how to move turtle eggs

Question
Hi, I was wondering how to move turtle eggs without breaking the embryo? There is turtles that live by me that lay there eggs on a dirt road so i want to move them so they don't keep getting crushed by cars! The turtles are painted and snapping turtles. And i also wanted to know how to take care of turtle eggs because my friend has 2 painted turtles and one layed eggs but they are in a cage with just rocks so they are on top of the rocks so where and how should he take care of the eggs? Thank you so much!!!!!
                       sincerely,
                               Aaron Kostopolus

Answer
If you can see the eggs, they are probably not fertile, or have been damaged already. Fertile eggs are buried in nests.

Eggs are often laid in bad places by young inexperienced turtles, older turtles, turtles that are stressed or ill, etc. They lay eggs more as a result of hormones and sort of to get rid of extra calcium and chemicals.

If you move the eggs, plan on incubating them since it is very hard to re-plant them in a new nest. Also be aware that in most states, it is illegal to disturb wild animal eggs- turtles are often specifically covered under fishing laws for that. If they are at risk, it is usually better to call in a certified animal rehabilitation expert who knows how to do things and has the permission of the government to do it.

I would not bother incubating eggs laid in the open, but if you want to try, here are a couple good articles on it:

- http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Emergency%20Incubation%20Techniques.htm

- http://www.tortoise.org/general/eggcare.html

- http://members.aol.com/TheWyvernsLair/incubator.html

- http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_incubator.html

Good luck!