Every year, turtles go through a process called nesting season. This is when they come to land to nest, aka dig their holes and lay their eggs, and then go back to the water to live their lives. While this is a very natural event, sometimes they go to more unnatural places. Even though we would love to have them nest on their own, sometimes intervention is required. That is where we come in.
Some Blanding’s turtles have a tendency to nest in areas that are not ideal such as neighbors backyards or close to the train tracks. When we have a strong feeling that they are going to nest, we will find them and go through a process known as inducing. This is when we medically assist to help them lay their eggs to avoid them traveling to dangerous places. What we do is administer medications to help kick start the inducing then take the eggs as allow them to lay their eggs in either a pre-made hole or in water. We then collect the eggs as they drop which will later be incubated. By inducing, we help to lower the risk of nesting death and increase the amount of eggs we can collect and incubate to birth hatchlings which will later become head-starts and be released back.
Inducing can take anywhere from 40 minutes to several hours but no matter how long, it has always been a wonder to watch. Even though this is my second season doing this, it still amazes me how these turtles grow these eggs then go into nesting behavior and finally lay their eggs. Sometimes the turtles do not need assistance while laying the eggs but others sometimes need assistance such as a massage to help adjust the egg positions inside or additional hot water or more words of encouragement. While I am sad that this is my last season doing this, I am thankful I got to induce as many times as I have. Each experience has been a learning opportunity of some sort.
