Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I haven't posted on here in quite a while, but I have a female box turtle that had been pacing all around the pen for a couple of days. I finally decided to just let her out to roam the yard for a while since I thought maybe the other boxies were bothering her. At any rate......she wound up in a bed where we have brocoli planted. She dug a deep hole and buried down in there. I just decided to leave her alone overnight. Yesterday a.m. I went out to check on her and she was still there, but was no longer buried. The spot where she had been was almost completely filled in and she was just sitting there looking at me.

I let her alone until in the afternoon and she was still in there. I gave her some food which she ate, and then I decided that maybe I should move her. I put her in a water dish and she soaked and drank then climbed out. She headed for one of the cubbies in the pen and I decided that maybe I should see if she wanted back to her spot in the brocolli bed. I put her there......she sat a few minutes and then left, so I put her back in the pen. Now I am stymied. I have no idea if I did right or not, but I figured that if she had buried the place she had been buried in over night that she had either laid eggs or just decided to fill in the hole. What do you think? I don't want to dig the place up, so I just put some mesh wire around the area so nothing, like Mr. T, could dig into the space.

I guess I just want to know your opinions as to whether or not she could have laid eggs. I have never seen her bury the area where she has herself been buried before. What do you think? Oh, sorry this is so long! .....9boxies

My thoughts are that she layed eggs. They pace when they are ready to lay and can't find a place that they find suitable for their eggs. Did she dig the hole with her back legs and have her bottom tucked down in there?

If you want to leave the eggs in the ground (if she layed eggs) then the best thing is to keep the wire cage over the nest and start looking for babies in a couple months.

You can dig them up if you want. It's not hard to hatch them on your own if you have the right temperature and don't let them dry out. I did it for the first time 10 years ago when I was only 14 years old and those babies are all grown up now. I enjoy watching them hatch so I dig them up. But they do require attention every day to make sure the conditions are right.

Good luck!

Hi 9boxies!

If I remember correctly, you keep desert box turtles. What you are describing is exactly how they typically lay eggs. Mine normally dig a form, sleep in it for a short while, and then turn vertical and begn to dig down into the bottom of it. A relatively small turtle can end up digging a hole that reaches 8 inches deep!

I would strongly recommend that you dig up the eggs. It is impossible to protect them against all predators...ants can be a big one. Plus, you wouldn't want the babies hatching out and escaping into the wild.

I'd be interested to know what you decide to do, and if you find anything. I'm only on here about once weekly now, but I'll check. Good luck!

I assume the garden you put her (outside the main pen) is still fenced in. If not, you are lucky she remained in the same area It sounds like she may have laid eggs since their instinct after laying eggs would be to return the nest site to its former appearance.

Unless you have skunks and raccoons coming to your yard regularly, the wire mesh should be enough to deter other turtles and feral cats from digging up the eggs. If you are concerned, please research online how to incubate the eggs. I have done it successfully, but have had as many failures as successes. It's best to buy an incubator as the eggs will remain at a stable temp and you can add moisture to the air by adding water in shallow pans. However, it takes time to buy and receive, as well as setting up and monitoring the temps before use, so maybe this clutch is better off in the ground. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
-----
Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info