Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Me again! My female is due to lay eggs at anytime now.

I have a Waterlandtub with the land area in sand. Will I clearly be able to see where she has layed her eggs? I have read that she will dig a 2" hole and lay 4 -6 eggs that are about 32 MM in size. I have also been told that I should remove them ASAP and set up an incubator with vermiculite in a plastic cup.

I would appreciate your comments. I want to do this right!

Hi Paul,
Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to your last post. I would take them out asap and place them in an incubator. 87 degrees would hatch all female spotteds. As for finding the eggs just watch her every night aroung the time the lights go out. I would place a one inch layer of top soil over the sand and when she digs she will dig up the sand and you will see where she laid.
Tom

Thanks for the reply. I am curious - why would you not just leave them in the sand and let nature take its course?

It would be hard to ensure the correct temp. and humidity.

Paul,
It is a few days after your post so she might have already laid the eggs, but here are a few more tips.

1. As soon as you dig the eggs out, mark the top of the egg with a pencil so you always know which is the top.
2. With a cotton ball (new one for each egg), carefully clean off each egg with a dilute chlorine solution. Mix 4 teaspoons of bleach with one gallon of clean water. Then use tissue paper to thoroughly dry off the egg. This process helps ward off any bacteria or fungus that might have been in the laying medium.
3. Place the eggs in tupperware containers with moist vermiculite. Equal parts of water to vermiculite by weight. You can use a basic pencil to puncture two holes in the lid of the container.
4. Spotted turtle eggs are temp dependent. In addition to what Spottedturtleman wrote, 22.5-27 C (72.5-80.6 F) should result in males, while 30-30.5 C (86-87 F) should produce only females. I wouldn't recommend higher than 30.5 C due to chance of scute abnormalities. Temperatures between 27-30 degrees C may result in a mixed clutch.
5. You shouldn't have to add any more water to the vermiculite, but keep a glass of water in the incubator to help maintain humidity.
6. Disturb the incubator as little as possible, but once to twice a week open, then close, the lid of eggs to "burp" them. It releases built up carbon dioxide and brings in fresh oxygen. Be mindful of the condensation on the inside of the lid when removing it so you don't accidently drench the eggs. You can just let the water run off back into the vermiculite.

Good luck and you should see hatchlings in anywhere from 1.5-3 months.

-JG