About Turtles

6 responses total.

I've started this time because our female turtle did an unexpected thing -
she laid an egg. First: she is an unknown, but probably Asian, species of
box turtle, with three toes on her hind feet. We have worked out her
care pretty well and only this past week were we baffled : she stopped
eating. I opined that she was 'in heat'. Today the truth was told, when
she laid an egg in her pond. Her box has no soil, so she could not dig
a trench to bury the egg. We obtained her last September and she has
not been mated since. How long is the time between mating and egg laying in
box turtles? (I could not find this info from the many Turtle sites on
the web.) Do turltes, like chickens, lay infertile eggs anyway?

I know only a little about turtles - but I have heard that turtles can wait
for extremeely long periods of time before laying fertile eggs. I have also
heard that they often lay infertile eggs. This probably doesn't help much.
So I suggest you call some friends of mine, John or Beth, at Pets 'n' Things
in Saline - 429-5431. They've been breeding reptiles for years. 

valerie suggested I contact her herpetologist friend Sandra Kosek. Sandra
has responded to my inquiry, and given me permission to post her reply
here. From Sandra: 

"I don't know if turtles will lay unfertilized eggs, I have not heard of
it happening, although it may be possible. It IS common for many turtle
species, including box turtles, to lay eggs months or years after
fertilization. Turtles are slow living and long lived, so they have
evolved to take advantage of what are sometimes extremely infrequent
encounters between receptive individuals. 

"Did you try incubating the egg? They need to be kept at a constant warm
temperature in a damp medium such as vermiculite or sterile potting soil. 
Turtle eggs also absolutely should not be turned...the side that is up
when they are laid must remain "up" at all times. Unfortunately I don't
know at what temperature they should be kept. If you are interested in
trying this if she lays more eggs, try contacting your local zoo (I
suggest Toledo if you are anywhere near them) for more information. It's
good that she tried it, that probably means she is very healthy and you
are taking good care of her! If you get her a boyfriend she might lay
more... 

"About the species...there are five species of Asian box turtles, all in
the genus Cuora. My books don't use the number of toes to distinguish
them, so they are probably all three-toed. The species seem to be
distinguished by shell characteristics such as markings and number of
keels (the long ridges over the back). The most common species in the pet
trade is the Malayan Box Turtle, Cuora amboinensis. I think these are
sometimes mistakenly called "Vietnamese" box turtles. There is a
Vietnamese species, but from the picture in the book that's not the one I
see when I'm in pet shops that have Asian box turtles. If you're really
interested in which species she is, you could call the nearest large
university and ask to speak with a herpetologist. Libraries and bookstores
might be helpful, but it's hard to find field guides for other places
besides North America. The herps people at a university will have guides
for all over the world. If you're in Ann Arbor, the Herpetology Division
of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History could help you.
MSU has herps people too. 

Very interesting!  Are you going to try to find out exactly what kind of
box turtle you have, Rane?  It might also be interesting to find out more
about what kind of habitat these creatures live in.  That way, if she does
lay another eggs, she might have a better change of not breaking it.  Hatching
a baby box turtle from an egg, and raising it, would be really neat!

Yes. There are web sites that identify (with photos) all the domestic box
turtle species, but I have not found the same for the imported (mostly asian)
species. I don't have specific information on their natural habitat, but
most (if not all) box turtles dig a trench in soil and lay their eggs in that.
Our habitat doesn't provide that, however.

Update: our turtle (name is Emmett) laid another egg. This one was
perfectly formed. She lays her eggs in her pond, not having any soil.
We kept the eggs in a box with moist paper in her habitat, near her
heat lamp, so the eggs were warm during the day. However both eggs
started to collapse - and smell - so we discarded them. We did dissect
them to see if there was an embryo, but there was not. 

Before she laid eggs we took her to the vet, to learn how to cut her
claws. She was identified as a female - and of course that got confirmed.

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