Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my female started to dig around 7 last night, at midnight i finally went to bed, when i woke up her hole was filled in but when i went to dig out the eggs, i found none. I thought maybe it was a practice whole, but when i picked her up and felt around she was empty so im sure she laid them. Is it possible that she was up all night digging and at the crack of dawn another turtle woke up right when she was laying and ate the eggs?

thanks
Neil

I've had females dig and cover a nest without ever laying. And sometimes, if a female has a small clutch, towards the last few days you may not be able to palpate the eggs due to their position in her body. It's possible that another turtle ate the eggs, but you would probably see evidence. If they were snatched, I'd guess a raccoon, opossum, or large bird(crow are notorious for doing this). It would be a piece of cake for them to snatch eggs from a hole, but it would be nearly impossible for another box turtle to do this without making a mess! Also, I've watched box turtles over the course of a night dig a nest, cover it while empty, move over a foot or two, and lay a viable nest.

I hope you can solve the mystery...good luck!

thanks, the pen is screened in so im not worried about other animals, i guess im going to be doing lots of digging when iget home from work...

thanks for the input
neil

Oh yeah, one more thing...SHREW!!! These things are little beasts! They are small and can fit through a very minute space. Their metabolism is super high, and they are capable of eating many multiples times their weight in a few hours. I don't wish it on you, but I'd check for small holes leading into or out of the nest. The turtle may have accidentally hit a shrew highway.