When it comes to animals and breeding, many people (surprisingly) assume that all animals have a similar sexual anatomy to humans, which goes through the same processes. is not.
Sexual anatomy is different for each creature, and some animals are very similar to humans when it comes to reproduction, while others are completely different.
Many people ask questions about turtles and their young, so here we will discuss turtles and breeding.
How do turtles feed their young when the mother has a hard shell? Do turtles milk or have nipples?
If you want to learn more about sea turtle breeding and how sea turtles care for their hatchlings, keep reading as we cover these topics in detail!
Do turtles have nipples?
This is a relatively common question and the answer may surprise some people. No, turtles don’t have nipples.
This is because, unlike us humans, turtles are not lactating animals. This means they do not eat young milk.
Mammals are a group of animals that produce milk from special glands known as mammary glands. There are nipples that connect to these glands and act as ventral openings through which milk flows.
Mammals nourish their babies with their milk. In breastfeeding, the child grasps the nipple and sucks the milk from the mammary glands.
This process and the presence of mammary glands is what defines the group as mammals, and all animals in this category, from lions to dogs to us humans, follow this rule.
When a female becomes pregnant, she begins to produce her own milk and swell around her nipples (in humans this area is called a breast, but not all mammals have a “breast”).
Once the cubs are born, the female can feed them with breast-fed milk.
In the mammalian kingdom known as monotremes, there are only two exceptions to this rule. Both echidna and platypus lay eggs.
However, although they produce milk from mammary glands, they have no nipples.
Instead, their young suck milk, especially from the hairs that connect to their mother’s mammary glands.
Turtles are reptiles, not mammals. This means that their reproductive process follows the rules of reptiles rather than mammals.
As such, turtles have no nipples or breasts, do not produce milk, and do not breastfeed their offspring. These functions are restricted to mammals and are not shared with reptiles.
How do turtles care for their young?
Frankly, no.
Most baby turtles never see either of their parents because unlike mammals, they don’t go through the same process at birth.
Turtles often lay their eggs on land or in nearby water. When the female is almost ready to lay her eggs, she builds a nest for the eggs.
To do this, she digs a hole in the ground, lays eggs in it (the number of eggs varies from 10 to 100), and sometimes covers it again.
This is to hide the eggs from predators who eat them for nutrition.
Once the eggs are laid and hidden, the turtles wander away and never see the babies.
Her role in their life is over before it begins. She gives birth to them, gives them all the protection she can, and keeps them alive until the next breeding cycle.
Some species stay and guard the nest, but do not stay there for hatching.
After some time the eggs will hatch and the baby will have to live on his own. Fortunately, they are born with an absolute instinct and drive to do this.
They will already know how to swim or find food without being taught.
What the hatchling does next depends on its species.
The most famous hatching process is that of sea turtles. Sea turtles are born on the beach and have to rush to the ocean while birds and other predators try to catch them as treats.
Most hatchlings are unsuccessful and have a high early life mortality rate, but honestly there is nothing parents can do.
They are easy to pluck, and there is not much a mother can do to protect all 100 babies unless they become too big to be targeted by some predators.
Therefore, for the survival of the species, it is better for her to leave and start preparing to lay another batch of eggs.
Do all reptiles abandon their young?
Abandonment may be a strong word, but not all reptiles leave their young before hatching.
Some species of reptiles, like alligators and crocodiles, care for their young until they are big enough to live on their own.
They catch prey and provide food, but they do not produce milk or breastfeed their babies.
Only mammals do this. Other creatures, such as birds, lay eggs and feed on young regurgitated food or feed on prey, but only mammals have nipples and feed on the young milk they produce themselves.
They do this because babies are often born without the instinct to find their own food, so they must continue to be cared for.
In most cases, their stomachs are not developed enough to handle solids, so they have to survive on breast milk until they are big enough to handle actual food.
Turtles are nothing like this – their young hatchlings have an instinct to hunt and find their own food.
This causes the mother to stay meaningless. You don’t need a mother to survive.
This can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around. After all, imagine having a baby, quickly getting up and out of the delivery room, finding a home and finding a job.
Of course this is not possible. Human babies are not strong or mature enough to support themselves, so they are dependent on their mothers.
Baby turtles are not helpless. They don’t need their mothers for protection or food. Therefore, it is pointless for a mother turtle to have nipples or produce milk when the baby is already strong enough to find food for herself.
Conclusion
Therefore, even if a turtle removes its shell, it does not have a pair of nipples anywhere on its body.
Turtles are reptiles, not mammals, and do not have mammary glands.
Baby turtles can hunt and eat a normal adult diet from the moment they are born, so there is no need to feed the young.
Therefore, the mother turtle only has to lay her eggs in a safe place and move on. A mother is not necessary for a baby’s survival.
In fact, turtles can lay up to 100 eggs, making it almost impossible to ensure the safety and survival of every child.
It is advisable for mothers to go ahead and lay another batch of eggs to ensure the survival of the species, as they are just wasting time trying to protect the babies they already had when there is little they can do. To do.
So when it comes to leaving unhatched eggs behind, the mother turtle is neither cold nor alert.
This is just part of the breeding cycle that maximizes every turtle’s chances of survival.