Painted Turtle Egg Emergency!

[Co-ParentingTurtleMom]

Our neighbors have a turtle who was born without front feet. She traveled a long distance to our pond and laid eggs. I have no idea if they are fertile or infertile (she lives with two other turtles). She laid 3 eggs (possibly more) and all three are in the water but unprotected. What do we do? Do we return her and the eggs to their own pond or do we help her bury them in our pond and become turtle co-parents?

Please help!

 

[zovick]

Our neighbors have a turtle who was born without front feet. She traveled a long distance to our pond and laid eggs. I have no idea if they are fertile or infertile (she lives with two other turtles). She laid 3 eggs (possibly more) and all three are in the water but unprotected. What do we do? Do we return her and the eggs to their own pond or do we help her bury them in our pond and become turtle co-parents?

Please help!

Turtle eggs are not meant to be laid in water. You should take them out of the water ASAP if you want to incubate them.

If you do want to incubate them, come back here for more info on how to do that.

 

[Co-ParentingTurtleMom]

Turtle eggs are not meant to be laid in water. You should take them out of the water ASAP if you want to incubate them.

If you do want to incubate them, come back here for more info on how to do that.

Yes! Please help!

 

[Co-ParentingTurtleMom]

Yes! Please help!

Is three a normal amount or should I be searching for more?

 

[zovick]

Is three a normal amount or should I be searching for more?

The number of eggs is somewhat dependent upon the size of the female. I would say 3 may be a bit less than a normal clutch size for an adult Painted Turtle. Normally, I would expect about 5-7. WSikipedia gives a range of 2 to 20 per clutch with the average being 4-8.

To incubate the eggs, just get some pretty well decomposed mulch or leaf litter and put it in a rubbermaid container, moisten it a bit, and then half bury the eggs in it and put the cover on it and place it in a fairly warm spot in your home. On top of the refrigerator or on top of a water heater have worked for me.

You can also incubate the eggs in vermiculite, but the mulch method noted above is just as acceptable.

Once you start incubating the eggs, you should not turn them. Doing so can cause the death of the embryos. If you very gently mark the top of each egg with an "X" with a pencil, you can tell where the top is and then always keep the "X" on top if you ever lift them up to candle them.

 

[Co-ParentingTurtleMom]

Thank you!

 

[Bro bott]

Our neighbors have a turtle who was born without front feet. She traveled a long distance to our pond and laid eggs. I have no idea if they are fertile or infertile (she lives with two other turtles). She laid 3 eggs (possibly more) and all three are in the water but unprotected. What do we do? Do we return her and the eggs to their own pond or do we help her bury them in our pond and become turtle co-parents?

Please help!

Looks like a western painted turtle but I can’t see the plastron so it could be a eastern

 

[zovick]

Looks like a western painted turtle but I can’t see the plastron so it could be a eastern

It's not an Eastern Painted Turtle. You can tell Easterns by the way the costal scute seams line up with the seams of the central scutes. This turtle's seams do not line up. Therefore I think it is most likely to be Midland Painted Turtle going by the location where it occurred (MI). Western Painted Turtles are not native to MI as far as I know. However, I suppose this one could have been transplanted to MI from further west, since it was a captive turtle.

A photo of the plastron would make a definitive ID easier.

 

[Bro bott]

It's not an Eastern Painted Turtle. You can tell Easterns by the way the costal scute seams line up with the seams of the central scutes. This turtle's seams do not line up. Therefore I think it is most likely to be Midland Painted Turtle going by the location where it occurred (MI). Western Painted Turtles are not native to MI as far as I know. However, I suppose this one could have been transplanted to MI from further west, since it was a captive turtle.

A photo of the plastron would make a definitive ID easier.

Thanks for that information zovick.