Hatching Redfoot eggs outdoors?

ZEROPILOT

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My small herd of Redfoot have been very sexually active all Summer long. Even before then. But there are now so many places that my females could have deposited eggs and each time I attempt to excavate an area, my back starts hurting badly. So I haven't search too much. But I know that they are there.
My question is could any hatch all by themselves? Soon the cooler south Florida weather comes in and temperatures do get to as low as 50. Rarely colder at night. Daytime temps will be 59-78. Rarely higher and the whole area stays more humid than normal thanks to my rain maker system that turns on for 5 minutes every 3 hours during the day.
In the meantime, when I am in the pen I only walk on the cement pavers and don't step in any of the grass or substrate for fear of smashing some eggs. I suspect that there are several clutches deposited in the area of dense plants. It's also high ground. An area that stays dry.
What are the chances?
Anyone?
 

cmacusa3

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I bet they will be fine, my box turtle put eggs in the ground one October and the babies came out in March. We had snow and ice that winter and when I did find the nest it was only a couple inches deep and under a water pan.. i would suggest putting down some leaf litter to work as a blanket over the substrate.

Just my 02, Good luck ED. May need one of them when they DO hatch.
 

Anyfoot

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Can't help you Ed. I would imagine redfoot eggs undergo short bursts of night time lows down in Paraguay and bolivia, I read somewhere they are in northern Argentina too. Also I think Carl mentioned that some areas down there do hit freezing temps at night sometimes, whether eggs survive or are even in the ground at these times, I don't know.
@cdmay is your man for this.

Have you thought of putting a digital camera up over your pen. There not as expensive as you would think, you can get relatively cheap ones that record for a 28day cycle. Just a thought.
 
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tortadise

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Yep you should be just fine. You'd be surprised at what soil temperatures Can be even when ambient temperatures are quite low. I've succeeded numerous times in north Texas with ice and snow on the ground. Also succeeded in south Texas which is same weather as southern Florida. Just make sure your soil is soft enough and fence is secured so they can't get out. They will take a bit longer to incubate. But it will prove successful.
 

allegraf

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Don't worry, I am a little further north of you and I get foundlings every year. You will find that the hatchlings emerge after a long hard rain. I wouldn't worry about squishing the nests either. They tend to be about 4-8" deep.
 

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Don't worry, I am a little further north of you and I get foundlings every year. You will find that the hatchlings emerge after a long hard rain. I wouldn't worry about squishing the nests either. They tend to be about 4-8" deep.
The only eggs I've found were indeed that deep.
And the soil around them was hard packed. Even though the soil in the pen is pretty soft.
My enclosure is predator resistant and escape resistant. I'll give it a good lookover. This time imagining a tiny tortoise.
Thanks everyone!
 

cdmay

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Just got home from canoeing the Chipola....
No worries, you will get hatchlings. Not saying all will hatch, but most fertile eggs and resulting neonates will be fine.
 

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Just got home from canoeing the Chipola....
No worries, you will get hatchlings. Not saying all will hatch, but most fertile eggs and resulting neonates will be fine.
Thanks.
This will be the natural/laziness experiment.
 

theguy67

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Is this their first year being "sexually active"?

I found 4 hatchlings last year in my pen. 3 the 2nd week of November, and the last one in January. I find that eggs laid in the spring are still exposed to cold conditions that kill the embryos, so only clutches laid in the summer where I am located (Texas) manage to make it. Its time for me to start looking again. And to baby proof the pen so they can't escape. Being in south Florida, I would assume you would have better luck than me. I know I have 2 producing females. One started just last year, so hopefully I get some babies.
 

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Last year I got three clutches of tiny eggs that never developed. Three that I found that is...
It was the very first time that any of my females produced.
 

Octavious22

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@tortadise I live in norcal and kamp kenan said I cant hatch redfoot eggs outside because it's out their natural range. But when my redfoot are ready to breed and lay eggs I will try the natural incubation anyway I don't get snow where I live but it does get in the low 40's but sometimes our winters are warm I think redfoot could successfully hatch outdoors in norcal :)
 

theguy67

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Last year I got three clutches of tiny eggs that never developed. Three that I found that is...
It was the very first time that any of my females produced.

From my understanding and experience, their first year is just them getting things going. My females usually either ditched the eggs or laid very shallow nests their first year. The second year was when I got hatchlings, although this is my second female's second year so we'll see.

Honestly I think my father was more excited than I was. He was the one to find them. He sent me a pic of a hatchling covered in dirt, and I assumed he found a wild box turtle hatching, until he sent better pics.

Is your enclosure "baby proof"? Mine wasn't entirely. We found a hatching in the yard. Might be a good idea to provide hiding places for babies too. Somewhere that stays moist. I have a log and a few rocks they can hide under so all I have to do now is flip the log over. It also provides a nice micro-climate hatchlings need.
 

Redstrike

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Sounds like 30-40 years from now we'll have feral redfoot tortoises running around FL...
 
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