Suprise eggs

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goochestortoise

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I'm a new member to this site because all of a sudden, we found eggs in the Russian tortoise bin so I've been researching what to do for them. I purchased an incubator and placed them there by that evening but I am having trouble maintaining the humidity despite several open containers of water inside and soaking the vermiculite. The only thing I found that keeps the humidity at 80% is to turn on the shower in the bathroom where the incubator is located and hang wet towels. Otherwise the humidity is 65%. Any suggestions?

We've had the tortoises for 5 years and they have an outdoor enclosure. Last summer, the male escaped and was free in the hillside all winter. The neighbor's dog found him (unharmed). 2 months after the reunion, we have eggs.
I don't know how long ago the eggs were laid. Do they die instantly if they are cold over night or even a few days? How do tortoises incubate in the wild?
 

kimber_lee_314

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I keep my Russian eggs in a hovabator with a butter tub of water and that's it. I wet the vermiculite when I first put the eggs in and not again. I know I should monitor the humidity, but I don't, and they all hatch fine. I do raise the humidity when they are about to hatch though. Were the eggs laid in a nest or on the ground? That makes a big difference. I've never had an egg laid outside the nest hatch. The overnight cold won't hurt them. They just take longer to hatch when they are left in the ground as opposed to a constant temperature. Hope that was helpful. :)
 

goochestortoise

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The tortoises have a 4x6 outdoor enclosure with a Rubbermaid bin 6 inches deep of cypress bedding. It's not ideal because they have trouble burrowing in it but I wasn't able to get the coco bark I used to get. She laid the eggs on the surface but inside the bin. Since she didn't burry them, does it mean they're not fertile? Or does it mean she couldn't dig into the substrate? How long before I see anything when candling?
 
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