Help please- RES laid eggs, now what?

[jensgotfaith]

I knew it was bound to happen. My RES just laid eggs. I got some of them out of the water, careful to not change their position. I caught some of them in my hand- that was quite the experience. They are oblong and some have a dent in them. I read off of redearslider.com that I need to get a plastic shoebox and drill holes for ventilation and fill it with a couple of inches of vermiculite-any clue where I can pick some up tonight? Do I keep it heated with a CHE? ANY advice is welcome! Thank you so much in advance!!! My son was so excited- she is his turtle. He is 8 years old and was talking in a super high pitched excited voice "It's the circle of life of nature!" Just about the cutest thing I've ever heard.

 

[Len B]

Hello Jenni, Has she been with a male? If not the eggs are infertile. Len

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Congrats, however if they were laid in the water chances are they have probably drowned already.

Do you have another turtle with her? I don't see where you mention anything on it. If not, they are not going to be fertile anyway.

 

[dmmj]

eggs laid in water are usually dead after they hit the water, the embryo drowns, you can incubate them if you want, but don't get your hopes up.
Good luck though, with them.

 

[Laura]

sounds like she needs a habitat where she can come out to land and lay.. any chance of eg bound if she cant lay normally? sounds like she did anyway... but no male?

 

[jensgotfaith]

Yes there is a male. Some friends of ours no longer wanted theirs and gave it to us- I know for sure it's a male. We haven't had him that long and I hadn't had a chance to build a habitat for her to come out and lay yet. I've got the plans, but just didn't have a chance to build it yet. I never saw them doing the deed, but I also work full time too. If the eggs are laid in water, is it usually right after they hit the water or is there a time frame when they drown?

 

[dmmj]

It is usually right after I am talking like seconds usually, but I have heard of people incubating ones layed in water before, but those are rare.
Like I said it couldn't hurt if you wanted to incubate them.

 

[dmarcus]

All the experts correct me if I am wrong, but if she got the eggs just as they were laid and only spent seconds in the water and were quickly remove they should be okay? I would think a second or 2 would not be enough to cause them to drown, just a question I have..

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It is usually right after I am talking like seconds usually, but I have heard of people incubating ones layed in water before, but those are rare.
Like I said it couldn't hurt if you wanted to incubate them.

Looks like you answered my question as I was asking...

 

[jensgotfaith]

So it looks like most of them will not hatch because I know they were in the water longer than a second or two. However, there may be a chance for a few of them because she laid them in my hand. She was on one of the basking rocks and was laying the eggs into the water when I saw her and started catching and putting them in a box. She laid a total of 13.

 

[Len B]

You really don't need verimiculite, any soil that will retain moisture will work.I mix my own, peat, sand, leaf mulch, what ever you have handy.I don't drill holes in the top, but on the sides near the top. I think you get better circulation that way, and also I leave mine outside and the rain water can't fill the container. As for heat I don't use any extra I let nature do it. RES eggs are not like tortoise eggs they are more tolerant of temp and moisture variances.Good Luck Hope they hatch for you and your son. Len

 

[jensgotfaith]

So I got the box, vermiculite and drilled holes and placed them in the box. From what I've read it takes like 60-90 days, so I'll keep an eye on them a couple times everyday and we'll see. Len- do you keep the substrate moist or just let it be?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jenni:

Its a wonderful experience to share with kids. They get a lot out of it. (egg laying/hatching) But now I'm going to be the nay-sayer.

Unless you have a large outlet for finding homes for lots of red ear babies, you might give some thought to re-homing one of the turtles so you can break up the set. I have had to start telling people that I don't take in water turtles any more. I was getting too many RES and have been unable to find good homes for them.

 

[jensgotfaith]

I completely understand Yvonne. I had been thinking about that. When we were given the male it was from a friend's grandkids who got it from who knows where- they just kept saying a friend gave it to them. I didn't know the gender until I came home from work and they'd already dropped him off. When I saw him I was like "uh-oh, this will be interesting. So, with that being said, we are trying to figure out a different set-up for the turtles without spending a fortune. So we'll see, but you're so right. While it would be cool to hatch a couple of babies, I don't want to end up with more than I can handle. Thank you so much for your honesty you fabulous nay-sayer! I truly value your input.