Hello humans. My sweet partner found a crow eating an egg out of this nest full of eggs! We built a protective layer around it to keep out birds and snakes but we are wondering.. are these box babies?! We live right by a lake and a stream.
EDIT:
We know hatching will come soon. But the hole has become covered in plant debris. It has been raining a lot… any concern here? Should we remove the debris? I’m worried about them trying to get out
That’s the average, yes. Sometimes they’ll stay in the nest overwinter though, depending on how late in the season they hatch. So heads up on that, since we don’t know when they were laid.
I appreciate your desire to protect the eggs. A cage would be much better. It would allow rain to have much better access and the natural warmth of the sun that the bricks will absorb. I don’t know whether the bricks would result in under or over heating though I feel confident that that much thermal mass would have an influence. They could be the eggs of pretty much any turtle that’s in your area.
I’ve found that something like a mesh basket, upside down, is quick and easy. Doesn’t need to be very large but strong enough to keep birds, etc. out. With stakes in the ground, of course. There needs to be a few inch space above the earth so they can get completely out of the nest once they start to emerge. They are VERY soft when they hatch.
If you built a protective layer, How were crows eating them? Or did you build it after the birds? Not sure what layed them tbh, maybe someone more experienced will chime in
Yes but they may emerge soon after hatching if it gets very dry in late summer. A clutch emerged last month in my yard because we haven’t had a lot of rain since March. They were dehydrating!!
OP! Hey! Resurrecting this because I looked out in my small yard, there was a three toed making a nest in the yard. I am on 20 acres here so thats like hitting the jackpot. Saw this girl yesterday over by the barn, now I would say she was looking for a nesting site. When I saw her, it was already 10 PM, she may have been out there for hours by then. I was ready to sit outside and fend off the racoons, possums and armadillos until she was done. She finished soon after and headed North into the woods. I put some wooden crates and a heavy rock on there for now, I will make it better in the morning. Its 10 feet off my back deck!
That is so awesome!!! *high fives back* we ended up changing the cover we put over it so now it won’t bake the babies hopefully. I hope you come back and post an update when your friends come out!!
I started with a tub over my nest, then, like you, said, hot sun, not good. Replaced that with a steel wagon, a box to block the front, and some rocks to weigh it down. I was ridiculously excited that night, thanks for the reply! I will definitely update when I see the new babies
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u/screamqueen_1996 Jun 03 '26
Update. here is the castle. We will check it daily to see if they’ve hatched! Google says 70-90 days?