Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I volunteer at a local Nature Preserve. We went out to fix up one of the trails today. There was a pile of mulch at the end of the trail that we were shoveling into a wheelbarrow then dumping along the trail and raking it smooth. Part way in someone picked up something that looked like a small ping pong ball from the mulch pile. Someone else said it was a Snapping Turtle Egg. There was one section in the pile that had several eggs together, but the rest seemed surprisingly scattered throughout the pile which we thought was strange. I know nothing about Snapping Turtles, but I breed Leos and know that to turn a Leo egg is to drown the baby, so I was trying to tell everyone not to turn them when they picked them up. Even though we were being as careful as possible, many of the eggs were already dented before we picked them up. You can see the dents in the picture. Does this mean the eggs are not good? Is there any hope that any of these eggs might have survived their ordeal and might actually hatch? We piled them up at the side of the trail and covered them with mulch. Here is a pic I took of some of them. There ended up being over 30 all together. There are also Painted Turtles and they have seen a Red Eared Slider even though they are not supposed to be native to our area. But someone in the group seemed sure these were Snapper eggs. I've never seen a turtle egg so was of no use in identifying them.

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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Ripley) coming soon!
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.6 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Nala, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)

they are snapper eggs. if they might hatch.
CrazyCody

What the hell are you talking about? "they are snapper eggs. if they might hatch". Crazy cody you are one of the dumbest people I have ever had the misfortune of coming across on the internet.

Bill T.

For some strange reason I feel the need to intervene and tell you what an ass you are, repturd. Ohh man, so this person doesn't spell so great. Who are you to insult him and try to make the person feel bad? I personally think it's a misfortune that there are people who act like you.

eyed ruthur b a baad spellur then a meen sun of a biitch

For some strange reason, davidd, I feel the need to tell you how much a queer you are. You need to mind your own damn business unless you two are gay faggotass lovers and you are trying to stick up for him. I'll tell you what slick, I'm in northern LA (Shreveport). Anytime you plan on coming around here, holler at me and we can settle this you little [bleep].

Bill

This is what i'm talking about buddy. I didn't say anything bad about your personally. It's how you act and treat others that I find offensive.. This whole, "i'm from LA, let's meet so we can settle this in person", bullspit makes me laugh. I thought maybe you were an adult, but now i'm thinking you're just some teenage brat with an attitude problem.

Anyhow, this forum isn't for conversations like this.. i'm sorry everyone, i can't help but argue with children because I have somewhat of an adolescent mind myself

Cheerios,
David

First, davidd, I'm not your buddy. Second, it might make you laugh because that is your instinct so you won't cry because you know I'll beat the living hell out of you. Third, I am not a kid, I'm 42 so you can take your cheerios and shove them up your ass.

Bill

You live in a dream world. Probably one where there is no such thing as assault and battery, LOL. Last thing i'm going to say to you because I don't think you're worth my time anymore. If are are 42, you set a sad example for the children out there, and I pray you don't have any of your own.

Take care!
David

Those are snapping turtle eggs. Good job on finding them and telling people to not turn them.

As far as the dents, it's normal to find eggs like that. What you can do is get some peat moss (or bed a beast, same thing) and moisten it so that it clumps together but isn't completely soaked. Next put the eggs into the peat moss and put a small loose covering of peat moss over them. This aids in moisture uptake by the eggs as well as keeping fungus at bay.

Good luck with the eggs, most of them look good.
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Jeff H.
http://www.jandsherps.com
http://www.pareptile.org

Thank you both. I don't know when I'll be back to visit them (they are in a nature preserve about 1/2 hour away). Not sure if they want me bringing in any of my own stuff for them, they have very strict rules about bringing stuff in and taking stuff out. We covered the eggs with the same mulch that they were originally laid in. I was surprised at the size of the eggs, they were so big! That had to be a pretty big turtle to have laid over 30 eggs that size! And I read that they can lay even more than that! I can't wait to see one in the wild. I've seen the painted turtles out sunning on logs, but haven't seen the snappers yet.
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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Ripley) coming soon!
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.6 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Nala, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)