In The Works....

[N2TORTS]

Ahhh yes .... "Butters".....gave us her first clutch !.... Paired up with the Hypo male for the last few years.
5 nice BIG eggs from her.


Speaking of Hypo....eggs "Gemma Hypo" just laid her first clutch this year as well. Huge clutch for an RF as she dropped 8 eggs!... The bummer part , She broke 3 of them trying to cover them up <sigh>. My assessment to the problem of why it happened , the ground was very hard and dry , compared to her usual nest site. Thus while backfilling this material with great force... every time her foot would slip it hit the eggs inside the nest. *Just a reminder if you can to make sure your nest box/outside nest area stays moist and not too compact. Even tilling the area yourself once a month to keep the "soil" manageable.

JD~

 

[dmmj]

If a hypo egg hatches and it is hypo.I want one.
In your experience is it common for firs time layers to break a few?

 

[N2TORTS]

If a hypo egg hatches and it is hypo.I want one.
In your experience is it common for firs time layers to break a few?

DJ ~good question ...I would say maturity (age wise) and not so much "SCL-size" plays the most important role with first timers, as you will find younger females will produce eggs, that in most cases are unfertile. But yes younger females who are not as "experienced " in nesting , egg-laying aka: 1st timers ...all get better at "this event" thus, giving their linage to carry thru. (sorry for the confusion ....) The story I added at the bottom of the pic - about "Gemma" is a very successful egg layer here at TortoiseCove , this was the first time she broke any. Also it was a very big clutch ...so another factor to consider is the "atypical nest size" which would "hold" 3-5 eggs and be covered successfully - this new clutch had 8 eggs ...and of course the ones that broke were closest to the surface. I have two mature female hypos of 2 different gene lines , with last year being one of the best thus far.. I do have one left from last year DJ .. if your interested shoot me an PM. or wait for the new ones at year's end.



JD~