when will my tortoise lay eggs?

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

i have two greek tortoises , male"18-19 cm" , female " about 22 cm" .
i have them for over a year now , the female didn't lay any eggs , i didn't put any soil in their house . would that be the problem or what?
they mate 2 -3 times a week

 

[tortadise]

RE: when will my tortoise ay eggs?

You Definitely have to have a good nesting site for your female to dig and lay her eggs. But breeding isn't an instant anatomical occurance. I'm not sure on Greeks but the female has to develope the eggs which takes time and them when they breed that is when te male fertilizes them. The female doesn't drop the eggs right after they breed. Just make sure that their is a good deep nesting site for her to lay. At least 10" of good soil. And it's really just a waiting game really.

 

[Tom]

RE: when will my tortoise ay eggs?

There are many things going on here...
1. Some tortoises just take longer to mature than others. It might be years Before you see an egg.
2. They have to be relatively comfortable in their environment to produce and lay eggs. Do you house the two of them together full time? If yes, she is probably way too stressed to want to breed. Housing them as a pair in a relatively small indoor enclosure is about the worse thing you can do. They don't pal around in the wild. When a male happens to find a female in the wild during the right time of year, he breeds her and then they go their separate ways. Forcing her to deal with him always in her face is likely very stressful.
3. From your soil comment, I am guessing that they are housed indoors. Making them a large, interesting outdoor enclosure and putting them out there during decent weather, will improve their health, their mood, and make it much more likely for you to get egg deposition.
4. Just be cause he mounts the female does NOT mean copulation and sperm deposition has taken place. A lot of times the males just do this to assert themselves and the females might be forced to tolerate it, but no actual "breeding" occurs.

Suggestion: House them separately and only introduce them a few times a year for breeding. Or... obtain two more females, quarantine them, get some fecal exams during quarantine, medicate them if necessary, and then introduce them all together in very large enclosures with lots of hiding areas and visual barriers. If you must house them only indoors, you will need to get creative and provide several nest boxes with different substrates until you find one that your female finds suitable.

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

thanks for the replies
i have to house them indoors because i live in a flat , i will put some soil in their house and just wait but i still wish it would lay some eggs quickly , i really can't wait to see their babies
when i separate them , the male goes crazy and leave the food i guess they are in love

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

It could be a number of things but something that is very important in order for them to produce eggs is their diet. If my torts have a large variety in their diet and have constant access to food they lay every 30 days on the nose. That's once they've established a habbit of laying though, it takes them a while to adjust to a new environment and can take quite some time before they'll lay eggs once relocated.

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

It could be a number of things but something that is very important in order for them to produce eggs is their diet. If my torts have a large variety in their diet and have constant access to food they lay every 30 days on the nose. That's once they've established a habbit of laying though, it takes them a while to adjust to a new environment and can take quite some time before they'll lay eggs once relocated.

i fed them Egyptian lettuce , the female refuses to eat anything else except in winter when we can't find lettuce anymore she eats green beans , the male eats a lot of things but he always like the lettuce more
i have them for over a year now so they are used to the place now

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

i fed them Egyptian lettuce , the female refuses to eat anything else except in winter when we can't find lettuce anymore she eats green beans , the male eats a lot of things but he always like the lettuce more
i have them for over a year now so they are used to the place now

Sometimes it can take longer than a year. Do they live outside? Is there any grass or weeds or leaves available to them?

 

[Akronic]

i would change over to at least a spring mix, or dandelions. green beans are not that good for them and the Egyptian lettuce looks more like iceberg to really have much nutritional value. i would ditch both the green beans and the lettuce and use some of the items listed on this link http://russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

i fed them Egyptian lettuce , the female refuses to eat anything else except in winter when we can't find lettuce anymore she eats green beans , the male eats a lot of things but he always like the lettuce more
i have them for over a year now so they are used to the place now

Sometimes it can take longer than a year. Do they live outside? Is there any grass or weeds or leaves available to them?

no they live indoors , no i didn't try to fed them weeds or grass , i only tried lettuce , green beans and cucumber , but the female only ate the lettuce

---

i would change over to at least a spring mix, or dandelions. green beans are not that good for them and the Egyptian lettuce looks more like iceberg to really have much nutritional value. i would ditch both the green beans and the lettuce and use some of the items listed on this link http://russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm

i can try the cabbage but i don't even know most of the items in that list , i can try Hibiscus too but i can only buy the dried one , the fresh one is never available here

 

[LeaderLeprechaun]

cucumber doesnt have much nutritional value, i would try forms of squash instead

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

cucumber doesnt have much nutritional value, i would try forms of squash instead

i tried the squash but they refused to eat it
i tried tomato too but they didn't like it a lot

 

[GBtortoises]

Sucessful breeding and egg production depends upon what posters have mentioned above as well as tortoises being well acclimated to their surroundings without sudden or drastic change happening. In other words, they must establish a routine, usually an annual cycle for temperate species. Tortoises must first be secure in their surroundings before they will begin to reproduce.

