Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Wednesday night my box turtle egg began hatching, then stopped. That was day 69 of incubation. Since then, the baby has just sat there in what's left of his egg with his eyes closed, not moving. If I watch closely I can see him taking breaths. Is something wrong or is he just resting? I can see a pretty big yolk sac under him so I haven't tried to move him or anything. I did remove the broken pieces of eggshell. His temp is 80-84 degrees with high humidity.

Should I be worried, or is this normal?

Most species of turtle take a long time to officially leave the egg. Don't move him yet. Keep him moist so he does not stick to the remaining egg shell. If the yolk sac is still big then he is not ready to completely leave it. Keep a close eye on him if you have any questions you can e-mail me at asafersound@hotmail.com

-Chris

The baby in question didn't make it. I'm not sure why. I have three more eggs due to hatch in August. Maybe these will do better. The first laying, I had no clue my turtle was gravid. Since then I've increased her supplements. I hope it will make a difference in her second clutch. I'll let y'all know. Thanks.

sometimes they dont make it, it can be caused by internal defects, or hatching premature, hope you have better luck next time.
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1.2.1 Terrapene Carolina Triunguis
0.1 Nymphicus hollandicus
1.1 Melopsittacus undulatus
1.0 American Cocker Spaniels
1.0 American Short Hair? Cat
1.1 Rouen Ducks

Sorry.... I just viewed your post.

For future reference you should check the baby that died. Was there any foreign matter in it's mouth? Did the egg shell come off incompletely leaving a band of egg shell around the young boxie? ( If a shell band is left on other siblings; it must be cut very carefully as the boxie's shell will be expanding into a constantly tighter ring.) Your humidity and temps were OK. It's possible there was a birth abnormality that upon hatchting proved to be a fatal flaw. Observe the other siblings cautiously.

Ric