# Turtles and their eggs



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Finally got my hands on a red eared slider - she was crossing the road - and brought her home for dinner. 

First thoughts on turtle?

OMG they are very very VERY good! A bit like blue crab meets scallop meets squirrel.

FANTASTIC!

Well worth the effort of getting in. I know there must be an easier way but I used a hack saw, cut through the sides and then cut the muscle free.

I simmered it till tender, rolled it in seasoned flour, dipped it in milk, rolled in flour again and then fried till crisp.

Drooling now just remembering it ound:

I do have a few questions though for those of you who might know.

First, is there an easier way in? 

And is there ANYTHING you can do with the eggs inside, either shelled or unshelled yokes?

I fried one of the unshelled yokes - dont do that, they explode - and it was dry as dust.

And I tried boiling a shelled egg and its white never got solid and the yoke was dry as dust too.

Really nice tasting dust but hard to eat.

Is there a way to get teh good of the very flavorsum eggs without being put off by their dryness?

Did I mention that turtles taste fantastic?


----------



## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

think I would leave the eggs for a future crop. unless I was starving that is but if everone hit both the adults and the eggs pretty soon no more turtles. just my logic.

takes a turtle a long time to get to eating size. lots of pitfalls along the way too.

up here I think the only turtle targeted for the pot is snappers.

sorry did not read your post correctly, the eggs where part of the whole package Im now figuring out.


----------



## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

Those are known locally as streaked-head or streaked-legged turtles. Never heard the official name before. They are good, but I like soft-shell better.

Don't know about your egg question, though.


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

||Downhome|| said:


> think I would leave the eggs for a future crop. unless I was starving that is but if everone hit both the adults and the eggs pretty soon no more turtles. just my logic.
> 
> takes a turtle a long time to get to eating size. lots of pitfalls along the way too.
> 
> ...


The Eggs were inside the Turtle so they wouldn't be good for hatching.

We eat Snappers and Soft Shell Turtles.I always just leave Legs,Neck and Tail connected until I get the Feet and Skin off much easier to skin then cut lose and pull out.

big rockpile


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

||Downhome|| said:


> think I would leave the eggs for a future crop. unless I was starving that is but if everone hit both the adults and the eggs pretty soon no more turtles. just my logic.
> 
> takes a turtle a long time to get to eating size. lots of pitfalls along the way too.
> 
> ...


LOL thats OK, better late than never!

I took the shelled eggs out of her and buried them. Will check on them end of June and see if anyone has hatched. Couldnt see them go to waste seeing as the one I cooked turned out not so nice.

But she was full of yellow balls that went to the dog as I couldnt make them tasty. HATE giving things like that to the dog just because I dont know how to use them :flame:

Down here the only turtles I can hunt are soft shelled turtles and red eared sliders. Not allowed to take snappers as they look to much like alligator snappers which are protected.


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

big rockpile said:


> The Eggs were inside the Turtle so they wouldn't be good for hatching.
> 
> We eat Snappers and Soft Shell Turtles.I always just leave Legs,Neck and Tail connected until I get the Feet and Skin off much easier to skin then cut lose and pull out.
> 
> big rockpile


Once the eggs are shelled up they are ready to be laid so one can try to hatch them out. No idea how much luck I will have with them but couldnt not try.

Do you take the tenderloin out of your snappers? I made a point of looking for them in my slider and they were the best bit. Worth sawing through the edges of hte shell but if there was an easier way in the saw could be put away again lol


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

GBov said:


> Once the eggs are shelled up they are ready to be laid so one can try to hatch them out. No idea how much luck I will have with them but couldnt not try.
> 
> Do you take the tenderloin out of your snappers? I made a point of looking for them in my slider and they were the best bit. Worth sawing through the edges of hte shell but if there was an easier way in the saw could be put away again lol


Truth if I remember right there wasn't enough Tenderloin to fool with.

big rockpile


----------



## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

big rockpile said:


> The Eggs were inside the Turtle so they wouldn't be good for hatching.


Nope, that's wrong. Those eggs were ready to be laid and will hatch just as if the turtle had laid them. We've been doing that for as long as I can remember with snappers. Turned 22 or 23 loose just a month ago from those which hatched in my garden last September. (They were almost exactly the normal 90 days for that species.) They spent the winter dining on ground venison and parsley. When released, they were already a virtual entire season ahead of any of similar age hatched in the wild. For as long as I can recall, hatching rate has always been just over 50%. Worse was several years ago when I found a totally dead and busted up snapper with many of the eggs exposed to the sun. Of 30 or so planted, only had 7 hatch.