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

Sucessful breeding and egg production depends upon what posters have mentioned above as well as tortoises being well acclimated to their surroundings without sudden or drastic change happening. In other words, they must establish a routine, usually an annual cycle for temperate species. Tortoises must first be secure in their surroundings before they will begin to reproduce.

who long will they take to fell secured?? i have them for a year now

 

[Akronic]

well if you were doing things right, that would have been plenty of time for them to adjust or calm down. the cabbage and tomato are not good for them. try salad greens, dark broad leafed greens, not pale white cabbage/lettuce. get spring mix. they must not have normal salad mix where you live

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

Egyptian lettuce is rich in vitamin e , a and d
i can try spinach , but i heard that it could harm them
i can try parsley , Coriander and Arugula , are they healthy for them?

 

[Michael Bird]

There are many different varieties of "Egyptian Lettuce" since virtually ALL lettuces are variants of the lettuce plants originally cultivated in Egypt. What type of lettuce are you actually feeding to the tortoises? It may be a decent food for them, but they need a good variety of foods in order to stay healthy, especially if you want them to lay eggs. Where do you live? You may not have access to every possible food source, but you definitely need to find something more than just the plain lettuce (and don't give them green beans or tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, or white/iceberg lettuce). Cucumbers and white lettuce aren't bad for them, but they don't have any real nutritional value.

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

There are many different varieties of "Egyptian Lettuce" since virtually ALL lettuces are variants of the lettuce plants originally cultivated in Egypt. What type of lettuce are you actually feeding to the tortoises? It may be a decent food for them, but they need a good variety of foods in order to stay healthy, especially if you want them to lay eggs. Where do you live? You may not have access to every possible food source, but you definitely need to find something more than just the plain lettuce (and don't give them green beans or tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, or white/iceberg lettuce). Cucumbers and white lettuce aren't bad for them, but they don't have any real nutritional value.

this is the type i use "the photo below"
i can try spinach , parsley , Coriander and Arugula , are they healthy for them?

 

[Michael Bird]

That is Romaine lettuce, which is an OK food for tortoises as part of a larger diet, but definitely shouldn't be the only thing that the tortoise eats. Spinach and parsley are OK as a rare "treat" for something different, but should not be fed regularly because they are high in goitrogens, which impair thyroid function when fed in excess. Arugula is good, but as with the Romaine, shouldn't be the only thing they eat.

My Greek's main food source is spring mix salad (a mix of green and red romaine lettuce, red and green oak lettuce, tango, lolla rossa, red and green leaf lettuce, mizuna, arugula, tatsoi, mache, red and green chard, endive, and raddichio) since it is readily available in every grocery market, is inexpensive, and automatically provides a nice variety of foods. Once in a while it has spinach as well so I watch for that and pick some of it out if there is a lot, but otherwise I just grab a handful and let her chow down. I also mix in zucchini squash, prickly pear cactus fruit and pads, rose leaves, dandelions, clover, and (very rarely) some strawberry stems/leaves as a special treat.

The main thing is to make sure they have a good variety of foods so they can get all of the nutrients that they need in order to stay healthy and happy.

 

[egyptian and proud "mayar"]

That is Romaine lettuce, which is an OK food for tortoises as part of a larger diet, but definitely shouldn't be the only thing that the tortoise eats. Spinach and parsley are OK as a rare "treat" for something different, but should not be fed regularly because they are high in goitrogens, which impair thyroid function when fed in excess. Arugula is good, but as with the Romaine, shouldn't be the only thing they eat.

My Greek's main food source is spring mix salad (a mix of green and red romaine lettuce, red and green oak lettuce, tango, lolla rossa, red and green leaf lettuce, mizuna, arugula, tatsoi, mache, red and green chard, endive, and raddichio) since it is readily available in every grocery market, is inexpensive, and automatically provides a nice variety of foods. Once in a while it has spinach as well so I watch for that and pick some of it out if there is a lot, but otherwise I just grab a handful and let her chow down. I also mix in zucchini squash, prickly pear cactus fruit and pads, rose leaves, dandelions, clover, and (very rarely) some strawberry stems/leaves as a special treat.

The main thing is to make sure they have a good variety of foods so they can get all of the nutrients that they need in order to stay healthy and happy.

i don't even know most of the items in that salad , i tried zucchini and they refused to eat it , i will try the arugula and rose leaves "any kind??"
i'm not sure we have clover in Egypt

 

[Akronic]

are you in some BFE country where they dont have a super market and you can just buy spring mix salad in a bag.......those options you are presenting are really not the best choice.