If I didn't thank everyone for their advice last I was logged on, I thank you all now. As I reported to you about the painter eggs delivered to me at the campground, everything seems to be going well. There is no rotted odors coming from the nesting media that I 'planted' them in, just an earthy smell. The indentations on the top of the shells are gone. Is this an indication of the embryos maturing or the buildup of gases from rotting embryos? There is no discoloration of the shells, just a soft white tone to them. They have been kept at a constant temperature of 76 degrees. Any input from all you experts out there would be helpful. Thanks. We had a large snapper,(16-18 inch shell, front to back) lay her eggs in the playground at the bottom of the kiddie slide! Perfect digging sand for her and her eggs, however not so good for survivability. We had to shut off the playground until she was through, and then help her back to the pond. She didn't find the hole in the 4 foot high fence that she initially came through. We then had to dig up the eggs and transfer them to a different site that had the same type of sand, above any flood damage elevation, and the same amount of daylight. 39 eggs were transferred! We have protected the new site from foraging skunks and raccoons, and we have not let the children in on the site location. There can be anywhere from 75 to 225 children at the campground any given week or weekend. With all the little ones using the playground area and coming down the slide, I don't think the eggs would have had even a 1/2 % chance of surviving. I hope that we have done some good. I'd love the chance of seeing those little snappers come out of the nest. Any comments please feel free to respond. I welcome the feedback! Thanks, Bill Nelson.

Wow, cool story! I really hope the eggs hatch.
Unfortunately I can't help on the technical questions.

I agree that the bottom of the slide wasn't exactly an ideal site for fragile eggs!
Keep us updated, please.

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Andrea

Good luck with those eggs. How long is it supposed to take before they hatch?

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Good luck Bill, keep us posted.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!