# CherryHead Nesting Right Now



## N2TORTS (Mar 31, 2014)

A little unusual for this gal....."dropping eggs at noon" .....




JD~


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## littleginsu (Mar 31, 2014)

Just had to get them off her.. ahem, chest! LOL


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## kathyth (Mar 31, 2014)

Very cool, Jeff! More for the incubator!


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## N2TORTS (Mar 31, 2014)

kathyth said:


> Very cool, Jeff! More for the incubator!



yes indeed just a couple in the cooker....you got to see first hand huh?....
Too bad Miss Vegas wasn't nesting yesterday ...interesting procedure indeed. :shy:




littleginsu said:


> Just had to get them off her.. ahem, chest! LOL



you could say that....and at noon no less?  ...Most of the time your RF's will be nesting in the late afternoon / evening time ....


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## kathyth (Mar 31, 2014)

I'm sure it is interesting!
Is this the heavy female I held?


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## N2TORTS (Mar 31, 2014)

Ok She finished up ////now for those who have never seen how stealthy tortoises can be in "hiding" their eggs.....check this out ~





















4 Nice BIG eggs .....


JD~:shy:




kathyth said:


> I'm sure it is interesting!
> Is this the heavy female I held?



No it wasn't Queen Liz' ... it was the other "High Domed" female that was cruising around....


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## Torts"R"Us (Mar 31, 2014)

Awesome , congrats Jeff .


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## shanu303 (Mar 31, 2014)

congrats


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## ben32hayt (Apr 5, 2014)

How often do you miss an egg when you are digging them out of the ground? Do you ever get hatchlings come straight from the ground without any incubation? 
Thanks, Ben


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## tortnmutt (Apr 5, 2014)

How long did it take for her to lay them? Do you have to check their enclosures everyday for overturned areas and see if you missed a tort laying?


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## N2TORTS (Apr 5, 2014)

ben32hayt said:


> How often do you miss an egg when you are digging them out of the ground? Do you ever get hatchlings come straight from the ground without any incubation?
> Thanks, Ben



Ben ....when I know for sure the location (usually take a pic of female nesting as well- for record keeping) 100% retrieval on all the eggs. Now the trick is not to break any while digging them up. RF's do not have clutches the size of Leo's or sullies, so one could expect 2-4 eggs as the norm, although I have larger females that lay in the 7-10 range. For the most part it's amazing how a tortoise can excavate a "certain nest hole" and mostly intact ,like if you dug it out round with a spade shovel, and then compact the dirt when done as well as camouflage it. Where I live it is possible depending on the time of the year that the eggs where laid and expected hatch date...(also species type) but for myself not yet in the way of tortoise eggs.(only turtle eggs). 

JD~




tortnmutt said:


> How long did it take for her to lay them? Do you have to check their enclosures everyday for overturned areas and see if you missed a tort laying?



Females can take anywhere from 3-6 hours even longer to nest and lay eggs. My tortoises are kept outside year round as well as having a " hut" which includes nesting areas (aka deeper substrate). All the females have chosen to lay at one time or another to lay within the hut and or outside. The idealism is getting to know your tortoise's red flags prior to nesting. This can and does help in catching them in action. Of course lets not forget the actual time a person can spend with their tortoises to whiteness these habits. Once in a blue moon I might look / overturn a certain area to check for eggs, but usually about 95% spot on in catching them in "action". In the last 5 years or so ...I have missed 2-3 clutches . 
JD~:shy:


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