SREL Reprint #3784

A protocol to safely obtain viable eggs from free-ranging Terrapene in outdoor mesocosms in temporary captivity

Ryan J. Rimple1,2, Kurt A. Buhlmann1, and Tracey D. Tuberville1

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken,
South Carolina 29802, USA
2Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia,
180 E Green Street, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA

Introduction: Turtles are among the most threatened taxa of vertebrates, with over 50% of species globally and 35% of North American species considered Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered by the IUCN (Rhodin et al. 2018), prompting a wide array of conservation and scientific research efforts.
Reproduction studies are particularly important, providing information on life-history traits such as clutch size, clutch frequency, and egg size, which are important for developing population models (Gibbons 1982; Congdon et al. 1987; Congdon and van Loben Sels 1991; Wilkinson and Gibbons 2005). Inherent in these studies is the need to detect and count eggs, often using radiographic imaging (Gibbons and Greene 1979). However, researchers and conservation practitioners often need more in-depth information, such as hatching success or to physically obtain eggs for captive breeding or head-starting programs...

SREL Reprint #3784

Rimple, R. J., K. A. Buhlmann, and T. D. Tuberville. 2023. A protocol to safely obtain viable eggs from free-ranging Terrapene in outdoor mesocosms in temporary captivity. Herpetological Review 54(4): 561-566.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).