another egg

[stevej37]

Sunny and 50 here today....won't last long.
Decided to use the nice weather for moving the turtles inside and tearing down the pump and filters.

Found this egg on the bottom...not sure how long it's been there, but I'm sure it's not good to hatch.

[Sooner or later]

I am sure it wasn't much fun to lay...

[masraum]

Interesting, other than size, it looks like the brown hens' eggs we eat. I assume it's a flexible/leathery case?

[stevej37]

Last year, I set up a nesting box full of sand, to try to hatch the big females eggs.
I was there when she started digging with her rear legs. The eggs are layed like small balloons.
They are bigger than the opening between her upper and lower shells. Yes, they are flexible.

The temp and conditions were not perfect for hatching. I think I had the temp right...but the humidity has to be correct also.

[asphaltgambler]

That's how the monster is set loose btw..............

[stevej37]

Here they are in their winter home.

If you look closely...you can see 3 of the 4 turtles. Only 2 fish left after this season...raccoons got a couple of them.

[GH85Carrera]

We are a long way from Michigan so we leave our kio pond pump running outside all winter. It is about 2.5 feet deep on average and a few 4 foot deep places. If we get a really bad cold spell we throw in a stock tank heater. Those are just 10 bucks, but the same thing labeled as a koi pond heater is 80 bucks.

[stevej37]

^^^ Mine is small and it's only 2 foot deep. In the winter, it would be one giant ice cube because there is no ground heat at all. Mine is not on/in the ground. The wind and cold are too much to overcome with a heater.

One more pic of them enjoying the artificial sun!
I almost think they are happier when moved inside!

Only 10 minutes allowed per turtle for tanning! The line forms to the bottom.

[gizmofixer]

i've had/have a lot of turtles and have never seen a turtle egg that large.
even giant snappers dont make em that big.
most turtle eggs (including the ones you have) will be no larger than the last digit of your thumb.
i've hatched turtle eggs laid in the water, they're usually good for about 2 days, no more.
this is because the embryo attaches itself to the shell and must not be moved or jostled after a few hours.
my guess is a bird of some sort.......

[stevej37]

I watched my largest turtle (12 inches long) lay two eggs last year. That is the same size that she laid last year. It's def a turtle egg.
see post #4

[stevej37]

Here is a pic of the two she laid in 2018

[stevej37]

[Bill Douglas]

It's a shame they can't come and live at my house for six months. They'd love it here, a 2,000 liter pond with 25 goldfish and heading into summer.

[stevej37]

^^^ No turtles in yours?? Or would they escape?
I'm not sure of liter volume of mine...2 foot deep, approx 7 foot diameter. (six sided-each side is 6ft)

[GH85Carrera]

Right after I got married I had borrowed a 5 gallon bucket from work and I was going to work one morning with the bucket in the bed of the El Camino. On a fairly busy road a saw a Box Turtle, or more accurately a Terrapin. I rescued it from almost certain death in the road, and put it in the bucket and went to work.

I knew my bosses wife was into terrapins and had one in her back yard and even made specaial food for it. So I gave her the terrapin and did not think about it anymore. The very next day, just blocks from the office I saw another terrapin heading towards a busy road and certain death. I just put it in the bed of the El Camino and drove the three blocks to work. I handed it to the bosses wife. She was thrilled.

The next day she came in and said she had named the terrapins after my wife and I. They were from areas of town 15 miles apart or more, but they were the same species. She said as soon as she set the second down in the back yard it got together with the first one and went to humping. She said they were having sex like a newlywed couple, which I was at the time.

She had lots of eggs, and in short order 8 babies. She had to really work to keep he back yard escape proof. Those turtles er terrapins lived life on easy street. After a few years she grew tired of the work needed to keep them so she released them in a wildlife area behind their house.

I found out later it is illegal to keep wildlife like that as a pet, but certainly no harm was done and just some more babies were made. They would have surly been killed by traffic so we saved them and a second generation.

They were Red Eared Sliders which are common to Oklahoma.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider

[3rd_gear_Ted]

@ my AZ home, the Tortoise lady nearby has some males & females. With the proliferation of fast food joints in the desert regions there are a lot more Crows preying on the young ones, So she illegally raises them in spite of the government version of BLM.

What is a group of turtles or young turtles called anyway??

[GH85Carrera]

One of the customers we had years ago always came into the office dressed in a "Power Suit" and looked and acted so very professional as she worked for a major oil company.

About a year later I saw a local news story about her wildlife rescue operation. She had transformed into her real self, and looked like a female Jim Fowler or Marvin Parker.

https://www.wildcareoklahoma.org/

She has the permits to rescue Bald Eagles to common wildlife live a duck or snake. Evidently it was what she really wanted to do in life and now she lives it.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

What is a group of turtles or young turtles called anyway??

from Wiki......A group of turtles is known as a bale.
(I have never heard that before)

[wdfifteen]

My DIL offered me a 10" red slider if I would just get it out of her house.
I am sooo tempted...

[stevej37]

^^^ Do it. If you change your mind later...a pet store will always take it.

One of the easiest pets to take care of.

I always had dogs as pets until about 15 years ago. It seemed unfair to them when they were left at the kennel or with a friend for a week or two.
I hated to leave them. They were always stressed out when I returned.
Turtles don't give a s**t.