Hello from the Desert!

[beachgirlartist]

Just wanted to say "hello" as I just joined while looking for some additional infor
mation on sulcata egg laying online...
I have two beautiful, almost 8 yr old females who have both recently laid eggs in the yard! Three different nests so far!
This is because Chad was introduced last May, when I rescued him from a community college in IL. Well, he's been busy ever since...
Morla and Yoda are the two females. And just two days ago Yoda laid her 2nd clutch of 39 eggs!!!!!
Cheers!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Where in the world are you located? Hope we can help you with whatever info you need.

 

[beachgirlartist]

Hello and welcome.

Where in the world are you located? Hope we can help you with whatever info you need.

Hi! I was actually just looking for any information about people who have let their torts hatch in the ground...just let nature take its course rather than really trying to hatch them. I'm in AZ, and I've heard/read conflicting timelines when letting them hatch in the ground in AZ.
My vet, who is a reptile specialist here, said the normal 90-120 days, but then I read something on a youtube video comment that said it takes 6 months in the ground in AZ. But, I don't know where in AZ that person was. So, I'm looking for people in the Phoenix or Tucson area who have experience in hatching eggs outside, naturally.
Thanks!

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Welcome! Congrats on the eggs!

 

[beachgirlartist]

Welcome! Congrats on the eggs!

Hi and thanks! I'm trying to find out if anyone in AZ Phx/Tucson knows the length of time it takes for eggs to hatch if just left in the ground....just going to let nature take it's course here as I'm conflicted about what to do with the eggs anyway. I've been told it's recommended to destroy them due to overpop and many needing homes already.
So, I'm not going to do anything special but I think I'll see what happens here. I have at probably at least 79 eggs in 3 nests!
Thanks for any help on time/duration. I know if incubated, 90-120 days....

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME . I have no experience with eggs. All I can tell you is that people incubating them keeps the eggs in higher humidity, which you may not get naturally in AZ. My post will give you a bump and maybe some more experienced will see this. However, I don't remember off hand anyone mentioning ever letting them just stay in the ground to hatch. Also, yes there are a lot of babies out there already. Check out the threads at the bottom of this post for some good Sulcata reads incase you do get babies. Most info out there is incorrect/wrong or outdated and the reason for many pyramided torts. Good luck with eggs. Please keep us informed on how it works out letting nature take it's course.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi beachgirlartist:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

We have a couple of Arizonans on the forum who raise sulcatas, but I'm not sure they leave the eggs in the ground. Hopefully they will see your thread and give you some help.

 

[Machin]

Welcome, I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful hints and tips on here as I have

 

[Tom]

It is physically possible for them to hatch in the ground, but pretty unlikely. You occasionally hear of it happening, but it is not the norm.

Whether or not to incubate the eggs is a personal choice. We have debated this issue many times here on the forum. There is one group of people who say that the rescues are overflowing and that there are tons of them in need of homes. The other side says the supply still cannot meet the demand. I could sell 1000 more babies if I had them. On the rare occasion that one pops up in a shelter around here, they are gone within hours. We've had a member here looking to adopt an older male for over a month and she has not been able to find one anywhere. If there are overflowing rescues, their location must be a closely guarded secret. Also, SOME rescues make it VERY difficult to get a tortoise. They charge a lot of money, insist on invasive home inspections and make people sign contracts with ridiculous unacceptable clauses. Its no wonder a rescue might have to sit on a few for a while. They make the adoption process to difficult. We have a member in Vegas and another in TX who have stated they will take ANY unwanted sulcatas, no questions asked. All total the two have them have received ZERO tortoises.

Please don't believe everything you read on the internet. Don't take my word for it either. Check for yourself. There is a rescue in Phoenix there that is supposedly overflowing with hundreds of them. Turns out you can adopt one for hundreds of dollars, more than it would cost to buy one outright from a normal seller, but you still have to submit to their contract and other terms. Also, they sell, yes I said sell, babies from all these big tortoises they have. A rescue that claims to be overflowing with animals in need of homes, yet makes it very difficult and expensive to adopt one, and then sells babies to the public thereby contributing to the very problem they claim to have...

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[Tyrtle]

How did two females produce eggs? Maybe I missed something.

 

[beachgirlartist]

Hi beachgirlartist:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

We have a couple of Arizonans on the forum who raise sulcatas, but I'm not sure they leave the eggs in the ground. Hopefully they will see your thread and give you some help.

Hi! You can just call me "beachgirl".
Although I live in the desert, my other favorite spot on earth is on a beach, or the water, preferably in SoCal...
And I'm an artist....
So, there you go. Thanks for asking!

 

[beachgirlartist]

It is physically possible for them to hatch in the ground, but pretty unlikely. You occasionally hear of it happening, but it is not the norm.

