain — in a simplified version, minus all the details and statistics — about the reproduction of the terrapins to the public (like how I did it in the above paragraph).

  1. Dragonheart says:

    Welcome to the Photo Hunt! :) Those are lovely pictures and a great take on the theme. Thanks for teaching us about terrapin – they sound interesting!

    pelf: Thanks for the kind comments :)

  2. Karen says:

    This is a very interesting post. I was thinking eggshells, but I couldn’t quite get past the fact that they were flexible. I would have thought of reptile eggs, but then I couldn’t understand why anyone would have a pile of them in one place. Now I know. Thanks for the education.

    pelf: Glad you found it educational!

  3. Melissa says:

    I actually guessed eggs!!! What a fabulous shot for “empty”! Very creative :)

    pelf: *pats Melissa’s back*

  4. srp says:

    Welcome to the hunt.
    I think you did a marvelous job, great picture and very informative.
    I always love to learn something new each day.

    pelf: Thanks you very much, and I am glad you found it informative :)

  5. incog & nito says:

    I did guess eggs. Great take on the theme. Happy weekend.

    pelf: Did you give yourself a pat on the back?

  6. Autumn says:

    wow great take on this weeks theme.

    pelf: Thanks :)

  7. Anita says:

    Great pictures for the theme and welcome to Photo Hunters! I have only been doing it for a few weeks myself, but I can tell you it’s been a lot of fun!

    pelf: Hhhaha, it sure is fun!

  8. Mummy B says:

    wow! they are amazing! I never would have guessed they were empty shells! Very cool photo :)

    pelf: Thanks!

  9. Very cool! I didn’t know what it was.

    pelf: I hope you found it educational :)

  10. Pearl & Pato says:

    This is really a fantastic picture!!! good choice..

    Pato & Pearl

    pelf: Thanks :)

  1. pelf-ism is contagious » The terrapins eat these..

    [...] These are the river terrapin hatchlings that we are currently rearing at the Head-starting Facility on campus. Like I have mentioned previously, we purchase the river terrapin eggs from the egg collectors from Setiu and then incubated them (the eggs, NOT the collectors, hahhahah) in styrofoam boxes. At the end of the incubation period, the hatchlings will emerge from their eggs. [...]

  2. pelf-ism is contagious » Photo Hunt: Smelly

    [...] What does empty terrapin egg shells look like? [...]