Female Russian Egg remnants

bigsteaks

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Hello
We have had a female russian now for about 4 years. We found egg remnants in her enclosure today. I say about 2-3 good size shell fragments.We have never seen her lay or attempt to lay eggs yet. Half the year she is outside in her private oasis. The other six months she is housed indoors and some of that time is spent living in the same enclosure as a male russian.
Help!!!! What has happened and what should i do???????
 

Yvonne G

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Some females will lay eggs without having been with a male (just like chickens do). She probably pooped out the egg then broke it accidently. They don't always know what comes out of them - poop or egg.
 

GBtortoises

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It's not unusual for a female to lay random eggs occasionally. There could also be legitimate reasons why you'd find an egg on top of the ground. A female tortoise will sometimes produce eggs with a change in environment. The best example of that is going from outdoors in the fall into a warmer, more frequently lit environment indoors. This change may result in the tortoises body thinking it's springtime and it will begin to produce eggs. If a tortoise has been bred within the past few years up to within two weeks of the eggs being produced they may be fertile. If she hasn't ever been bred and produced eggs they obviously aren't going to be fertile. Females will often "release" infertile eggs on top of the ground rather than nesting. In this situation they pay no attention to the eggs and will inadvertently trample and break them, sometimes even eating them. The tortoise could also be withholding more eggs for lack of a suitable nesting site within the enclosure. If this is the situation a nesting site should be offered as soon as possible. It can be dangerous to the tortoise's health if she is carrying developed eggs for an extended period of time. Several things can happen, they can become calcified, actually "grow" together and cause blockage or they can begin to decompose within her body. If you see one egg always assume there may be more. If she has been with a male always assume that they may have bred and treat any eggs as fertile.
 

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