Do tortoises need to mate before they lay eggs?

[Rachelcoul91]

We dont know the sex of our tortoise, we only have 1 and they are a 2 1/2 year old eastern hermann's.
weve naturally thought it was a boy, but i was thinking if it's a girl do they need to mate before laying an egg?

I know he's to young to even think about trying to figure out his real sex but by photo's of other tortoises' i feel like weve got a girl on our hands.

do they need to mate before laying an egg? or do they lay eggs to later be fertilised by a male?

 

[Yvonne G]

Some female tortoises never lay eggs if they don't ever see a male, and some lay all the time without having been with a male. There's no set pattern to it.

 

[littlemozzy1987]

Females can lay eggs with or without having mated. (Poor girls )

 

[Markw84]

Yes, but of course they would not be fertile