Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've got a clutch of 3 box turtle eggs in my outdoor enclosure...not sure when they were laid but I found them about a month ago. I uncover them (very carefully!) every once or twice a week jsut to have a peek and make sure they are ok, then cover them back up. Today I uncovered them and saw a small amount of what i'm pretty sure is egg-white on the top of one egg (about a 1/8 tsp)but no hole or crack that I could see...has anyone seen this before? i have hatched eggs indoors in previous years but without great success...only 5 live births out of 12 eggs brought indoors so I decided to leave mother nature alone this time..but i've never seen one ooze before. would appreciate any opinions. thanks.

I have seen the albumin from a box turtle egg ooze out of a pinhead size hole in eggs I incubated inside. It doesn't mean the egg is dead however if it is close to hatchling anyways. Only time will tell.

If you can Leave the eggs along till you see hatchlings above ground. Digging up the ground like that can change the humidity around the eggs and that could cause problems. Also other animals are attacked to dirt that's been disturbed. They think, "what's under there?"
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

I incubate all mine inside (that I can find anyway) and usually droplets of moisture appear on top of the egg about 12 hours before the baby pips, happened today as a matter of fact. I noticed the moisture on an egg this morning and by 8 pm the baby's head was out.

I would keep a close eye on the site and once you know it has pipped, bring it inside, still in the egg and make a nest of damp paper towels in a small container. If you can do anything to protect the site, do it. I found out too late that I had a clutch of ornate eggs in my pen that I was unaware of.
I started finding empty egg shells and strange tunnels about an inch or two below ground, I finally found one baby that was out of the egg prematurly and a piece of a tiny plastron.
I brought the baby inside, he was alive, but died after a few hours. I am pretty sure that shrews, that I had seen in the woods adjacent to our property, found the nest.

not to worry, they have been fenced in and well protected from the other digging boxies, and there are not any shrews or voles around...mostly what I find in past ruined eggs that i come across are tiny white worms that seem to have attacked the baby inside. I checked them again today and there is now a teeny tiny but at least visible now hole in teh top from which the fluid is oozing. i will probably take your advice tho and bring just that one in just because i cant stand the suspense!

I probably would bring it in at this point, I've never had any problem carefully moving an egg, once hatching has started. I try to hold the egg more on the sides and try not to put too much pressure on the underside of the egg where the yolk sac is. Good luck and keep us posted!