monsteramp
Member
im curious how eggs survive in the wild since everyone says u need an incubator for it to hatch. even though the climate is suitable there's bound to be rain through the many days and night temps fall.
I don't think an egg can survive the winter. Maybe the baby hatched in fall and brumated in the nesting hole.The ones that just hatched for me sat outside 4" down for almost 6 months during the end of fall and all of winter.
one was still in the eggI don't think an egg can survive the winter. Maybe the baby hatched in fall and brumated in the nesting hole.
I don't think an egg can survive the winter. Maybe the baby hatched in fall and brumated in the nesting hole.
im curious how eggs survive in the wild since everyone says u need an incubator for it to hatch. even though the climate is suitable there's bound to be rain through the many days and night temps fall.
I would not have believed that eggs can survive the winter. There is always something new to learn about tortoises!This was her on Halloween of last year, when I noticed this I put her back in the enclosure for a few days before taking her in for Hibernation, Then on Apr 1st of this year I discovered the first hatchling, then next day I found 2 more and day 3 I dug up the area and found one out of the egg and one more half way out.View attachment 127141
I would not have believed that eggs can survive the winter. There is always something new to learn about tortoises!
But I guess your hatchlings are from older eggs and have only brumated inside the nesting hole (maybe even inside the egg shell) or was it warm enough for them to develop between November and March?
I have no clue how it worked to be honest, those eggs weren't laid until early November to my best guess, It got very cold here during those incubation months. When I found them they were only about 7 grams and the yolk sacs were gone but it hadn't been long because the I could still see the marks on the plastron.I would not have believed that eggs can survive the winter. There is always something new to learn about tortoises!
But I guess your hatchlings are from older eggs and have only brumated inside the nesting hole (maybe even inside the egg shell) or was it warm enough for them to develop between November and March?
That's what I wanted to know.We're talking about hibernating species here. The 'eggs' don't survive the winter, the babies hatch in the Autumn and over winter in the nest in a hibernation type state.
I'm not sure if the marks would disappear with a depressed metabilc rate during brumation...When I found them they were only about 7 grams and the yolk sacs were gone but it hadn't been long because the I could still see the marks on the plastron.
That's what I wanted to know.
I never heard about eggs that were laid late in autumn, survived a long winter and started to develop in spring - but maybe it's possible?
I know that eggs can be stored at a cool place for some days or even weeks before being incubated, but a few months with maybe freezing temperatures seems quite long to me.
That's true, it's much better for the hatchlings, but there is a higher probability to get males, that's why only few breeders use this method.various studies have shown that nighttime drops in temperature are actually good for incubating eggs thus replicating what they experience in nature. The end result is healthy, robust, strong hatchlings.