Road side injury (Graphic)

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Sunday(14) afternoon, my girlfriend calls me up telling me she had a medical emergency and soon after gets cutoff (Cell phone.) So I was rudely awakened way too early (12:30pm) and had no idea what was going on. By the sound of her voice, I was guessing she stubbed her toe or something of the sort.

Well, she eventually pulls up into the drive lugging a large rubbermaid lid with this large cooter on it. The cooter was struck on the right hind corner by a large box truck and apparently died on the spot. 5 eggs were thrown from the animal (Which were collected and are in the deli cup) and a few others were destroyed. The cooter was a large 14" female. She brought the animal seeing if we couldn't save the eggs. The can was for size comparison



A blue rugged apartment floor isn't exactly a sci-lab but I figured it couldn't hurt being the eggs would eventually suffocate if they weren't removed. I grabbed the knife and got to it.



As you can see, the eggs are still within the membrane and would eventually cause suffocation if they weren't removed. I simply cut a portion of the membrane and elegantly pushed out the eggs.



Here are a few shots of the animal, sad circumstances.. (These shots were taken after the eggs were removed.)








I eventually pulled 14 eggs that looked pretty decent from her and left the obviously discolored and dead eggs alone. The remaining look promising and are being incubated at her house being she has far more experiences with artificial chelonian incubation. If and when they hatch we will contact a friend of mine in the Fish and Game and try to process a regulated release, if not we know a few private land owners that would be more than happy to help. Currently, a few look to be banding and the dents are no longer there.
Thanks for looking,
Zane

[nat_the_brat]

wow, such a tragic event but with your intervention a lot less was lost . Good luck and keep us updated.

[Ptindy]

True herper right here. Too bad for the loss of the boxer but your insistance to save what can be saved is very commendable. Good luck with them and I hope the best for their outcome.

Mike

[Buddha]

keep us updated with the eggs

[Holy Mackerel]

Zane,

I have to give you some credit and likewise to your girlfriend. That is a very noble thing to actually pick up the turtle and give an attempt to save it. In light of the injuries, it is remarkable that you are attempting to incubate the eggs. Furthermore, going through the proper channels in releaseing the hatchlings is beyond what most would do!

I know up here in Ontario, road related mortality is a major concern with our turtles. As if the short active season isn't bad enough, the turtles like to lay their eggs on the sides of roads and this results in the same thing you have just posted.

I wish you luck with healthy hatching of the eggs, and a safe re-introduction.

Steve

[BoidKeeper]

Great work indeed. Has anyone ever sucessfully hatched eggs that weren't laid? I've read many times that unless the eggs are actually laid naturally by the mother they soon die in the incubabtor. I know this is true for snakes but is it true for other herps too? In this case I hope not.
Cheers,
Trevor

[bistrobob85]

Good luck to save the babies, hopefully you're going to be able to save them and release them back in the wild...

[Linds]

Those would be some miraculous little babies if they hatched after all! I wish you guys all the luck in working with these eggs. Such a tragedy

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Thanks for the support, guys.
It's been 15 days and the eggs are solid, no dents and I'm told they are all starting to ban, so it looks very hopeful.
Trevor, I have heard one story dealing with ornate box turtles that hatched successfully and I have a 'friend' here in Fl who has done this many times with several different species so it's not unheard of. They are in great hands and I have no doubts that at least a few will live.
By the way, anyone in Fl. would like to donate a pond for one or two of these little guys feel free to email me. I don't want to release all of the hatchlings into the same pond and I'd rather ponds where I know they are welcome, until I get the OK from the National Forest to release them there.
Thanks again,
Zane

[clint545]

Well done!! Best of luck!

[BoidKeeper]

Well that's encouraging news.
Best of luck,
Trevor