Female sulcata laying eggs

[Lancecham]

I thought you guys may enjoy this. My 65 to 70 pound female sulcata has been wanting to lay eggs for close to two weeks now. We have had a lot of rain lately and on top of that, the ground has been pretty muddy. We haven't had any rain for a few days, so things have had a chance to dry up slightly. So she picked a good day yesterday to lay her eggs(and good thing she did as it is raining again today.)
Enjoy the pics.

 

[Yvonne G]

Your sulcata is very pretty. Did you raise her from a baby?

 

[Tom]

Great pics. Congratulations.

I agree with Yvonne. Gorgeous female.

 

[Torty Mom]

How exciting!! Congrats! Was this her first time?

 

[Lancecham]

Thanks for the compliments. I purchased her and her mate from the original owners a few years back. She had layed clutches for a few years with the previous owners. She laid 7 clutches for me last year.

 

[Yvonne G]

When you realize that a tortoise lays that many clutches and how many eggs per clutch it makes you stop and wonder just how many of those babies make it in the wild. In order for nature to provide SO MANY eggs and babies, there must be quite a bit of predation and death.

There are an awful lot of male sulcatas in households around the country. I hope you incubate for female!!!

 

[TylerStewart]

There are an awful lot of male sulcatas in households around the country. I hope you incubate for female!!!

Why? So that in 10 years there's a big wave of sulcata production when all those females start producing? If the ultimate goal is population control (which it isn't, to everybody), then everyone should be incubating for male. Males knock over lawnchairs and sometimes dig holes. Females lay dozens of eggs per year.

I'm still waiting for my first unwanted, abandoned, abused, etc etc sulcata to be sent my way. We are, after all, SulcataRescue.com.

Nice female, and that's a lot of clutches.... I've had some big, single clutches here, but nowhere near 7 clutches in a year with any species.

 

[Livingstone]

How did you know she wanted to lay the eggs? What were her activities that you recognized as "she needs to lay"?

 

[Lancecham]

My sulcatas have free range of the yard. They have their routines in regards to times and where they go in the yard.
When she is ready to lay, she is very predictable. She will usually get up earlier and look for places to lay her eggs. She will go to places in the yard where she normally doesn't go such as flowers beds, etc.
Her eating slows done as well.
She was hungry this morning as it was cold and raining and she still came out to feed.

Tyler,
I was very surprised by the number of clutches as well. I was giving her extra calcium to replenish what is loss during egg production, but even with the extra calcium, some of her eggs were a little "soft" as they cracked when she laid them on the 7th clutch.
Her last clutch was laid in July, so I am glad she took a break.
All of the current eggs lookgreat and no broken ones.

 

[tobibaby]

congrats i cant wait to see them hatch.. cuteness everywhere

 

[Lancecham]

Will do for sure.....

 

[RV's mom]

congrats!

teri

 

[tortoises101]

Your female looks great! Keep us updated!

 

[abra]

Congratulations Your female is beautiful!