Want To Guess What This Is??

[chompie_puppy]

Here's some clues.

- Everyone at the Wildlife Sanctuary is very excited about this!
- It *appeared* in an enclosure this morning.
- It was a very dangerous task to safely remove it from the enclosure!
- It is the size of a large coconut and weighs 781g.
- In a few weeks we are going to need to buy way more fruits for the Sanctuary!

*Sorry about the blurry photo. We are not allowed to use flash around the animals. And yes, the colours are very accurate in this photo!*

 

[feebee]

some sort of reptile?

 

[MollyMouse]

No idea Kelsey, like feebee said a reptile??

 

[igors mum]

cassawary egg? not sure what colour they are but its not the right colour for a emu and that would have been my other guess.

 

[feebee]

cassawary egg? not sure what colour they are but its not the right colour for a emu and that would have been my other guess.

I though emu but like you said wrong colour, never heard of a cassawary

 

[Anne & Gang]

an emu egg???

 

[chompie_puppy]

Deb is correct!

It is a Cassowary egg! The female laid it this morning!

With Cassowaries (and Emus) the mother actually does nothing more than lay the egg. It is then the father's resposibility to incubate the eggs for the next 5 weeks. In the mean time the mother will go off and mate with as many other males as she can find. She will leave each of them a clutch of eggs to look after. She doesn't have anything to do with the chicks at all!

Unfortunately with last year's clutch, the male Cassowary we have proved to be a rather bad daddy.

He would incubate the eggs for a good 2-3 weeks and then lose interest. So the babies never developed fully.

So this year we are pulling the eggs as soon as they are laid. We have this egg in the incubator and now we have to turn it 3 times a day for the next 45-53 days!

You wouldn't think that an egg with such a bright green colour would blend in well with its surroundings! However, Cassowaries are from tropical regions and in these areas there are lots of bright green ground covering plants like ferns that would easily hide these eggs.

 

[igors mum]

I though emu but like you said wrong colour, never heard of a cassawary

here is a pic of one feebee they are the emu looking bird with the horn on the head.
Cassawary | Photo

Cassowary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[magni]

I heard of them through a Discovery show. thats amazing. I wish I was there to see it hatchThanks for sharing

 

[luvsgreys]

That's awesome! They are such an interesting bird, I had no idea that it was the father's role to incubate the eggs! Will we see pics when this little one hatches?

 

[Marlene]

How exciting!

 

[Ranyart]

Very very cool.

 

[atvchick95]

Deb is correct!

It is a Cassowary egg! The female laid it this morning!

With Cassowaries (and Emus) the mother actually does nothing more than lay the egg. It is then the father's resposibility to incubate the eggs for the next 5 weeks. In the mean time the mother will go off and mate with as many other males as she can find. She will leave each of them a clutch of eggs to look after. She doesn't have anything to do with the chicks at all!

Unfortunately with last year's clutch, the male Cassowary we have proved to be a rather bad daddy.

He would incubate the eggs for a good 2-3 weeks and then lose interest. So the babies never developed fully.

So this year we are pulling the eggs as soon as they are laid. We have this egg in the incubator and now we have to turn it 3 times a day for the next 45-53 days!

You wouldn't think that an egg with such a bright green colour would blend in well with its surroundings! However, Cassowaries are from tropical regions and in these areas there are lots of bright green ground covering plants like ferns that would easily hide these eggs.

gives a whole new meaning to dead beat parent and tramp at the same time LOL


sounds like y'all are going to have your hands full

how many eggs are in a clutch?

 

[waterfaller1]

That is wild. I thought you had dyed it for some reason.

 

[Archiesmom]

Wow, that is SO cool! And a very interesting read, Kelsey I can't wait to see the baby pictures, I'm sure it will be adorable!

 

[twelvewings]

Wow. It didn't even look real! Very cool!

 

[chompie_puppy]

Thanks guys!

We now have....

TWO eggs!!!

I'll definitely post photos when the babies hatch! It looks like the plan is to raise them at the sanctuary instead of giving them to a carer to raise at home. So I should be able to get some good photos for you guys.

Their clutch sizes do vary quite a bit but the average would be about 5 eggs.

 

[Daisy's Mom]

Wow thats great... Loved seeing the posted pics and reading about them.. I can't wait till they hatch.

 

[lamagdalena]

I was going to say trick question, it's a marble

I guess that photo plays with dimensions because that green eggie does not look like a coconut in size

 

[chompie_puppy]

Wow thats great... Loved seeing the posted pics and reading about them.. I can't wait till they hatch.

I know! I'm so impatient. I can't believe it will still be a month before the first egg hatches!

I was going to say trick question, it's a marble

I guess that photo plays with dimensions because that green eggie does not look like a coconut in size

I'll try and get a photo of the egg next time it is being turned in the incubator!