Found an egg

[Twiggz]

I was checking on my outdoor setup for my three toe, when I came across an egg! I've had boxies when I was a kid and one for 20+ years, but this is the first time I've seen an egg. This boxie was donated to me about a year ago, by my friends girl friend. She decided she was keeping too many reptiles and was down sizing.

This is the egg I found:


Here is the kicker, She only had one turtle near her since I got her. That other one was a definite female. Is there any chance this could be fertile? I don't know the history before that other than she thought it was a male.

The other odd thing is the egg was on top of the dirt. No signs of nesting at all. I looked around, but nothing, no loose dirt at all. This one was just sitting toward the base of a bush in the enclosure by where she sleeps some nights. I moved the egg to a safe area and put a little loose moist dirt and leaf litter over it.

What does everyone suggest? If there is a possibility it fertile I'd like to do what I can to have it hatch. This is a first for me. Since my Red foots are only 2yo, I figured I had years before I had to research egg care.

 

[wellington]

Tortoises and turtles can retain sperm for 5-7 years, I think,the jury is still out on the exact time. If it were me, I would try to hatch it, can't hurt, right.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Eggs that are dropped and not buried/nested are seldom viable... but you can try.

 

[Twiggz]

Wow 5-7 years, thats amazing. Well its disappointing to hear that about dropped eggs. But what the hell, Ill try to set up an incubator.
About how long till you can see anything inside a fertile egg by candling? What does an egg smell like when it goes bad? LIke a bad chicken egg I assume?

 

[kimber_lee_314]

It probably isn't fertile, but I would try to incubate it anyway. You should be able to see something in about 10 days when candling. You will know if it goes bad. The egg will not be white - but more of a yellow color and then it will collapse. Sometimes they get moldy too. You probably won't smell anything unless it breaks open, Even then, I don't usually smell much with bad box turtle eggs. Good luck!

 

[Twiggz]

Well you were all correct about that dropped egg. It was a dud. It turned yellow and had no sign of anything inside after two months.

I found a second egg recently, and this one was in her hide and half buried in a hole she dug. She didn't cover it much, so I'm not getting my hopes up on this one either. I put it in the incubator and will keep my fingers crossed.