Turtle Egg Incubator

Turtles are becoming popular pets these days and many people like to raise their turtle instead of buying from a pet store. It is essential for one to fulfill certain requirements for the successful raising of the pet turtle. One such requirement of pet turtle is turtle egg incubator. It is a device that is used to hatch turtle eggs. Turtle eggs need to be incubated in the incubator for proper duration and at the adequate temperature. Several types of turtle incubation setups have been used to successfully incubate turtle eggs. Turtle egg incubator should be maintained at proper temperature and humidity. Water turtle eggs require high humidity as compared to terrestrial and desert turtle.

If you are thinking of hatching a turtle egg in turtle egg incubator, then you must be aware of the basic guidelines to incubate turtle eggs. Once the female turtle has finished laying eggs, carefully open the nest and remove the eggs. Gently clean the soil and debris from the eggs using tissue or towel and then transport it to the turtle egg incubator.

There are wide varieties of turtle egg incubators available in the market. You can also easily prepare turtle egg incubator in your home.

Material required for building turtle egg incubator:-

1. 10 gallon tank and 5 gallon plastic container
2. submersible tank heater
3. vermiculite
4. two thermostat
5. Plexiglas sheet to cover the 10 gallon container

Steps to prepare turtle egg incubator:-

Fill the plastic container with vermiculite or sand or peat moss and then add water in it until the sand is soaked. Put vermiculite under the eggs to prevent the eggs from touching the base of the container. Thermostat should be placed 1 inch below the sand and at the centre. Set that plastic 5 gallon tank at 80 ° F. Fill the other tank with lukewarm water and then put the thermostat in that tank. Turn on the heater in the tank. Make some holes, about 5 – 6 diameter in the Plexiglas sheet. Keep a check on the temperature of both the tanks for a couple of days. The ideal temperature for the incubation of turtle eggs is 82- 83° F. One should stabilize the temperature in the tank before keeping eggs in it. Then you can keep your turtle eggs gently in that incubator.
Sometimes turtle eggs hatch in a day or two and some time it can take 60 – 90 days to hatch. Natural incubation period for different turtles are mentioned below.

1. Red ear slider should be kept in incubator for 55 to 60 days
2. musk turtles: 60 to 65 days
3. snapping turtles: 60 to 80 days
4. painted turtle: 55 to 60 days
5. diamond back terrapins: 60 to 70 days
6. spotted turtles: 70 to 75 days
7. box turtle: 70 to 75 days
8. spiny soft shell turtle: 55 to 60 days

Turtle eggs incubation requires lots of patience and knowledge. Person with proper knowledge should be involved in such process. Incubating turtle eggs can be frustrating, especially if the eggs take some months to hatch. One should research as much as possible to improve turtle incubation process. One can get wide variety of turtle incubation information from the internet, turtle manuals, literature and individual turtle breeding experience.