Baby Eastern Box Turtle Eggs?

Question

I have 2 eastern box turtles, female, hokie, male, pokie, I had hokie for 3 years now, pokie was just found in July 2007. I just discovered 4-5 eggs in my cage outside for my turtles, all caged in, no predictors can reach them, heavy beams of wood on top of cage to protect preditors, anyway, how do I care for these eggs???Winter months?????Outside???Inside?????I will not touch and remove the eggs, I refuse to, so what can I do to preserve them in the winter months, found eggs,Aug 15, 2007, now I know it could be anywhere from 2-3months or longer, what do I do when cold weather sets in?????the adult ones go into hibernation inside house, what about the babies????Can anyone help me ,please??Thank u.

also if the babies survive, what do baby turtles eat????Do they go into hibernation 2????I am so concerned about all this, cause winter is around the corner, and I have to know.THank u all.

Answer 1

leave the eggs alone, make sure they are covered up and make sure they get plenty of moisture...eggs will hatch in late fall after a heavy rain (or sometimes they over winter in the nest) either way they will hatch after a heavy rain, you need to keep a watch on the nest, after the babies emerge you can leave them outside if you provide plenty of coverage (like hay or straw) or you can bring them inside...sometimes they won't eat at first, just be patient, try fishing worms and canned cat food and red foods like tomatoes, strawberries and cantaloupe

Answer 2

If the eggs are not buried in a good nest, they are not likely to be fertile. Dropping undeveloped eggs when stressed is a common response for turtles.

Try the incubation article at http://www.tortoise.org (general care articles) for how to incubate and care for the babies.

I would suggest that Pokie should be released. Found turtles are often illegal to keep (almost every state they are in protects them in the wild because of their overall threatened status) and usually infested with parasites that will infect Hokie. The stress of the worms, or the presence of the strange make in a smallish habitat could have caused the stress.

A good care site is http://www.boxturtlesite.info

Answer 3

The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles, normally referred to as box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to an eastern part of the United States. Occasionally it is referred to as the Common Box Turtle to distinguish it from the other five subspecies of eastern box turtles. [1] The eastern box turtle is found mainly in the eastern United States, as is implied by its name. They are populated as far north as southern Maine and the northwest of the Michigan Lower Peninsula, south to southern Florida and west to eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The eastern box turtle is considered uncommon to rare in the Great Lakes region; however, populations can be found in areas not bisected by heavily traveled roads. In the Midwest, they are a species of Special Interest in Ohio, and of Special Concern in Michigan. Eastern box turtles prefer deciduous or mixed forested regions, with a moderately moist forest floor that has good drainage. They can be also found in open grasslands, or pastures.

Answer 4

Keep them Warm, I'm not very sure, Call a Local Marine Place.