Breeding

[Lavish Knave]

My tortoise are kinda mating which is cool but after the eggs are laid what do I do? Just leave them there or take them out and do something special.. Also if a brother and sister or father and daughter tortoise mate will they come out deformed?

 

[Jacqui]

What kind are they? Do you want them to hatch or is there any laws in your area preventing you from hatching them? Where do you live? You should be safe at this point in not having the chance of inbreeding causing problems yet. Further down the road, especially for future generations of tortoise keepers this may become a huge issue, especially for some species.

 

[Lavish Knave]

Mating btw sorry if i spam not sure if it sent

Well my Russians are mating and I just want to know what to do with the eggs once they hatch, do I leave them there or do something special? Also if siblings mate or father and daughter will they come out with deformities?

 

[Lavish Knave]

Sorry probably spammed, they are Russian tortoises

 

[Lavish Knave]

Also, I live in Las Vegas... There are no laws against breeding them, but there is on selling. And yeah, I'll probably separate the siblings and parents. Unless they need to be together

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Lavish Knave!

There won't be a problem breeding brother/sister/father/mother, etc. unless you then breed the offspring back to each other. The genetic faults start showing up farther down the line of in-breeding...not usually in the first pairing.

I don't think you'll have to worry about getting eggs. Are your tortoises outside in a natural pen, or indoors. Females will sometimes lay eggs indoors, but you have a better chance of eggs outside. Male steppe (russian) tortoises will just breed all the time. They will pester a female so much that she will eventually hide all the time just to get away from him.

If you DO happen to get eggs, you gently take them out of the substrate, being careful to not turn them, and incubate them in some sort of incubator that will maintain a steady temperature between 83F and 86F degrees. If you DO get eggs, we'll be happy at that time to give you some better info regarding how to keep them.

 

[Lavish Knave]

Thanks