indoor boxies - eggs in january question

[earthyman71]

hello all!

i found a great trio of 3 toeds for sale last fall from a long-time owner, acquired them, and to my surprise today when cleaning their indoor pen and moistening their substrate i uncovered 3 eggs. so exciting! i'm not sure how long they've been there (at most two weeks as i did a full substrate change two weeks ago - i've noticed a tendency in my russians to lay eggs post substrate changes or having it moistened.)

at any rate, i live in the northeast, it's winter and the boxie pen has a t-rex 100 w on it 14 hours a day. house temps are probably around 67.

not sure if i should just leave the eggs be and see what happens (keeping the substrate moist of course!) or haul out the incubator and fire it up. (these are my first boxie eggs!)

i know about diapause in turtle eggs - not sure if these have even started developing yet or might be lost causes due to temps.

anyone with experience with this - your sharing the most logical next step would be great!

and hearing from anyone who's had "natural" hatch outs inside would be good too

thanks! sean

 

[Len B]

Hay Sean, I have never had eggs in January but I have had them late in the fall or laid in a unsafe place where I was afraid to leave them to hatch on their on so I used a plastic shoe box type container, drilled 1/8 inch holes around the tops of the sides (no holes in the top) and used a moisture holding substrate and set it on top of the fridge or upright frost free freezer to get the heat off it. Mine produce enough heat to hatch box, red ear, snapper, and northern red belly turtles, which I have done several times over the years.If the top of either the fridge or freezer is to hot I layer newspaper under the box until a good temp is reached. Len

 

[earthyman71]

thanks len!! i just might try that as i've heard a simiar story or two. i'm also inclined to leave them be as i've read that boxies in the wild can lay in september. the eggs must winter out somehow i'd imagine through diapause. cross your fingers for me whichever way i go! i also saw my russians start digging too. the challenge of indoor torts and turtles! (it beats potentially getting eaten by raccoons in the city though!)

 

[tortoises101]

thanks len!! i just might try that as i've heard a simiar story or two. i'm also inclined to leave them be as i've read that boxies in the wild can lay in september. the eggs must winter out somehow i'd imagine through diapause. cross your fingers for me whichever way i go! i also saw my russians start digging too. the challenge of indoor torts and turtles! (it beats potentially getting eaten by raccoons in the city though!)

All the best to you. I believe that the boxies which lay eggs in September are the mainly the Florida/Gulf Coast boxies, as those two species are the farthest south and most don't hibernate in the winter. Desert, ornate, eastern, and three toed boxies in the southern part of their range may also lay eggs later than summer.

 

[terryo]

My Eastern's always laid in late Spring or early Summer. I never took any eggs in, but found small babies the following Spring. It always amazed me how they over wintered outside and made it OK.

 

[tortoises101]

My Eastern's always laid in late Spring or early Summer. I never took any eggs in, but found small babies the following Spring. It always amazed me how they over wintered outside and made it OK.

I know of a boxie keeper in Texas who experienced a really bad heat wave in 2010. The temps were soaring above 110F and the boxies we left alone in their outdoor pen under the sun. Then when he realized, he drove back home and found that they were all gone. But guess where? 8 inches under a mulch pile.

It's really surprising how resilient they are to outdoor changes and how sensitive they are to our screw-ups.

 

[earthyman71]

thanks terryo and tony! i incubated about 12 russian eggs with little success last year (following incubation instructions to the letter). so i'm going to leave this in the hands of nature. i figure as long as i moisten where the eggs are every few days i'll then wait and see what happens. stay tuned

 

[terryo]

Good luck, and please keep us up-dated. I'm sure I'll be getting eggs myself in another year or so, and would love to know your out come.

 

[tortoises101]

Good luck, and please keep us up-dated. I'm sure I'll be getting eggs myself in another year or so, and would love to know your out come.

Ditto.

 

[earthyman71]

hello all! today is pen cleaning/weekly beyond misting adding moisture to the substrate day. gently uncovered the eggs in both spots and there are a total of 3. two glow reddish orange when candled with a flashlight, the other is stone white with air bubbles starting to form at each end. (one of the two that's glowing has a dent in the bottom from laying as well).

should i keep my fingers crossed that the glowing ones might be viable?? (i think this is the case with russian eggs).

insight??

 

[tortoises101]

hello all! today is pen cleaning/weekly beyond misting adding moisture to the substrate day. gently uncovered the eggs in both spots and there are a total of 3. two glow reddish orange when candled with a flashlight, the other is stone white with air bubbles starting to form at each end. (one of the two that's glowing has a dent in the bottom from laying as well).

should i keep my fingers crossed that the glowing ones might be viable?? (i think this is the case with russian eggs).

insight??

Do the eggs have blood vessels in them? Can you see an embryo? What about posting some pics for all of us to see? All the best to you.

 

[earthyman71]

Hi Tony! Will uncover and see where we're at over the weekend. Stay tuned!