So my brother has several turts and torts. think he has hermann's, three toe's, and ornates if I'm not mistaken. anyway for a while hes been trying very hard to get eggs and i came home tonight and he was all happy to find ornate eggs. however he has said there are lots of different options online on how to care and hatch the eggs, i remember seeing alot of people on here having some so was wondering what you guys have had success with or have any helpful sites i can pass onto him.
who's got box turtles and has tips for breeding.
- Thread starter jamjam
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Here's a good site on incubation: http://aboxturtle.com/box_turtle_incubation.htm
You can incubate similar to chameleon eggs if you have an area with appropriate temperatures. Box turtles can be incubated temperature dependent to determine gender. Closer to 78 tends to produce males and 82 tends to produce females. Higher temps can jeopardize health and shell formation. In between tends to produce a mix of genders. I've hatched out a few clutches just having them in a Tupperware with vermiculite like cham eggs on top of my freezer because it stayed at a constant temp of about 80.
That site also has some good tips on raising hatchlings if he's successful. There's nothing cuter than baby box turtles!
You can incubate similar to chameleon eggs if you have an area with appropriate temperatures. Box turtles can be incubated temperature dependent to determine gender. Closer to 78 tends to produce males and 82 tends to produce females. Higher temps can jeopardize health and shell formation. In between tends to produce a mix of genders. I've hatched out a few clutches just having them in a Tupperware with vermiculite like cham eggs on top of my freezer because it stayed at a constant temp of about 80.
That site also has some good tips on raising hatchlings if he's successful. There's nothing cuter than baby box turtles!
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So the past week or 2 we've had some temperature issues and my brother had this feeling to check them today. (not usually a good idea we know) and one of the eggs was cracked open. And saw something moving in the dirt. And were like Wth is it, it's killing my eggs really wasn't that visible, low and behold was a little turtle. During all of this were freaking out and googling about premature hatching and stuff because my brother checked the turtle enclosure. On July 27 and did not find anything. And only actually noticed them sept 8 and here we are 2 weeks later with a turtle. We've decided to leave the other eggs as is and just deal with this one guy
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Awww! Congrats!! If the little one has a yolk sac still I'd keep him in a very humid warm enclosure (like a tupperware lined with moist paper towels on a heat source) until it absorbs so you can't see it anymore. You don't want that to dry out or get infected. These guys benefit from daily warm water soakings. They really want to hide when they're that small so make sure it has lots of areas to feel hidden and safe. And don't be surprised if it doesn't eat for a few weeks - they live off the yolk sac internally for the first few weeks of life and are very shy so won't eat in front of you. I put a lot of isopods (rolly pollies) and small earthworms in the enclosure with my hatchlings and finally that's what I saw them eating.
thanks ferret
yes he still has some of the sac left, he has already separated itinto a different container. think with some dirt. do you think paper towel will be better? he misted it well before hand. read about the hiding from the link you provided earlier. he has some moss i believe in there for it too hide, any other tip of have for it to hide. he didnt seem too shy when my brother first hand him in his hand was just nipping away at his hand lol. dont have easy access to isopods unfortunately. or at least i dont think. appreciate the help!
so went and talked to my brother and pass on what you had said, and he was a bit worried on how small the sac is, was looking at other pics of different turtles and tey were huge and often ugly looking and his is so little. think it still might be in the back of his head if this is an premature birth cause there is no way to tell when they were hatched! but really appreciates your help so far and anything else you may have to help
If the sac is small then it's less likely to be premature. A premature hatch will have a huge yolk sac - I've seen them as big as the whole turtle! Small yolk sac is better. My last two hatched with pretty much no visible yolk sac at all. There's still some internally even if you can't see it.
Sounds like that little guy was right on time then! Congrats!
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