Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted below but decided to do a new topic and post a picture. My single box turtle egg has been incubating for 71 days now. Two days ago it leaked clear fluid out of the top but has now stopped leaking. Now I'm noticing a dent forming on the side and took a picture. Is this normal? What should I expect next? I hope the baby turtle is o.k., but I'm having my doubts.

It's hard to tell what's going on there, but it does look as though there is still a lot of yolk, which to me would indicate that the baby may not be sufficiently developed enough to survive.

I would not give up hope, however it is uncommon for an egg close to hatching to dent like that. In my cases the eggs seemed to get even bigger- I thought they would pop.

Hang in there and keep incubating until the egg colapses. Good luck! Tess
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

The egg did get much bigger last week, and then starting leaking clear fluid out the top, for two days.
After it stopped leaking, the dent formed. There has been no change since I posted the picture.
I will still continue to incubate and see what happens.
Thanks for the response.

Well, an update; the dent has now gone away.
We're at 74 days now, at what point do I give up? Maybe the turtle has died inside the egg and that's why nothing is happening.

From "North American Box Turtles":

'Literature records show a wide range of times needed for box turtle eggs to complete development (e.g. 69-136 days, Allard, 1948), but the temperature of the nest during incubation is not generally reported...Under laboratory conditions, T. carolina eggs take a mean of 73.6 days (range 68-81)to pip at 25C.'

You are still well within a normal range of incubation periods.

Yep, don't give up until it explodes, shrivels, smells or worms come out of it. That's my motto and I have seen some eggs hatch!

Be sure to keep the medium moist but not sloppy wet around the eggs, and don't pour water ON the eggs. Any pictures?
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

Well, after 90 days, the egg did start to shrivel and had the small dent in the side. I decided to open the egg and found the perfectly formed baby inside, dead.
The whole bottom of the inside of the egg was still yolk, I'm not sure why the little guy didn't absorb it and proceed to the hatching stage. We're so sad, I guess we'll have to hope for another chance next year.