Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This past winter I have 3 females and 2 males hibernating indoors. I check on them every other day or so and about once a month I get them up and offer water and food. They don't usually eat anything but do like to soak and get a big drink of water and will stay in for about 20 minutes before going back to bed. Well today checking on my females I found an egg, 1 egg full size but deflated, partially collapsed. This is the female that last summer had been hit by a car and still laid 5 eggs over a three week period. Three of those eggs were damaged and the last 2 incubated and came up blank. I figure she will be ok next spring for matting, but this last episode has me confused. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

Alan

Alan,
How much injury did she sustain from being hit by a car? How long after being hit by car did she lay those eggs? The egg you found could be an old- pre hibernation egg that you just found. Or it could be that the temps you have the turtles in are not at a true hibernation temps and therefore it may still be possible for her to produce and lay an egg. What is the temp? A trully hibernating turtle should not be feed.
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

Thank you for the response, this female laid 3 eggs within 2 weeks after of being hit by a car. When we received her that same evening she let out a lot of blood mucus out her back end and mouth, I thought she was going to die but for reason unknown to me she survived and laid 2 more egg a month later. I have a friend who is a veterinarian assistant and incubates the eggs of turtles, snakes and other reptiles; he incubated those last two eggs which came up blank. Fast forward to fall season, I live in northeast Ohio close to Lake Erie, I have 4 turtles I hibernate in the house and since it's not a true hibernation they sleep for several weeks at a time. When one or another of the turtles shows signs of activity walking around or getting a drink of water I offer then food. They don't always eat, usually go back to bed. This particular female had been sleeping for over 8 weeks and when I checked on her there was 1 full size egg slightly damaged like she walked or sat on it. I'm wondering too if this was a left over egg from earlier time. At any rate anxious to see if she mates ok and lays eggs.

Thanks Alan

Alan, it sounds like you are saying this turtle's injuries were quite serious. Is she using all her legs normally? Was any part of her shell broken? Is her hinge intact, or broken? Was she nicked by a car, compressed by a car on a dirt road? What?

Can you give her a break from mating for a whole year to be sure nothing is seriously wrong. She will lay eggs anyway since she likely has a supply of stored sperm within her, but she should be spared the stress of mating. A HBC turtle needs time to heal and mating should be avoided until you know the extent of any internal injuries.

This female was found on a rural road in an area that had a 6 inch curb on a downhill area, from what I was told, believe it or not a deputy sheriff saw her bounce off a car tire against the curb like a pinball. When he went back she was trying to get up the curb but part of her front foot was missing form a long ago injury. He, the sheriff, got out and picked her up and he said all kind of liquids and mucus drained out of her. When we got her we left her alone for a day then offered food and water which she ignored. This is when my wife felt for eggs and another wave of blood and mucus came out of her again. Since that incident she has slowly returned to normal in regards to eating and drinking. She has eaten worms, assorted fruits and she loved corn, couldn’t get enough. The area she was found in is where a lot of corn is grown. I kept her separated from my boys and she seemed quite content right up to when we hibernated our turtles. In other word the egg in the middle of winter confused me. Right now she sleeps with another female.

Alan

Sounds like she had a pummelling, but luckily no shell damage. Still could have had some kind of internal injury- from the bloody discharge that occured it seems like it is possible. I would not mate her this year so any internal injuries will have time to heal. She could have had an egg that broke inside her.

It sounds like she is making a nice recovery, but please give her plenty of time to recouperate from the accident.
Tess

Thanks for the info and supportive concerns, sorry for late responce been out of town

alan