At the lake and found turtle eggs.

Question

ok first i will tell you that i am a experienced turtle owner, its just that i need a little help right now. I was at our lake in Diamond MN and my brother said "get over here!" I rode my bike over there and i saw that there were eggs. some of the eggs had rolled over so I left them there, but the rest that hadnt moved I put in a tub with sand and made sure that they didn't roll over. I came home from the lake and put the eggs in a incubator. The only question I have is what type of turtle eggs are they? That morning I rode out and saw a painted turtle roaming around and was on the street so I picked him up and put him in the lake. The eggs are almost a perfect circle and not a oval. They dont have spots on them but dark colored blotches.

Answer 1

While most turtles lay oval eggs, Snapping Turtles lay round ones. The dark mottling could be a sign that the egg is maturing, or has gone bad. As eggs mature, they tend to get rounder as well.

To repeat what others have said- you really should have left them there. It is bad idea to interfere with the natural processes and is often illegal. Minnesota is one state that has laws about collecting wild turtles.

My question to you is- are you maintaining the eggs at the right temperature and humidity? If they are not kept close to 'just right', they will die. Try http://www.tortoise.org or http://www.chelydra.com for generic care advice.

If you see another nest with exposed eggs, understand that a.) most of the exposed eggs are probably already at high risk for death, and b.) it is generally best to just cover them up and leave them alone.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Experienced turtle owner?  What kind of turtles do you own, and do you breed them?

I have never seen a turtle egg which wasn't oval and white.

Snake eggs are white, too, but they're oval as well.

How large are these eggs?  Are you sure they aren't a bird's egg?  Well, even those are oval.  

Hmmm... I can't think of a creature which lays round eggs, though I'm not familiar with snapping turtles eggs.

I have no clue what you found, but you shouldn't have disturbed the nest.  The dark blotches could be due to bacteria developing inside, and the eggs aren't viable, unless the coloration is actually on the shell.

I would recommend that your simply return them to where you removed them from.  You might want to check the nest daily (if you haven't damaged the eggs and they are viable) to see what sort of creature finally emerges.

If you live in the US, it's prohibited by Federal law to remove native animals from their natural habitats.

Answer 3

I don't know if you should have done what you did. The kind of eggs really depends on where you live. Wild animals are illegal to keep and should be left in the wild.