Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was moving some dirt yesterday with a loader and uncovered some turtle eggs. I think the are either softshell or RES eggs, I have both species living wild in my pond. My question is what temp do I incubate them? Also I know they need to be marked and placed in the incubator the same way but they had shifted before I saw them so I placed them with the air pocket up is that what I need to do? Thanks for the help.
Tim Adams

Hard to say. The shifting may have killed them your rotating them may have. On the other hand if they were freshly laid they may be alright. If they are very oblong they are most likely slider eggs. Don't give up hope and you don't have to mark them either. Just put them in a container with some moist vermiculite and bury so that 3/4 of the egg is in the moist vermiculite. Put the lid on the container and set them in an incubator or in area which will stay between 82-86 degrees. Once a week lift the lid and let air fresh air in. Do not give up on these eggs until they collapse and smell like ROTTEN.

Many times shifting or abruptly jostling eggs will kill the developing embryos but you should never automatically assume that this has happened. I have friend whose cat jumped up and landed right on her incubator knocking up side down and flipping on to the ground 6 fertile developing box turtle eggs. 5 out of the six hatch successfully and the sixth actually did not die from the accident because it was fully developed it just died right before hatching.

Good luck.

Thanks! They must be softshell egg because they look like little ping pong balls maybe a little smaller. When I found them some were broke and I could see they were fresh layed and not developed just yoke.

Yep sounds like softie eggs to me. They were either fairly fresh eggs or infertile ones. Either way give a go and keep us posted on the progress. Good luck.