we have eggs!

[EAzSulcata]

Ok so I need a little advice, until this past weekend I thought both my tortoises were male, as a matter a fact they both show all the signs of male, chat GPT, Grok all the ai has called the male, and up to this point I thought the mounting was a thing of DOMINANCE...... well I was very uneducated, clearly! about 3 weeks ago my smaller tortoise began digging, what I thought could be a nest, but again all the tell-tale signs pointed to it being MALE. I know my tortoises usually dig in the beginning of the summers when grass I scarce, but once I start watering, they usually stop, so I pulled her from the hole and covered it. any ways, now to the point of this post.

this last weekend I noticed my smaller tortoise hadn't come out in maybe 3 days, which isn't like her at all, she's usually out every morning and evening, both are. so, I went and did some investigating. low and behold I found her cozied up in the doghouse with eggshells around her. up to this point I didn't even know she was a SHE, so now I am really unprepared. did I throw her off by covering her holes, or is laying in the enclosure normal?? will this continue to throw her off? when will she lay again? I found what I think to be about 7 eggs, is this a normal amount? I know eggs can incubate on their own in AZ; is there a chance she buried some of her eggs, or has some in the yard from when she was digging about a month ago?

any advice helps. thanks all!

 

[Tom]

Ok so I need a little advice, until this past weekend I thought both my tortoises were male, as a matter a fact they both show all the signs of male, chat GPT, Grok all the ai has called the male, and up to this point I thought the mounting was a thing of DOMINANCE...... well I was very uneducated, clearly! about 3 weeks ago my smaller tortoise began digging, what I thought could be a nest, but again all the tell-tale signs pointed to it being MALE. I know my tortoises usually dig in the beginning of the summers when grass I scarce, but once I start watering, they usually stop, so I pulled her from the hole and covered it. any ways, now to the point of this post.

this last weekend I noticed my smaller tortoise hadn't come out in maybe 3 days, which isn't like her at all, she's usually out every morning and evening, both are. so, I went and did some investigating. low and behold I found her cozied up in the doghouse with eggshells around her. up to this point I didn't even know she was a SHE, so now I am really unprepared. did I throw her off by covering her holes, or is laying in the enclosure normal?? will this continue to throw her off? when will she lay again? I found what I think to be about 7 eggs, is this a normal amount? I know eggs can incubate on their own in AZ; is there a chance she buried some of her eggs, or has some in the yard from when she was digging about a month ago?

any advice helps. thanks all!

Hello and welcome!

The first and most important thing to know is that tortoises should NEVER be kept in pairs. It's torture for them. One or both always suffer. Groups can sometimes work out, but not pairs. They need to be separated ASAP. She stayed in the dog house for three days to avoid the male.

You can easily tell male from female by the size of the tail. Males have a huge tail at least 3 inches or more, and females have a tiny nub of a tail, barely a half inch. The tails look the same on juveniles and babies, but are very different on mature animals like yours.

When they are digging a burrow, they dig head first with their front feet. When they are digging a nest, they will start it with their front feet, but quickly turn around and dig with their back feet. If you see the tortoise digging with it back feet, it is digging a nest. When you interrupt this process and stop them or remove them from their nest hole, you run the risk of causing them to become egg bound. This can be fatal. Let her finish undisturbed whenever possible.

It's normal for first time moms to drop eggs at the surface. Some times the eggs have weak shells or no shells at all. When this happens, I call it "priming the pump". Their bodies are getting ready to generate and lay lots of eggs. Often first clutches are smaller, so 7 is not unusual. I've had first clutches of 3-11. Normal is 20-30 eggs per clutch once they get going, and they will typically lay a clutch about every 6 weeks from January through May until it starts to get really hot outside. My record number of eggs from one clutch was 44, and that same female laid two other clutches of 42. Normal is around 2 dozen for most females most of the time.

Where you are, they should be living in a self dug burrow from around June through October. The rest of the year they should have a heated night box to sleep in and the burrow entrance should be blocked. A burrow is the only way to to remain cool enough during your scorching summers. The ground is too cold during your winters. Here are two examples of night boxes:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

When and if the time comes:

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...

tortoiseforum.org

This last thread is for people new to the forum, not necessarily new to tortoises. Some of the above, and lots of other stuff is addressed. All of your questions are welcome.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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