Red-footed tortoise egg question

[Oldpokeman]

Our female red foot laid her very first clutch of eggs back on August 20th. I know that 12 hours after laying the eggs should not be handled but I am wondering at what point is it safe to gently handle the eggs, if ever? I can't seem to find an answer to this question anywhere.

 

[TC Tortoise Camp]

Generally, It's a good idea once you have the eggs set up in the proper medium inside an incubator, not to mess with them. We do from time to time candle our eggs too see if they are fertile or not. You just have to be careful the egg isn't rotated or moved from it's original upright position once the embryo attaches to the egg wall. Most eggs can be candled without being picked up. When we remove the eggs from the nest, we mark them with an X at the very top from the position they were laid and note the female name, date and weight. This way if we do handle the egg we can be careful it isn't rotated.

 

[Tom]

Our female red foot laid her very first clutch of eggs back on August 20th. I know that 12 hours after laying the eggs should not be handled but I am wondering at what point is it safe to gently handle the eggs, if ever? I can't seem to find an answer to this question anywhere.

They can be handled after 12 hours. Just don't rotate them. I often leave them in the ground for days or weeks sometimes before digging them up to put in the incubator. You can pick them up and candle them at any time, just don't turn them in any way.