General Care Discussion :: Kind of a stupid question, but getting paranoid!!

[amyandandrew]

Tomorrow marks the 60 day mark for Journey's first batch of eggs that she laid! I know this is a stupid question, and I know the answer, but I really just want reassurance. The babies will be able to dig their way out of the sand, and up to the surface, correct? Or should we unbury the tops of the eggs a little so the tops are exposed? Andrew says that turtles have a natural instinct to undig/unbury themselves just like sea turtles, but I'm just worried about the little ones!!

Thanks,
Amy

[steve]

Was this a nest that was undisturbed?

[amyandandrew]

No, this is the first batch of 2 that we decided to incubate, because of fear of birds, weather, etc. We have a 3rd that we haven't touched yet after she laid them on Fathers Day, that are still buried. She buried all three of them pretty deep. The first one that is due to hatch any time now, was almost 2 foot down in the ground, the 2nd was about the same. The third, just from watching her, looks like its about the same level.

We did cover the eggs that we are incubating with a little bit of sand or soil, it depends on where she laid her eggs. Like for example, her first eggs, she laid them in the sand pit that we have in our pool, so we just used that. The 2nd batch, she laid them in a dirt/soil mixture, so we used that. The 3rd, which is currently untouched, she decided to lay them in dirt right by a flower pot in our backyard.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Hmm, well in my experience with eggs that were completetly covered I thought all the eggs had gone bad or something cause i saw no turtles after the 60day mark. So i decided to uncover the eggs. What i found they had all hatched out and the babies just dug deeper into the soil and not sure when they hatched out haha. i dont know how well you have them covered but after week from the 60day mark uncover the eggs some to make sure none actually did hatch if they are covered well like mine were.

[amyandandrew]

Ok, so turns out, Andrew ended counting out the days wrong til the 60 day mark!! Journey laid her eggs 5/18, and the 60 day mark isn't until Sunday, lol!! Oh well, we're going to be prepared either way!! I will defintely keep my eyes on the eggs, and if I don't see anything after the 60 day mark, we will definitely uncover the eggs a little bit at a time to make sure they didn't hatch!!