Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have four Eastern Painted Turtle eggs that I just found near a turtle who has been hit badly by a car. So, the mother is dead, and I have these four eggs. I have no experience with turtles, just snakes. I'm about to go see if I can find out info on how to care for the eggs, but could someone give me some advice? All the eggs are pretty white (though covered in dirt and a blood), about an inch long. To me they seem fertile, but how do I tell? I have them in moist paper towels right now, using distilled water, because I know that the eggs aborb things quickly. Somebody help?

Thanks,
Annie

Hi,

I'm sure somebody with more experience can expand but the basic thing to do if you want to incubate them is to place them on a bed of incubating medium like vermiculite or peat moss or peat moss plus sand, etc. Lay them halfway buried in the damp but not dripping wet medium inside a tupperware container/sweater box. Cover the top with a lid or plastic wrap and poke a few holes to allow ventilation. Keep things humid but watch out for mold. OH, and don't move the eggs (ie, rotate, shake, etc) once they're in the medium.

If you keep the temperature around high seventies or low eighties, I think they should be fine. Higher temps give mostly females while lower ones give mostly males. In between, and you'll get a mix of both.

Hope someone else can get into finer details but for now, you can try this.

Johnny