Eggs hatching day 47

[Cmramos856]

This is my first time hatching eastern box turtle eggs and wasn't an intended clutch. I am a ball python breeder so I have an incubator which is empty at the moment minus the 3 box turtle eggs. I found the eggs in my back yard when when pulling up plants (I have a pond an saw a box turtle just hanging around for a few days I had no problems we didn't bother it just let it do its thing so assuming box turtle eggs and when googling I believed box turtle eggs and I destroyed my garden so I didn't really wanna put them back I didn't know how far bown to bury them or anything like that and I'm a ball python breeder so I had an empty incubator and after doing some research I Incubated them on vermiculite at 84-85°f humidity has stayed steady at 78% they were found in June 22 and she showed up in our yard on June 20th that we noticed. Anyway one of the eggs has split in half and I can see the little baby in the egg I don't wanna open the incubator or bother the baby in fear of doing it harm. I've read it could take 60-90 days for these babies to harch which has me worried that it's way to soon. Please thoughts an opinion.


I wish I could have left them where they were but I honestly didn't know they were in the ground and didn't wanna bury them to deep or not deep enough as well as my garden floods horribly which is why we were digging it up to add some drainage. I decided to incubate to give them the best chance possible.

 

[zovick]

This is my first time hatching eastern box turtle eggs and wasn't an intended clutch. I am a ball python breeder so I have an incubator which is empty at the moment minus the 3 box turtle eggs. I found the eggs in my back yard when when pulling up plants (I have a pond an saw a box turtle just hanging around for a few days I had no problems we didn't bother it just let it do its thing so assuming box turtle eggs and when googling I believed box turtle eggs and I destroyed my garden so I didn't really wanna put them back I didn't know how far bown to bury them or anything like that and I'm a ball python breeder so I had an empty incubator and after doing some research I Incubated them on vermiculite at 84-85°f humidity has stayed steady at 78% they were found in June 22 and she showed up in our yard on June 20th that we noticed. Anyway one of the eggs has split in half and I can see the little baby in the egg I don't wanna open the incubator or bother the baby in fear of doing it harm. I've read it could take 60-90 days for these babies to harch which has me worried that it's way to soon. Please thoughts an opinion.


I wish I could have left them where they were but I honestly didn't know they were in the ground and didn't wanna bury them to deep or not deep enough as well as my garden floods horribly which is why we were digging it up to add some drainage. I decided to incubate to give them the best chance possible.

Can you tell if the amniotic sac has been broken open to allow the baby to get air? Can you see if the baby is breathing? If so, it is probably ready to hatch. If not, the egg may have split open from too much moisture.

Does what you see appear to be a fully formed and fully pigmented baby turtle? If it is not ready to hatch, the pigment may not be evident yet and the yolk sac may be as large or larger than the baby.

Can you post a photo or two? That would be helpful in determining what is happening.

 

[Len B]

When I was incubating eastern box turtle eggs 7 weeks was normal for hatching to start. Now I just leave them alone and let them hatch naturally in the ground where layed.

 

[Cmramos856]

Can you tell if the amniotic sac has been broken open to allow the baby to get air? Can you see if the baby is breathing? If so, it is probably ready to hatch. If not, the egg may have split open from too much moisture.

Does what you see appear to be a fully formed and fully pigmented baby turtle? If it is not ready to hatch, the pigment may not be evident yet and the yolk sac may be as large or larger than the baby.

Can you post a photo or two? That would be helpful in determining what is happening.

The sac has been broken I don't really see much yolk but I haven't really messed with the baby, it does looks like it's got color I can see some pattern on the shell. It is breathing and I can see it moving a little. I will post pictures tomorrow when I get home thank you

 

[zovick]

The sac has been broken I don't really see much yolk but I haven't really messed with the baby, it does looks like it's got color I can see some pattern on the shell. It is breathing and I can see it moving a little. I will post pictures tomorrow when I get home thank you

It sounds as though the baby is ready to hatch. It may already be out of the egg by the time you try to get a photo of it.