Reptile & Amphibian Forums

NP

My lone egg was due to hatch yesterday, 60 days from when it was layed on June 6th. Still, nothing. I looked at it with a flashlight last night and saw the little guy move, so I know he/she is still o.k. I just have to be patient, which is difficult.

Plenty of eggs this year, no hatchlings yet.

Unless you count the 3 River Cooters that hatched out of eggs that were salvaged from a road-kill adult female.

2 hatched in June.
2 hatched a few days ago.
I think the first 2 are from my florida.
the latest 2 have not been willing to come up yet.
Well, yep I have peeked.
Moved them into their own place so I got to see them
I don't think their eyes are open, but that might be anthrowhatchamacalit on my part.
I had all 5 (last years' 3toed) in the same box.
Now the 3 toed and the two june babies are in it and boy are they agressive with each other.
The 2 youngsters are just as likely to steal a worm out of the mouth of the 1 year old as from each other.
ARe floridas normally more agressive?
here is the shot that I posted earlier of those 3.
I will post the newbys soon.
/p

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Patsy

Awesome, Patsy.

Yes, in my experience, Florida box turtle hatchlings are more aggressive...and flighty.

I have several dozen box turtle eggs. The Deserts were laid first and should all hatch next week. The various other box turtles should start the week after that. I will have hatchlings emerging into the winter...it has been a crazy year. I just had a female Eastern lay her first nest two days ago!!! This is by far the latest Eastern nest I've had in over 20 years of breeding, by almost two months!! Craziness! Hopefully this nasty drought will end.

The NA Wood turtle eggs have all hatched.

so Ken, this is not normal?
I mean the winter hatch bit?

what would they do in nature?
Just stay under until spring?
How would they last that long?

I am pretty sure that the one that I kept last spring is a 3 toed. v different in color and shell shape.that is the larger one in my post above.

Here is something that I have noticed. my hatchlings gobble up the red worms. my adults will only eat the large earth worms that I dig up. And I have to be distant.

can't wait to see your hatchling pix.
gotta go - Mr Wonderful wants to Flowbie my hair.
/p
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Patsy

Well, 65 days and my box turtle egg shows no sign of hatching. At what point should I get worried? Have other people had eggs that have incubated this long?

Keep in mind that incubation times can vary considerably and are associated with incubation temperatures.

Eggs incubated at higher temperatures result in shorter incubation period, lower temps, longer periods.

60 days is merely an average.

Also, remember that there are variations from one egg to the next, even if the eggs are in the same clutch. Based on my own observations, it is not unusual for eggs from the same clutch, and incubated at the same temperatures, to hatch out over the course of a week.

Another word of advice: consider refraining from candling the eggs at this late stage. The light can make a hatchling 'flinch', and pip through the egg prematurely enough to doom the baby.

Thank you for the reassurance and advice. I will patiently wait and leave the little guy alone.

O.K., my egg has been incubating for 68 days now. When I looked at it this morning, the sides seem to be bulging out, like the little guy is running out of room in there. At what point should I start to worry?

Not yet! Eggs can nearly double in diameter prior to hatching.

At what temperature are they incubating?

This is my first clutch and I only have one egg; the other 4 totally collapsed and deteriorated.
I put them on a bed of of potting soil and vermiculite in a covered plastic shoebox with air holes in the lid. So, to answer your question, I don't know the temperature.
I'm guessing by your response that it is a good sign that the egg seems to be getting fatter and rounding out more and more each day?

Be patient...you're still well within a normal range. And yes, I have seen some eggs become almost completely round prior to hatching. Something that you can be on the look out for is droplets of moisture (looks like condensation) on the eggshell. Frequently, eggs will 'sweat' prior to pipping.
When I see that happen here, I can pretty much count on pipping to occur within 24 hrs.

Oh, maybe that is what I thought was "leaking" from my first hatching egg?

>>Be patient...you're still well within a normal range. And yes, I have seen some eggs become almost completely round prior to hatching. Something that you can be on the look out for is droplets of moisture (looks like condensation) on the eggshell. Frequently, eggs will 'sweat' prior to pipping.
>>When I see that happen here, I can pretty much count on pipping to occur within 24 hrs.
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Patsy

Possibly.

Hello again,
The egg starting leaking fluid through a tiny little tear on top, we noticed this Friday at about 2:30 p.m. The leaking went on for about a day and since then there has been no change. It seems that the little tear has sealed up due to the fluid sitting on top of the egg. Now what should happen? This process sure takes a long time.

Two eggs and no hatchlings yet. Due the 2nd week of Sept.

Just these two I posted earlier.

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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

have 6 eggs in the incubator ready any day,with 1 maybe 2 clutches I missed(was on vacation)saw the girls moving around the day before I left, and found a test hole when I came back. I looked at all the spots I thought were good spots but came up empty.

Phil