Should I artificially incubate eggs of my star turtle

[Kinjal Thacker]

Hey guys,
Thanks a lot for help I think I over panicked my darling finally laid eggs two days back!
And that was the best sight. But now I want to know if I should take them out from soil and incubate artificially or not because the soil of my garden have became very hard! Need help

 

[wellington]

If it were me, I would.

 

[Kinjal Thacker]

If it were me, I would.

Can you suggest me how to do that? And what are cons of keeping them in soil.

 

[wellington]

I haven't hatched enough to help much. I have leopards.
What I have read is it takes longer when left in the ground. If the ground gets too hard, they could possibly not get to the top. Wild animals could dig them up. I have skunks that will dig up the nesting holes that were laid in. If I hadn't taken the eggs out, they would have got eaten. The temp and humidity can't be controlled.
All that is fixed done artificially.
I bought an incubater to hatch mine. Some people build their own or use a just a plastic box and put a bulb or some kind of heat source in or over it. I don't really know how to make one.

 

[wellington]

Others that have hatched many more then me can help further. @Markw84 @Tom

 

[Markw84]

Can you suggest me how to do that? And what are cons of keeping them in soil.

Here's a great post @Tom did on how to incubate:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

That will give you all you need to get them set up and incubating properly.

Although you do live in the tortoise's home range, the choices she had to lay her eggs are not necessarily what she whould have chosen in the wild. They can be quite picky and pay attention to slope and shading and exposure to the sun, etc, etc. Additionally, you need to protect the eggs from predators, possible flooding, and perhaps insects/ants. So probably best to dig up and incubate. Be sure to mark the eggs so you know the exact top and do not turn them as you handle them. Be careful to keep the orientation exactly as they were when you dig them up.