Question: How to make an incubator ?

Answer: Turtle eggs should be treated gently. They are not like chicken eggs, which can be oved and turned. The tops of the eggs should be marked with pencil and special care should be taken to leave them in the same position at all times. It is easy to make a simple incubator - you will need a large insulated plastic container with some water at the bottom, couple of bricks and ideally a submersible heater with thermostat and a thermometer. You will put the eggs in a smaller plastic container half filled with mixture of vermiculate and water, burry the eggs about two thirds into it, cover and place the this on the bricks in the larger container covering the whole setup. The temperatures should be set at about 82 degrees Fahrenheit and the setup opened once avery few days to let some fresh air in. The turtles should hatch in a couple months or so. For someone with few dollars to spare and who wants to invest in the future a good option is to construct a more solid and 'pro' incubator. There are also incubators aveilable commercially for sale. To read more about snapping turtle hatchlings please click here Thanks for asking! Stan

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