Box turtle eggs need a home - Tampa, FL

[imclavijo]

Hello.. Im new to this site, so hopefully im posting in the correct area...
About a month ago, a box turtle laid 2 eggs in my plant bed and I have been reading on how to raise these little guys and it seems a little difficult and I dont want anything to happen to them because of ME.. iF ANYONE KNOWS ANYONE in the Tampa, FL area who can take the eggs and raise them.. please contact me. THANK YOU!!!

 

[Kristina]

At this point, if the eggs are moved, it will kill the embryo.

Please leave them be. Once the babies hatch, if they do hatch, you can find a home for them. However, they may very well be Florida box eggs, which are protected in your state and in that case it is illegal for you to disturb them at all. It is best to let nature run its course.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[imclavijo]

thank you for instructing me.. i need all the help i can get. the problem is that this is infront of my house and i have already seen some baby turtles that have been crushed by cars.. so i have put some bordering around the area in hopes that when they do hatch they dont go into the street. I actually saw the mom doing her thing and when she finished I took her to a pond behind my house.. for the same abvious reason. Would you suggest that I place the babies in the same pond once they hatch, or a few days after since I read that they feed for a week from their sac?

 

[Greg T]

If you are worried about the eggs, use some chicken wire and stakes to make an enclosure around the area that will keep critters out but the babies in and still allow sunlight. Keep the area moist and just wait to see what happens.

Once they appear, take them to a nice wooded area after a week or so once their egg sacs have disappeared. You just have to hope mother nature watches out for them once you let them go.

 

[Kristina]

If they are truly box turtles, then a pond is not the right environment. They live in damp wooded areas, but not directly in the water. If you place the babies in a pond they will most likely drown.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi imclavijo:

Can you describe for us what the mother turtle looked like?

Welcome to the forum!!

I agree with what Kristina has told you.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

WElcome.