Whether or not to incubate the eggs is a personal choice. We have debated this issue many times here on the forum. There is one group of people who say that the rescues are overflowing and that there are tons of them in need of homes. The other side says the supply still cannot meet the demand. I could sell 1000 more babies if I had them. On the rare occasion that one pops up in a shelter around here, they are gone within hours. We've had a member here looking to adopt an older male for over a month and she has not been able to find one anywhere. If there are overflowing rescues, their location must be a closely guarded secret. Also, SOME rescues make it VERY difficult to get a tortoise. They charge a lot of money, insist on invasive home inspections and make people sign contracts with ridiculous unacceptable clauses. Its no wonder a rescue might have to sit on a few for a while. They make the adoption process to difficult. We have a member in Vegas and another in TX who have stated they will take ANY unwanted sulcatas, no questions asked. All total the two have them have received ZERO tortoises.

Please don't believe everything you read on the internet. Don't take my word for it either. Check for yourself. There is a rescue in Phoenix there that is supposedly overflowing with hundreds of them. Turns out you can adopt one for hundreds of dollars, more than it would cost to buy one outright from a normal seller, but you still have to submit to their contract and other terms. Also, they sell, yes I said sell, babies from all these big tortoises they have. A rescue that claims to be overflowing with animals in need of homes, yet makes it very difficult and expensive to adopt one, and then sells babies to the public thereby contributing to the very problem they claim to have...

Hmmmm. If they recommend destroying the eggs, then why aren't they destroying the eggs? Well, this was recommended to me by the American Tortoise Rescue, somewhere not in AZ. But, my vet seemed hesitant when I asked him. He said, well, it depends on if you think you can find good homes or people to sell them to. Obviously, he's an animal lover too. He also did say that they do hatch in the ground her in AZ and that sometimes, people don't even know eggs have been laid and they find hatchlings! Well, I've been lucky enough to actually witness the last 2 egg laying rounds. I missed the first one, but knew that she had probably just laid eggs. I dug around but couldn't find them. But, later, after watching my other girl Morla go through the process, I knew that Yoda must have laid eggs there. So I dug down deeper, found them, and covered them back up. I broke 3-4 in trying to find them though.
There is a retile show here twice a year, which is where I got my two hatchlings almost 8 yrs ago. I was thinking if they do hatch, maybe I could participate in that? It's in October though, so they would possibly be a couple months old by then, depending on several factors.

 

[Jacob]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[beachgirlartist]

How did two females produce eggs? Maybe I missed something.

Haha! I guess you did...
My first post stated that Chad (male) was introduced to my two girls last May, after I "rescued" him from IL. Eggs are not my idea of a good time, but the process has been so fascinating, that I'm pretty pumped, yet a little worried at the same time.
Thanks for asking.

 

[beachgirlartist]

Hello and WELCOME . I have no experience with eggs. All I can tell you is that people incubating them keeps the eggs in higher humidity, which you may not get naturally in AZ. My post will give you a bump and maybe some more experienced will see this. However, I don't remember off hand anyone mentioning ever letting them just stay in the ground to hatch. Also, yes there are a lot of babies out there already. Check out the threads at the bottom of this post for some good Sulcata reads incase you do get babies. Most info out there is incorrect/wrong or outdated and the reason for many pyramided torts. Good luck with eggs. Please keep us informed on how it works out letting nature take it's course.

You know, my torts are a bit pyramided too. Not grossly, but not smooth either. I'm a very concerned mama and always try to do the right thing for my animals, diet, housing, etc. Even getting a list from the vet here who is a reptile specialist. My torts now free roam and live outside in the yard. They graze on the grass and weeds but I do supplement them with greens, which possibly are not the best. I buy a mix of mustard, turnip, spinach, and collard greens. It's already pre-cut and bagged at Trader Joes. I also give them a few carrots here and there. But this is in addition to their grazing. I've read (just lately, in the last few days) that some people are recommending hay (either alfalfa or timothy) as a staple too. I've never fed them that, and actually when it's been around on the ground outside (for my rabbit) they ignore it.
Hmmmmm.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[LeaderLeprechaun]

welcome

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[JeffG]

Hi BeachGirl, welcome to the forum! I'm in AZ too (Gilbert), but have no experience with sulcata eggs. I completely understand your decision to leave them in the ground though. I kinda did the same thing years ago when I let my first mother ball python keep her first clutch of eggs. I had pretty much the same feelings as you. Not trying to produce babies intentionally, but fascinated by the process. I ended up with 5 of 6 eggs hatching healthy babies.

My advice would be to continue to seek out advice from people who have successfully hatched sulcatas in the ground in AZ. It is definitely possible, and I would just try to do everything that possible to increase the odds. It is so cool that you got eggs!!!! Please post updates from time to time.