Question About Eggs

[Joseph Duran]

Hello everyone, I am new to the group. I actually have a question to the experienced sulcattas tortoise owners. I have two tortoises which I was told were males. I had one going on 12 years and one six years. I have a pretty big yard so they made a burrow underground which is where they stay. There are times they huddle other places around the yard. They live outside year round. My GF went outside today to feed the sulcatta's and was surprised to see one of them (The older one) laying eggs. We were definitely not prepared for this. There are 6 eggs they were left on the edge of the sidewalk. The grass dirt area is hard right now as its drying from the rain we received. I was asked if I was going to incubate them. I know nothing bout that, but if eggs are left alone, will they start developing on their own or do they need to be destroyed? IF one was going to incubate, how long will an egg sit before it is passed a time of developing or is there such a thing? Thanks in advance for any information given

 

[Tony the Tort42]

I cant help at all but congrats! You must have done a good job on your big guys, thats a cool achievement.

 

[Maggie3fan]

The eggs need humidity and constant temperature underground in a nest. Eggs on the ground are probably not fertile. Please don't hatch Sulcata eggs...My personal opinion

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone, I am new to the group. I actually have a question to the experienced sulcattas tortoise owners. I have two tortoises which I was told were males. I had one going on 12 years and one six years. I have a pretty big yard so they made a burrow underground which is where they stay. There are times they huddle other places around the yard. They live outside year round. My GF went outside today to feed the sulcatta's and was surprised to see one of them (The older one) laying eggs. We were definitely not prepared for this. There are 6 eggs they were left on the edge of the sidewalk. The grass dirt area is hard right now as its drying from the rain we received. I was asked if I was going to incubate them. I know nothing bout that, but if eggs are left alone, will they start developing on their own or do they need to be destroyed? IF one was going to incubate, how long will an egg sit before it is passed a time of developing or is there such a thing? Thanks in advance for any information given

FIrst, they should never live as a pair. Its very stressful on them.

Second, its much too cold for them to live outside in a burrow year round. Burrows are great here in CA in summer, but not for winter. You are lucky they are still alive, because many don't survive this.

They can dig in ground that is almost as hard as concrete, so that shouldn't be an issue. New moms often drop some eggs on the surface when they are gearing up for reproduction. This is common. In four to six weeks she'll probably lay again and at that time, she'll dig a proper nest, and likely some test holes too.

Eggs won't develop sitting above ground. Some of the time, some of them will develop in the ground here in CA. They hatch in late summer after its been hot for 3-4 months. Here is info on incubation and babies if you are interested:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

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