Hello, as of today I am the proud caregiver for Eggbert. He/She is almost a year old and was an unexpected arrival for friends who have a female Arizona Desert Tortoise, who unbeknownst to them laid eggs in their back yard. The surprising thing about Eggbert's parentage is that her/his father is a Sulcata.
I live in North Phoenix, Arizona and will be checking here for information on an ongoing basis...
Thanks much!
Derek
What a cute little tort you have, welcome to TFO!!! From another arizona resident.
Whoa, is that really possible?!?! Nice looking tortie!
Glad you found us, too! Welcome!
cvalda Wrote:Whoa, is that really possible?!?! Nice looking tortie!
Glad you found us, too! Welcome!
They didn't think it was possible, but their female had only one (known) male companion.
Welcome! Lucky you, you have a very special tort there. Congratulations!
Welcome to the forum!!!! He's a cutie.
thats crazy!!!!! Welcome to the forum.
WOW!!! it will be really interesting to see how this little one grows! welcome!
Welcome. Has this cross been documented DNA wise. I'm sure you could find someone in scientic community that would be very interested. This is a cross across genis (gopherus x geochelone). Keep us posted. Inquireing minds want to know.
hi Derek and welcome to the forum
Yes welcome to the Forum. How long had they had the female?
Thanks for the warm welcome! I am going to speak to my friends and find out as much as possible about Eggbert's parents. I'll report back.
Thanks again!
Derek
Itort Wrote:Welcome. Has this cross been documented DNA wise. I'm sure you could find someone in scientic community that would be very interested. This is a cross across genis (gopherus x geochelone). Keep us posted. Inquireing minds want to know.
Itort,
I spoke with my friends and they did have a herpetologist come to their house after they arrived home to find their patio a mess due to their female digging a nest next to it.
The story...
They have had their female desert tortoise for about 10 years and are unsure of her age since she was given to them almost fully grown. They had an older/larger male sulcata, which they thought was fighting with their female but it was actually constantly trying to mate with her. They separated them about 4 years ago and some time after the female made the mess next to the patio and the herpetologist was called.
The herpetologist told them it was possible for the two to mate and when the first eggs hatched there were 14 baby tortoises. My friend said the female can be fertile for a few years, which I find shocking. The female continued to lay eggs and the number of babies decreased with each subsequent nest dug. Eggbert was 1 of 3 hatchlings and his "birthday" is actually Sept. 10, 2006, which makes Eggbert a year and a half old.
It will be interesting to see what Eggbert's habits are considering his/her parentage.
Wow, that was an interesting story and I am looking forward to watching Eggbert grow up on the forum. He is definitely one unique tort. Thanks for sharing that with us.