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Box turtle eggs are flexible, oblong and are (depending on the taxon) on average 2–4 cm long weighing 5-11 g. The normal clutch size is 1-7 eggs. In captivity and in the southern end of their range, box turtles can have more than one clutch per year, while the average clutch size is larger in more northern populations. [ 6 ]
Before laying her eggs, the female may prepare several false nests. [28] After a proper area is found, she will dig out a small cavity, lay about seven eggs [19] (but anywhere from three to 20 is common), and fill in the area with earth. Oval and white, the eggs average 3.7 centimeters (1.5 in) in length and 2.36 centimeters (0.93 in) in width ...
Many turtles from the same beaches show up at the same feeding areas. Once reaching sexual maturity in the Atlantic Oceans, the female Loggerhead makes the long trip back to her natal beach to lay her eggs. The Loggerhead sea turtle in the North Atlantic cover more than 9,000 miles round trip to lay eggs on the North American shore.
She looks for a rather open area, with no major obstacles for the future hatchings to negotiate on their way to the river. The nest is dug with the hind feet. She lays 10–25 or more eggs in one or more clutches. Eggs are ellipsoidal, approximately 1.5 inches (4 cm) long. Incubation time is determined by temperature, but averages 90–100 days.
Females can lay five clutches per year, but two is a normal average after including the 30–50% of a population's females that do not produce any clutches in a given year. [131] In some northern populations, no females lay more than one clutch per year. [131] Bigger females tend to lay bigger eggs and more eggs per clutch. [136]
Eastern box turtles feature a sharp, horned beak and stout limbs, and their feet are webbed only at the base. Eastern box turtles have five toes on each front leg and normally four toes on each hind leg, although some individuals may possess three toes on each hind leg. Eastern box turtles range in size from 4.5 to 8 in (11 to 20 cm) long.
About 50% of female sea turtles complete "false crawls," which occur when they crawl onto the beach but return to the water without laying eggs.
In the northern part of their range common snapping turtles do not breathe for more than six months because ice covers their hibernating site. These turtles can get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and allowing gas exchange to take place through the membranes of their mouth and throat. This is known as extrapulmonary respiration. [30]