# something even stranger is going on....



## turtlelady80 (Sep 11, 2014)

I mentioned my "Magical baby" in my last thread...my egg I have in the incubator. Well, I thought I'd throw this out there to see what kind of responses I get. 
I have ONE MAGIC EGG in the incubator. This time last year I had 84 EGGS in my 3 incubators. Had 
an 80% hatch rate...good times
Soooooooooo....what the H...???
ANYONE???
No changes other than adding some newbies and expanding their enclosures. Everyone is happy, healthy, and mating....my X fiance swears it's because we broke up lol.


----------



## jskahn (Sep 11, 2014)

hi, need more info


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 11, 2014)

I have several adults that produce. This time last year I had 84 eggs in my incubators. And now I only have one lol. Bad luck I guess. No changes other than opening up their enclosures, adding a few more plants, and I did end up getting 3 new RF adults that I added into the group after 6 months quarantining. Been feeding the same food, soaking etc... all I can think of is that we didn't really get a "summer". It's been pretty cool here considering last summer was above 90 all summer.


----------



## G-stars (Sep 11, 2014)

I would go with the expanding of the enclosures. Maybe the change stressed them a bit. Also the new additions of tortoises could have something to do with it.


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 11, 2014)

And no, no one's showing signs of egg bound. They have plenty of proper nesting sights Other than the 3 newbies, my torts have been with me for years 
I'm not worried, I'm just stumped. As I said before they are all happy and healthy.... doing what they do


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 11, 2014)

G-stars said:


> I would go with the expanding of the enclosures. Maybe the change stressed them a bit. Also the new additions of tortoises could have something to do with it.


Thank you. Any thoughts are helpful


----------



## WillTort2 (Sep 11, 2014)

Perhaps the three new ones have changed the group dynamics.


----------



## turtlemanfla88 (Sep 12, 2014)

I agree i think is it the three new ones. next year I would not add any new animals and see what happens.


----------



## Yellow Turtle01 (Sep 15, 2014)

They might be adjusting to the changes you made, even if they didn't seem like much. Three new torts to get used too might be affecting your females... maybe not comfortable laying eggs yet?


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 15, 2014)

They are all (10) in a 100 ft by 40 ft enclosure outside. They really never "run into each other". The 3 newbies mate with each other. I haven't caught the newbie male after my other females. I'm home 24/7 and I'm pretty good with observation/paying close attention, but who knows. The weird part of it is is that 5 of my females were digging test holes (inside) in April right before I let them out. Then I let them out for spring and.... nothing.


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 16, 2014)

Found a test hole this am...BTW, I didn't have 10 RFs laying 84 eggs last year lol. I included my sulcata eggs too....


----------



## tortadise (Sep 16, 2014)

My Sulcata skipped this year. She laid nothing. But she was moved into a newer building with a much larger winter barn. Redfoots, sulcatas, and any species will do this. If anything new is added they can feel insecure with the current surroundings they're found in. Even if it is a a new tortoise. They need to feel secure to lay. Adding plants, larger area, and more tortoises is part of the egg cycle that seemed to be broken. But also have you kept an eye on them at night? I've missed numerous Redfoot clutches the past years when they're outside. They can and will lay them very late at night.


----------



## Yvonne G (Sep 16, 2014)

I'm too lazy to find your other threads to see what specie of tortoise we're talking about here, but I'll give you my two cents on the Manouria. I have found that my Manouria don't nest if I've changed their habitat. And they don't nest if I've moved them. Now that their lives have been stable for several years, I've found that they nest every other year.


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 17, 2014)

tortadise said:


> My Sulcata skipped this year. She laid nothing. But she was moved into a newer building with a much larger winter barn. Redfoots, sulcatas, and any species will do this. If anything new is added they can feel insecure with the current surroundings they're found in. Even if it is a a new tortoise. They need to feel secure to lay. Adding plants, larger area, and more tortoises is part of the egg cycle that seemed to be broken. But also have you kept an eye on them at night? I've missed numerous Redfoot clutches the past years when they're outside. They can and will lay them very late at night.


Well well well..... that all seems to be what happened then. Hmmmmmm....I always try and "upgrade" lol. Didn't think it would throw their laying off this much. Thank u for the info. Wow. And no, once it's dark and everyone is asleep, I don't go back out and check. Maybe I missed some. Damn... they'll actually wake up and sneak out and lay? Interesting lol sneaky torts


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 17, 2014)

Yvonne G said:


> I'm too lazy to find your other threads to see what specie of tortoise we're talking about here, but I'll give you my two cents on the Manouria. I have found that my Manouria don't nest if I've changed their habitat. And they don't nest if I've moved them. Now that their lives have been stable for several years, I've found that they nest every other year.


Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. Then I think I found the problem.....its "I'm anal" lol 
I'm always improving and expanding.


----------



## turtlelady80 (Sep 17, 2014)

I found out who was digging the test hole. My YF.... she dug a nest this am and laid 5 huge eggs Yay!


----------

