Hatching Snapping Turtles

[joyce]

In the late Spring the female Snappers get out of the water to find a place to lay their eggs, at that time many get caught by people and killed. If the Turtle has not laid her eggs yet they can be removed and saved by either digging a hole in the right spot, or they can be incubated.
These pictures are of some that I incubated last year.
It was fun to watch them hatch.....they don't hatch like a chick, it takes them sometimes 2 maybe 3 days to crawl out of the shell once they break the egg and stick their heads out, also it takes maybe 2 or 3 months for the hatching to start. They have an egg sack still connected to their body and are still absorbing nutrition from it, when they do move you can see them dragging some of the egg sack under them.
They go right away to cover and hide. I wait to release them until the egg sack is totally gone, then I put them in a small creek near my house.
As soon as I release them they bury themselves in the mud.

[Flintstone]

Very neat. I think thats great. I have a place on the river, It seems like it is like a turle hatching spot or something. Kids find them in the banks as well as the sand beach. Do you know do turltes lay thier eggs in the same general place every year?

[Cannonman17]

That's cool. One time many years ago I remember a guy here in town brought one home to make soup out of and he let it run around in his back yard while he put his fishing stuff away and what not. About an hour later or so he goes to check on it and it was digging a hole, he left it go and it laid eggs, a lot of eggs! He let those go to and they eventually hatched, we had these little suckers scrambling all over the block!

[joyce]

Originally Posted by Flintstone

Very neat. I think thats great. I have a place on the river, It seems like it is like a turle hatching spot or something. Kids find them in the banks as well as the sand beach. Do you know do turltes lay thier eggs in the same general place every year?

Hi Flintstone , Thanks for taking a look at the baby Turtles.
I don't know if they go to the same area every year to lay their eggs, but its possible. Your place on the river must be the ideal spot for hatching. I know many choose the banks along rivers with sandy beaches. One problem with that for the Turtle is raccoons digging them up and having a feast of Turtle eggs. Kind of like you have seen with the Sea Turtles when the babies hatch many are gobbled up by shore birds before they make it to the water.
Joyce

[tomclark]

Great post and pics, Joyce!~

I got to see and help a half dozen red-eared sliders (painted turtles) that recently hatched cross a street along a lake by my house. Cuties. I collected so many when I was a kid.

[joyce]

Originally Posted by Cannonman17

That's cool. One time many years ago I remember a guy here in town brought one home to make soup out of and he let it run around in his back yard while he put his fishing stuff away and what not. About an hour later or so he goes to check on it and it was digging a hole, he left it go and it laid eggs, a lot of eggs! He let those go to and they eventually hatched, we had these little suckers scrambling all over the block!

Good morning Cannonman, Thanks!
I like to hear those stories, its great that she got to lay her eggs. Goes to show how strong their instinct is to get their eggs laid...and its cool that he left them there to hatched, and he seen the babies also! Joyce

[douglas]

thats pretty neat rite there, had no idea bout the egg sacks, learn summin new ever day!

[joyce]

Hi Tomclark, I bet those Red ears were really pretty and really cute! I have never seen baby ones. Nice you helped them get to the water!
I did the same thing when I was a kid like you, taking baby Turtles home with me, so cute hard for a kid to resist!
Thanks for stopping by and looking at the Snappers being born. Joyce

[joyce]

Originally Posted by douglas

thats pretty neat rite there, had no idea bout the egg sacks, learn summin new ever day!

Hi Douglas and thanks, I never knew about the yoke sack before I decided to incubate these, I did some research on them and thats when I learned about it!
Joyce

[dixieintn]

Joyce - I knew there was some reason I liked you! I have been a turtle lover since preschool. Very cool pics and something I would love to see.

A few years ago, I decided to relocate a very large snapper (platter sized) from a busy intersection in town. I was quickly reminded how aggressive they are when out of the water. Luckily, I didn't lose any body parts - haha! A nice gentleman stopped and helped me get him into a cooler and then I took him a nearby stream. He was one intense turtle, though, - I learned my lesson!

If any of you guys ever make it to Nashville make sure and stop by the Nashville Zoo. They have a huge Alligator Snapper. You can watch him wiggle his tongue to try to lure fish - it is really cool...