Transplant a turtle colony without Silk Touch?

I'm still pretty early-game, haven't got a solid village or any real farms set up yet, but I confirmed a turtle beach a few miles away from the area I'm setting up shop.

I know that turtles return to their birthplace to lay new eggs… this would seem, on paper, as I currently understand it, to imply that there's no way to transplant a turtle colony from Lagoon X to Lagoon Y without getting that enchantment first.

I'm hoping my understanding is flawed, however, and there's some way for a player who hasn't yet got Silk Touch to coerce turtles to lay their eggs in a new location. Is there?

minecraft-java-edition

Best Answer

Unfortunately, your understanding is correct. I just tested this on Minecraft Java 1.18.1 and the turtle with the egg never lays it if unable to make its way back to the home beach.

I grabbed two turtles via boat and fenced them in on a new beach a short distance away. The wiki says "No matter how far away the turtle is, it always attempts to return to its home beach to lay its eggs after breeding", so I was hoping it would just lay it on the spot once the attempt fails. But it just waits indefinitely and only once I broke the fence did it go back to the home beach and lay eggs there.

Turtles must have hatched/spawned on your beach for it to be considered their home beach. The most reliable option would be getting Turtle eggs by using a Silk Touch tool. You could also try to just wait for some to spawn naturally under the following conditions:

Turtles spawn on the sand in the Overworld on beaches with daylight, but not in its snowy variant or stony shores, occasionally in small groups of up to 5 individuals.

In Java Edition, turtles spawn at light levels greater than 8, on sand blocks less than 4 blocks above sea level (typically at Y=62).

In Bedrock Edition, turtles spawn in groups of 2–6, at light level 7 or higher, at Y=60–67.

One guaranteed (though tedious) way to get Silk Touch is to just re-roll trades on a Librarian villager till Silk Touch is sold. It's not too hard to craft a lectern and they are sometimes already in natural villages. You'll just need to get enough emeralds, probably by trading with other villagers.

Pictures about "Transplant a turtle colony without Silk Touch?"

Transplant a turtle colony without Silk Touch? - Black and Yellow Turtle on Brown Sand

Transplant a turtle colony without Silk Touch? - Brown and Black Turtle on Brown Wooden Table

Transplant a turtle colony without Silk Touch? - Brown and Black Turtle on White Surface

Can u pick up turtle eggs without silk touch?

Turtle eggs can be obtained in the inventory using tools with the Silk Touch enchantment. If broken without the enchantment, pushed by a piston, or a player or gravity-affected block falls onto it, the egg breaks without dropping anything.

Is there a way to get turtle eggs in Minecraft without silk touch?

Your farm needs to be on the "home beach" (the beach on which they spawned/hatched) of the turtles you breed. So you either have to base your farm around the turtles or find a couple turtle eggs, pick them up with silk touch and bring the to your farm, and wait for them to hatch. Show activity on this post.

EASY Way To Get Turtle Eggs In Minecraft! - Easy Turtle Guide

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