Martin


----------



## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Agree with PAQUEBOT if they are in shell about 50% will hatch,but don"t cover with to much dirt, about an inch or enough that the rain won"t wash them off and expose them, sand is better as will not get to hard. Good luck. About any turtle that you see out now is a female males don"t travel that much.


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

charliesbugs said:


> Agree with PAQUEBOT if they are in shell about 50% will hatch,but don"t cover with to much dirt, about an inch or enough that the rain won"t wash them off and expose them, sand is better as will not get to hard. Good luck. About any turtle that you see out now is a female males don"t travel that much.


They are 5 inches deep in sand in the shade of the house right next to a plant that gets watered every other day. I didnt want them to get too hot or too dry. I have also put a wire cage over the top of them but have read that I will have to dig them out if they hatch. Dont know but will gently dig down to egg level when time comes and see whats what.

Do any of you turtle eaters - and soft hearted egg hatchers :goodjob: - eat the unshelled eggs inside the turtle?


----------



## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Five inches is too deep unless that was the depth of the hole. Stretch out a hind leg of a turtle and that will be the maximum depth that she could dig. The cavern or pocket then should be round and little bigger than the eggs will fit in and just over an inch of soil/sand over them. Over the years, I've found that it's often the deepest which don't develop since they may be too cool. When they hatch, they will need no help digging out as they'll know how to do it. 

Also, depth of the eggs in the hole will determine the sex of the hatchlings. Those nearest the top or at the very bottom will be mostly females while those in the middle will be mostly males. It's due to the differences in temperature.

Martin


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Paquebot said:


> Five inches is too deep unless that was the depth of the hole. Stretch out a hind leg of a turtle and that will be the maximum depth that she could dig. The cavern or pocket then should be round and little bigger than the eggs will fit in and just over an inch of soil/sand over them. Over the years, I've found that it's often the deepest which don't develop since they may be too cool. When they hatch, they will need no help digging out as they'll know how to do it.
> 
> Also, depth of the eggs in the hole will determine the sex of the hatchlings. Those nearest the top or at the very bottom will be mostly females while those in the middle will be mostly males. It's due to the differences in temperature.
> 
> Martin


Hmmmm, now how to dig off the top of the sand without leaving a hole for water to collect in if and when it rains. I did stretch out the hind leg of the turtle and it went about 5ish inches, thats why I went that deep but will see is its pos. to change the nest without moving the eggs.

Cant wait to get our fishing licences renewed and try to catch a softshelled turtle. They are so much BIGGER than even the biggest slider.

Down here I am only allowed to use my hands, a dip net or fish for them with hook adn line. Oh, and scooping them up off the road before they get squished.

Wish I had known about the eggs from broken turtles. Was a HUGE dead snapper on the road the other day. Biggest turtle I have ever laid eyes on and freshly broken. I would have done a snatch and grab if I had known that way of egg collection.


----------



## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

You're OK then with the bottom of the hole being 5" rather than having that much sand or soil on top of them. Don't know offhand what the incubation time is for your particular species but snappers run at least 90 days. First to hatch last year was right at 90 days and continued for about 2 weeks after with usually no more than 3 per day. Longest time that I recorded was 1997 when they were due around 6 September. None showed up until third week of October. Everything was strange about them from the beginning. Where the mother had begun to dig her nest was in an area which would have been almost totally shaded all summer. And despite my placing the eggs in full sun, still got only 3 or 4 females out of about 26 which hatched.

Martin


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Acording to the internet red eared sliders take 60 days so, as I planted them end of last month I recon that end of June should be their hatch time.

If they hatch, that is lol.

Next time I get my hands on some turtles I will be a bit more methodical about my egg care, like marking the date on the calendar and putting them in a more sheltered spot.

Mmmmmmmm looking forward to next time!


----------



## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

Eating soft shell & snappers here are fine, red ears carry Salmonella & usually are left to themselves unless they are destructive in a tank, then they are shot.


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

WstTxLady said:


> Eating soft shell & snappers here are fine, red ears carry Salmonella & usually are left to themselves unless they are destructive in a tank, then they are shot.


