Russian tortoise laying eggs?

[Tony the tank]

Well as I walking by one of the pens I noticed two females Russians laying eggs... After they finished there business .. I removed the eggs and placed them on Vermiculite and in my incubator... Set temp at 89* humidity at 80%. .. ..Is this correct? I have incubated plenty of Sulcata eggs...First time for Russians... Any info would be appreciated..Thank you

 

[Yvonne G]

Must be a full moon! (Both girls nesting at the same time!)

I haven't hatched Russian eggs, but we can send a shout-out to @biochemnerd808 and ask her advice about incubating. There are a couple others, but at the moment their usernames are escaping me (darned old age).

 

[Tony the tank]

Must be a full moon! (Both girls nesting at the same time!)

I haven't hatched Russian eggs, but we can send a shout-out to @biochemnerd808 and ask her advice about incubating. There are a couple others, but at the moment their usernames are escaping me (darned old age).

Funny they were on either side of the pen... Then one of them abandoned the nest and moved less than a foot away from the other one and started digging....8 eggs total..

 

[Tom]

Must be a full moon! (Both girls nesting at the same time!)

I haven't hatched Russian eggs, but we can send a shout-out to @biochemnerd808 and ask her advice about incubating. There are a couple others, but at the moment their usernames are escaping me (darned old age).

@Carol S and @kanalomele are good sources of russian breeding info. I have juveniles that I bought as babies from both of them.

One big difference between sulcata and russian incubation is that most russian breeders do not moisten the incubation media, but instead maintain humidity with water vessels in the incubator near the eggs on their dry media.

I typed this up for sulcatas, but most of it applies to russians too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

 

[Tony the tank]

@Carol S and @kanalomele are good sources of russian breeding info. I have juveniles that I bought as babies from both of them.

One big difference between sulcata and russian incubation is that most russian breeders do not moisten the incubation media, but instead maintain humidity with water vessels in the incubator near the eggs on their dry media.

I typed this up for sulcatas, but most of it applies to russians too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

Tom ..I keep a few containers filled with water in there...But what would you recommend for a dry media...Dry Vermiculite? Or will that draw out the moisture?

 

[Tom]

Tom ..I keep a few containers filled with water in there...But what would you recommend for a dry media...Dry Vermiculite? Or will that draw out the moisture?

I don't know if vermiculite is hygroscopic, or not. I use it for all my species, but I dampen it, and I've successfully incubated russians on it in years past. If I'm not mistaken, all of the babies I bought a few years ago were incubated on vermiculite. Carol and Melissa will correct me if I'm remembering that wrong.

The main thing I try to relate to people is to not use perlite, as it can kill them weeks or months down the road if they ingest it, and some ingestion is likely at hatching. Some breeders are still using perlite though...

 

[Tony the tank]

I don't know if vermiculite is hygroscopic, or not. I use it for all my species, but I dampen it, and I've successfully incubated russians on it in years past. If I'm not mistaken, all of the babies I bought a few years ago were incubated on vermiculite. Carol and Melissa will correct me if I'm remembering that wrong.

The main thing I try to relate to people is to not use perlite, as it can kill them weeks or months down the road if they ingest it, and some ingestion is likely at hatching. Some breeders are still using perlite though...

I guess I'll leave them be on the moistened vermiculite... Thank you

 

[biochemnerd808]

Thanks for the tag, Yvonne.

I use BONE DRY vermiculite, with 80%+ air humidity, created by adding 2 wide mouthed containers filled with warm water to the incubator.
Russian tortoise eggs notoriously soak up water and develop cracks if they are incubated in moist substrate. I get near 100% hatch rates using this method, which Melissa (@kanalomele) first told me about.

Must be a full moon! (Both girls nesting at the same time!)

I haven't hatched Russian eggs, but we can send a shout-out to @biochemnerd808 and ask her advice about incubating. There are a couple others, but at the moment their usernames are escaping me (darned old age).

 

[dmmj]

that's very interesting and good to know

 

[Tony the tank]

Thanks fornthebtsg, Yvonne.

I use BONE DRY vermiculite, with 80%+ air humidity, created by adding 2 wide mouthed containers filled with warm water to the incubator.
Russian tortoise eggs notoriously soak up water and develop cracks if they are incubated in moist substrate. I get near 100% hatch rates using this method, which Melissa (@kanalomele) first told me about.

I appreciate the help...Thank you..

 

[kanalomele]

Thank you for the tags @Tom and @biochemnerd808 I have experimented with several things over the years. From vermiculite to dirt from the yard. But I have the best success with Russians on Perlite. I use the dry as explained above. But a container of water inside the incubator is important. Additionally Tom makes an important point about the dangers of ingestion. I remove eggs from the Perlite as they pip in most cases. But certainly as soon as I find them they are removed. A separate container inside the incubator with moist paper towels is what they actually hatch into.

 

[Crzt4torts]

Well as I walking by one of the pens I noticed two females Russians laying eggs... After they finished there business .. I removed the eggs and placed them on Vermiculite and in my incubator... Set temp at 89* humidity at 80%. .. ..Is this correct? I have incubated plenty of Sulcata eggs...First time for Russians... Any info would be appreciated..Thank you

I successfully hatched 3 Russian eggs 7 years ago. Following advice from this group and some online research- I incubated at 88 degrees with 80% humidity, substrate was vermiculite in a 40/60 water to vermiculite by weight ratio.
0ne of these hatchlings actually laid HER first egg this week! Although not fertile egg as she is housed with 2 other females. She apparently has 5 more to lay…