Fertile and Infertile Eggs

Kapidolo Farms

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Will do you think my indian star tortoise eggs look alright?

It looks like they are four images of one clutch all alid on the 14th? So, I guess they look okay. I have not had laying females or hatched out eggs from Star Tortoises - so don't have a feel for quickly they may band, if star eggs do band for that matter. Banding is a process where some visible change occurs starting as a 'band' around the center part of the egg and that expands towards each end. This is often seen as a sign that the eggs are good. Spme eggs do not band and yet still seem to be good and hatch later on.

There are several folks in the star tortoise sub-forum that might offer a stronger guidance as to how to interpret the fertility or quality of the eggs. You might try posting the image(s) there.
 

Phillipspdx

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I have a male and female Russian and the female just started laying eggs. She laid one at a time two weeks apart from each other. The first one she stepped on and cracked. I was able to save the other two and put them in an incubator. The first egg I saved has been in there for almost 16 weeks. The other one is obviously two weeks behind that one. It really doesn’t look like they have changed at all. I haven’t candled them because I was afraid I would disturb something.

Is all of this normal? Will they be fertile? If not, will she eventually lay fertile eggs? I keep the male separate because he won’t leave her alone most of the time and I don’t want to stress her out. I put them together a few times a week for a few hours. I want to have hatchlings but want it to be safe for her too and make sure she is not egg bound.

Thanks for any help!

BD29FC23-374E-4209-B386-DEEC82B3793F.jpeg 7D23B6DB-2ADF-4388-A8EF-CAF6B8DF1F5D.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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Usually eggs laid on top of the ground aren't fertile, but who knows?
 

Jess Jess

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Dec 24, 2021
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Since I have a good example of each in my incubator right now I thought I'd post it so you can see the difference. Hopefully the picture shows it good enough.

The eggs on the lower left are fertile. Notice how white they are. When we talk about "chalking" this is what we're talking about.

The eggs on the upper right are sort of translucent and not white. These are not fertile and haven't chalked.

View attachment 182727
How long after the eggs are laid can you tell if they’re fertile or not?
 
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