Hello !

This looks to be the website i've been serching hours for. Please help Us! My husband and I while camping at our family's cabin came across a ransacked snapping turtle nest.
We saw the female after she just layed them the previous day and i couldn't bear to leave them unprotected. So we carefully removed what surviving eggs we could (about 5) and let a few to chance unfortunately as i covered the remaining unharmed eggs back up. Whatever it was that destroyed the nest really did a number on it. Racoons probably. Anyways we filled a tall, wide glass jar half-full with the sand where they were buried and carefully placed the future snappers in the warm sand and carefully covered them with about 6 inches deep of sand. My husband says they probably won't survive, but the mother in me has to at least try, after all the species here in MN depends on every single one. They are getting harder to spot and too many people just run them over. So as I ask, PLEASE< PLEASE help us. We are raising two small painters that we found last spring, but they were already hatched. All we had to do is feed them and play with them- they are really smart creatures. They have character just as dogs and cats do. do the snappers during incubation need any moisture? Oh and the nest we saved them from was destroyed again the next morning. So now I must continue to try to bring these babies into the world to someday send them back to their lake to continue on as they were meant to. Anyone with any real help please reply. and in advance, THANK YOU!!
:unsure:

Legally, you're not supposed to do anything although covering them back over is probably okay. The thing is, the raccoon or whatever predator knows where they are and will be back to finish them off. You can make a new nest as you did with dirt/sand from that area. Don't bury them too deep because they need some air exchange. The depth the mother buries them is to regulate temperature and hide them from predators. My site has a little bit on hatching eggs at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtles/turbreed.htm#hatch
The eggs do need some moisture. Mist them a few times a week but not heavily.
My page on hatchlings including snappers, legalities, etc. is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtles/hatchling.htm
If you get some to hatch, you should release them right away, or you'll become attached!