Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, with one of my old timers, there are some out of place whitish patches on his plastron. Some of these I was able to peel off with my fingernail, and underneath that the shell seems healthy looking. I also noticed this around one of the holes in his carpace, but only around that hole. What are your thoughts on that?

Second, I have three cluthes of two eggs apiece all laid by the same female incubating in the soil in their pen now. Next week will be the 2 month mark for the first cluth, so I'm expecting soon. This'll be my first time for babies, so....

What light bulb would you recomend for these little guys inside?

What temperature should they be held at?

What problems might arise when these babies come out, and what do I need to do to fix them?

Thanks in advance. Hope everyone is getting some healthy babies or just simply enjoying their old timers.

Mine usually hatch at around 55 days in a hovubator incubator. I once left half the eggs in the ground other half in the incubator, had the same hatch % so I now dig up all eggs to incubate. Once the yolk sac dries I put them in a 2 x 3 ft. cement mixing container with bed a beast wet to the point of standing water at one end.I put a plexiglass cover over top with holes for the light fixtures. I have a heat lamp and a uv light source that are kept on about 14 hours a day. At night no heat or light.( I figure in the wild they don't have a night time heat source). I throw bugs in every few days. Hardly ever see anyone eat, only lost 1 in 5 years. They stay in this set up until the following year then go outside.
Hope this helps,
Phil