Temporary enclosure, female, eggs?

[txturtle13]

Hello everyone,

My three toed boxie adopted me at the end of June when she stumbled into my organic vegetable garden. We were unsure what to do with her, as we live in a heavily populated area with traffic, lawn mowers, etc. So I contacted the Gulf Coast Turtle and Tortoise Society located here in Houston. They advised me to keep her, since I was willing. I am an avid gardener, and told them I would love to build a large outdoor enclosure. For now, she is happily situated in a temporary outdoor enclosure. She's been eating very well and drinking fluids. She even has her routine down. I often wonder if she really is 'wild'... She's so tame and social. She's not scared of me, eats from my hands, comes to me... I'm very happy with her
Of course it took a week or two for us to get to this point, but from what I'm reading... That's pretty good for wild boxies!

Anyways, I was advised that she's most likely fertile and was probably trying to lay her eggs. She dug SEVERAL holes in the temporary enclosure where shed burrow during the hot summer days. I was told that if she did lay her eggs, to leave them and they'd hatch on a month or two. I left it all alone, and provided her plenty of shade, oak leaves and hay.

Well, anticipation is getting me... What if she did lay eggs? What if they hatch? Will the little hatchlings stay in the enclosure, or wonder off? I plan to be moving her to her permanent enclosure in a few weeks. It's so hot in Houston, I'm just not sure that any eggs could survive this heat

Thank you!

 

[Saleama]

She is a beauty! If the eggs hatch, the little ones will dig in and stay there for a long time. They tend to peek out in damp weather. If you can find them, do not turn them. You can put a temp box covered with wire over the eggs and into the ground a few inches, being careful that you are away from the eggs. That way you can monitor what is going on inside the box. Some people put up flags in the areas they saw their turtle making nests so they can look there when the time comes.

 

[txturtle13]

Thank you she's got quite the personality! Last night she insisted on worms... I'm going to have to be more persistent about other food blends for her. Right now I've only gotten her to eat scrambled eggs w/shell, worms, strawberry & tomatoes (sparingly), mushrooms.

I was afraid of that with the little ones. If there are to be little ones, I HAVE to find them before the winter. The temporary Enclosure is actually an unused fire pit that my husband and I built when we moved into our house in January. We are moving Dora out this month into her permanent enclosure. In a month, when they'd be hatched... Should I water the enclosure to see if any babies come out? I know the likeliness of babies/eggs are low, but I told my husband we can't have fires until we know. I told him we will have to water the fire pit several times . Help!


My Loves:
My Husband
2 Dogs
1 Boxie
1 Betta fish

 

[txturtle13]

There were eggs! Found two babies yesterday, going to keep searching