All reptiles and birds can carry salmonella. 

Use proper safe food handling and cooking methods and you dont have to worry about sliders any more than any other kind of turtle. The media and commercials have made the world a place to fear but thats me getting off my soap box now lol


----------



## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

We eat snappers only now. The soft shell's dont seem to be worth the little meat to kill and dress them out to us anymore. Never ate the other turtles, we call all non snappers or softshells queenies. Common snapper and alligator snapper are easy to tell apart and our alligator snappers are protected. Thats a law I'd fight tooth and nail if common snappers are plentiful. We dont harvest turtles till early July so we're not taking the females too. We plant the eggs in a local waterwa in about 1"-3" of sand. We put chicken wire down over the area to exclude a few varmints.


----------



## joshwilson (Mar 7, 2009)

I have never dealt with the eggs. It just seems irresponsible to me to harvest turtles during the nesting season, but if it is legal in your state I suppose your DNR must feel your turtle population can handle that type of harvest, as most people wouldn't make an effort to hatch the eggs. Here in Wisconsin turtles are protected during the nesting season by not opening the turtle season until mid-July. I just wish more people would follow the laws in Wisconsin so we would have a healthier turtle population. The law reads as follows directly from the Wisconsin DNR website:
Open turtle season runs from July 15 through November 30. Turtles or turtle eggs may not be taken during the closed season.


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Red eared sliders arent a native species to Florida so its open season on them year round and as they breed as soon as its warm enough and only stop when it gets too cold to move, well, if you eat them they are going to have eggs inside.

I do know Florida has cracked down on all kinds of turtle fishing due to the export to Asia of tons and tons and tons of turtles. The only kinds left we can fish for are sliders - unlimited - and soft shells - one per day per person.

I dont think they are going to be in danger with that rule in place 

The only thing I dont agree on with the new rules is the no snappers. Common snapping turtles are easily told apart from alligator snappers but we cant take the one because of the other.

Ah well, I would rather be restricted to just the two than my kids not being able to fish for turtles in years to come because they all got shipped to Asia!

Oh, and no traps or set lines allowed. Its dip nets or fishing rods or bare hands only!


----------



## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Problem with snappers around civilization is that they can't adapt to it. Females seldom get a chance to lay a second clutch of eggs. They leave the water at night and begin moving uphill until they detect a spot which has retained a certain amount of warmth during the day. Most common area like that also happens to be the most dangerous, roads. They stop there because it has the desired temperature but then they can't find a soft spot to dig a nest. Older cars could straddle them while newer ones have little ground clearance. The mother to the last batch I hatched was found almost exactly in the middle of a town road and the top of her shell had been freshly cracked. Those which I turned loose in April would never have existed had I not stopped. 

Martin


----------



## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

We have and still do on occasion hatch a few snappers at our house but its illegal we're supposed to destroy/eat the eggs and not hatch or plant them. Got caught about 15 years ago and the bunny cop killed about 30 baby snappers we had hatched. We use to catch the babys in the wild, maybe 15 or so a year and raise them up about 4" to give them a better chance. All illegal of course. Not many laws here in little moscow make sense.


----------



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

backwoodsman said:


> We have and still do on occasion hatch a few snappers at our house but its illegal we're supposed to destroy/eat the eggs and not hatch or plant them. Got caught about 15 years ago and the bunny cop killed about 30 baby snappers we had hatched. We use to catch the babys in the wild, maybe 15 or so a year and raise them up about 4" to give them a better chance. All illegal of course. Not many laws here in little moscow make sense.


Thats AWFUL! Why didnt you get a chance to get rid of them some other way?

Only three more weeks for the slider eggs. Bit like your snappers they are.


----------



## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Bunny cop had a gun. They couldnt be released into the wild legaly since we hatched them. Illinois has some grand laws.The hatchlings were just a little over 1" wide. They had only been hatched about two weeks. Neighbor kid was over playing and the kids showed them to him. When he told his mother she was concerned about salmonilla and called the then DOC to ask about that. Of course they tricked her into revelaing where the babies were. There is always a chance of salmonilla etc after handling turtles, turtle eggs or hatchlings so its a good idea to practice good hygiene and watch youngsters around hatchlings/eggs etc.


----------

