A painted turtle was hit by a car in front of my house, so of corse I went to get it out of the road and I saw eggs were coming out of it. I moved the body and looked it all over. Eww! I managed to save three unbroken eggs. heres my question... What do I do with them? I want to hatch them if I can, then I can releace them safely in the river after. Has anyone here ever done this? I dont know anything about turtles. I did some internet recearch and found that they are laying now, so the eggs are probably fertle.
turtle eggs
- Thread starter mdo135
- Start date
Unfortunately these eggs probably won't hatch. Reptiles form to the side walls of the egg and upon turning or rolling them are ripped away damaging blood vessels etc. Due to the trauma of their mother being hit they are probably dead in the egg. Sorry to bring bad news but just thought I should let you know. I applaud your efforts however. I do know that in stages of early development they can be turned so there is however a slight chance they will make it. I've never hatched turtle eggs so I can't really give any advice except don't turn them or move them anymore than necessary and check out Kingsnake.com for additional info.
Well now that you have them place them in some damp vermiculite, inside a small plastic tub. You can use an adjustable under-tank heater and incubate them at about 84°F (29°C) for 60-80 days. If available, you can use a chicken incubator which work great. Warmer temps will produce females and lower temps with create males. Good luck with your eggs, it's nice to hear that you want to give them a fighting chance!
well I've got them burried shallow in some damp, loose dirt in a plastic tote. I stole my lizzards heating pad,
he'll be fine without it for a few weeks. (he has a light too) thats keepin them plenty warm. I doubt they'll hatch but its worth a try. I live in the woods so I am kind of an animal freak. I have helped or saved all kinds of wild animals before but this is my first turtle project!
For those interested I'll keep you posted!
he'll be fine without it for a few weeks. (he has a light too) thats keepin them plenty warm. I doubt they'll hatch but its worth a try. I live in the woods so I am kind of an animal freak. I have helped or saved all kinds of wild animals before but this is my first turtle project!For those interested I'll keep you posted!
Yeah, definitely keep us posted. I did this with some gecko eggs before, it's amazing when they hatch. Good luck with everything.
sounds like your on your way to incubating these lil turts...you can always try a light test with a flashlight or so and see if you can tell if they are still attached to the wall of the egg...def keep us posted...i hope they make it
I held them up to a light today, and theres deffenitly turtles in two of them, one is all dark so idk about that one. The shell walls are begining to cave in though, they have like small dents in them. Does this mean their dead or is that normal?
ok now one egg has shrivled up like a raisin, and the other two still seem to be caving in, is that normal?
