Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today I checked my box turtle eggs and one from the first batch of 2 laid was split open and I could see a little turtle about half the size of a dime I removed the egg from the incubator so it wouldn't start to stink.What causes the eggs to split prematurely,the substrate is moist and the temp.is a steady 82 degrees. Is it something that could have been prevented,or is this a common problem? The other eggs look fine and I don't want this to happen to the other eggs.The baby looked well developed you could clearly see that it was a turtle.Any help would be appreciated,I only check the eggs about once a week.Considering the stage the turtle was at in the split egg,about how long do you think it will be before the other one will hatch barring any unforseen misfortunes? Thanks in advance jason mills

If you don't get a response, check the archives: I'm not sure what might have caused that to happen. Possibly too much moisture?
I had a premature baby hatch last year: another few days and it probably could have made it...
Its heartbreaking.
Stephanie

it sounds to me that there was nothing you could have done to prevent this. its a natural thing for not all of the eggs to hatch properly. to prevent this i think you would need to know that it was going to happen ahead of time (impossible) then you could have perhaps raised or lowered the tempature or moisture. it sounds to me though that it is just an act of nature, a flaw in an otherwise perfect means to propagate their species.

Thanks,at first I didn't think they were fertile,I picked her up on the interstate about a year ago,it's sad that the misfortune happend after being so close to hatching but it makes me happy knowing that the oter eggs are probably fertile.I'll post again if the others hatch,once again thanks for the support.