Box turtle egg has dent on side, close to hatch date

shallynblair

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Hello! Looking for advise… I have 4 hybrid box turtle eggs in the incubator (three toed/Eastern). Incubator has been set to 84 degrees F, humidity has been about 78% this entire time. I’ve had successful hatches in the past, but this time one egg out of the three has a dent on its side. Today is day 48 they’ve been incubating. All the eggs show life inside when candled. I have heard that sometimes eggs will dent when they’re close to hatching… anyone else have this experience? If so, how long did it take for the baby to hatch once the dent appeared? This particular egg has been dented for 2 days now. The other three are normal in appearance. None have started sweating yet. I’m just anxious and a bit nervous because I hope the baby is ok inside. Thanks for your input!
 

ZenHerper

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Doesn't look too bad. If you see a body inside and your environment checks out, stay the course.

Note: perlite is not preferred...it seems to resemble egg shell too much and sometimes hatchlings eat pieces (that can't get through the wee digestive organs). Vermiculite (the brown stuff) works just as well.

Let us know how everything comes out!
 

shallynblair

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Doesn't look too bad. If you see a body inside and your environment checks out, stay the course.

Note: perlite is not preferred...it seems to resemble egg shell too much and sometimes hatchlings eat pieces (that can't get through the wee digestive organs). Vermiculite (the brown stuff) works just as well.

Let us know how everything comes out!
Thank you so much for your reply!
the medium product I’m using is Lugarti’s Premium reptile medium. From the different products I’ve tried thus far, this one maintains best humidity entire length of incubation. Then when I notice turtles hatching, I place them in different container with wet paper towels so they don’t eat the medium. But yet, I like to continue trying other mediums that are better, I will take your advise if I have another clutch!
I will keep you updated on my “dented egg”.
??
 

Jan A

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Thank you so much for your reply!
the medium product I’m using is Lugarti’s Premium reptile medium. From the different products I’ve tried thus far, this one maintains best humidity entire length of incubation. Then when I notice turtles hatching, I place them in different container with wet paper towels so they don’t eat the medium. But yet, I like to continue trying other mediums that are better, I will take your advise if I have another clutch!
I will keep you updated on my “dented egg”.
??
Welcome to the forum!! Good luck with your babies to be.
 

shallynblair

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Update: today is day 49. The dent in the egg I mentioned is now a much more pronounced dent, and I noticed a second egg starting to dent in a little as well. Other two appear normal. No pipping yet that I can see! I’m really hoping this is a sign they are hatching soon!! It amazes me how different each clutch can be, I never had this denting issue last year with my babies.
 

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ZenHerper

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Make sure your analog hygrometer is working properly - if it is a good-quality unit, there will be a wee adjustment screw on the back:


(Nothing like a project to take your mind off things...lol)
 

zovick

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Thank you so much for your reply!
the medium product I’m using is Lugarti’s Premium reptile medium. From the different products I’ve tried thus far, this one maintains best humidity entire length of incubation. Then when I notice turtles hatching, I place them in different container with wet paper towels so they don’t eat the medium. But yet, I like to continue trying other mediums that are better, I will take your advise if I have another clutch!
I will keep you updated on my “dented egg”.
??
This is just my opinion for whatever it is worth. 49 or 50 days seems early for those eggs to begin hatching. Most of my Box Turtle eggs have taken 65 days or thereabouts to hatch and have not dented unless too dry, at which point, I have taken corrective action to get rid of the dents by providing more moisture.

If that dented egg were in my incubator, I would suspect it was too dry and would sprinkle it with water daily until the dent was gone. Another option is to put the egg on a wet paper towel to let it absorb moisture.

Good luck!
 

shallynblair

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I recently just hatched some and experienced the same thing. You should expect something within the next five or so days.
Thank you soooo much for your reply! This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I could only find a few other sources online that mentioned this being a normal thing. The suspense is killing me! ???.
 

shallynblair

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OK, we're all gathered around to watch...............

.......................

......................

lol this is like waiting for H2O to boil!

you've GOT to post when they come!!

jeff
I totally will post! Today is day 50 for them, but still no action. I will open their container lid for some air circulation and try to candle them and make sure they’re ok. But no pipping yet that I can see. The waiting is torture! ?
 

TammyJ

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Hope you made it a bit more moist as Zovick had suggested yesterday, thinking it was rather early yet.
 

shallynblair

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Hope you made it a bit more moist as Zovick had suggested yesterday, thinking it was rather early yet.
Hello! Yes I did add a bit more moisture, they all look fine. Several sites I have found mentioned that eggs incubated at 84 degrees have hatched between 45-55 days, which I also thought was early. My clutch last year took 70 days, but I had heat set to 80 degrees. So I’m interested to see how much sooner they could hatch with a temp that is a bit warmer. Only difference I can note is these little dents in two of the eggs, but some people have said this was a normal thing. It’s new to me! I very much appreciate the advise on this site from all you experienced turtle lovers!!
 

shallynblair

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This is just my opinion for whatever it is worth. 49 or 50 days seems early for those eggs to begin hatching. Most of my Box Turtle eggs have taken 65 days or thereabouts to hatch and have not dented unless too dry, at which point, I have taken corrective action to get rid of the dents by providing more moisture.

If that dented egg were in my incubator, I would suspect it was too dry and would sprinkle it with water daily until the dent was gone. Another option is to put the egg on a wet paper towel to let it absorb moisture.

Good luck!
Hi Zovick, I followed your suggestion and added some moisture to help the humidity. I’m only suspecting they’re close to hatching based off some other sites I’ve read that said eggs can hatch at 45-55 days if incubated at 84 degrees. I’m curious if mine will follow suit! But yes, I’m used to it taking more like 70 days. As soon as I see any sign of hatching I’ll let you all know! ??
 

zovick

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Hello! Yes I did add a bit more moisture, they all look fine. Several sites I have found mentioned that eggs incubated at 84 degrees have hatched between 45-55 days, which I also thought was early. My clutch last year took 70 days, but I had heat set to 80 degrees. So I’m interested to see how much sooner they could hatch with a temp that is a bit warmer. Only difference I can note is these little dents in two of the eggs, but some people have said this was a normal thing. It’s new to me! I very much appreciate the advise on this site from all you experienced turtle lovers!!
Again, just my opinion. I don't think that a temperature increase of 4 degrees would reduce the incubation time by three weeks. That is a 30% reduction in incubation time brought about by a mere 5% temperature increase.

It seems too much of a change in incubation time for such a small temperature increase.

Either way, I will be interested to learn when the eggs do hatch. Also it will be interesting to learn if the increased incubation temperature causes you to get any split/abnormal scutes.
 

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