Tortoise having eggs

[Charmaine Edwards]

i have 3 large tortoise with 1 being a male. One had about 20 eggs in November. The other one has been having them off and on 2 or 3 at a time ever since the first one had hers. I never know when she is having them so they get broke. She is not digging a spot to have them in. She just has them in their enclosure. Not sure what I should do. She’s had about 20 of them so far.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm assuming you're talking about sulcata tortoises? Usually when they just poop out the eggs on top of the ground, the eggs aren't fertile. This happens frequently with first time egg layers. Not to worry. She'll get the hang of it next year. Can you tell us a bit about how you care for these tortoises, where they live, what they eat, etc. Maybe load up some pictures for us?

 

[Markw84]

Sulcatas are normally winter to spring layers. A female will lay 2 or 3 clutches over the course of this time, normally about 5 weeks apart. They need to have the eggs in the ground to be able to incubate while temperatures are rising in spring/early summer to hatch with the coming of the monsoon rains. This has them laying eggs in the cooler part of the year. The cooler part of the year is overnight lows in the low 70°s and daytime highs in the high 90°s, for example in their prime range in Sudan. That is far different than the temperatures in the US and certainly in Oregon. Egg production takes a great deal of metabolic energy. With a reduced ability in cooler climates to maintain an optimal metabolic temperature of the mid 80°s, during egg formation, we can get a very poor situation for the female. Sporatic calcification of the forming eggs where only a few are "ready" at a time is one possible issue.

What are the temperatures your tortoises are being kept? Do they have an enclosure with proper choices for laying locations?