# Tortoise egg explosion!



## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

So my tortoise egg popped yesterday out of no were when my mom was fixing out the water. We switched out the heat lamp but I don't know if the same thing can happen to the others. the egg that popped was kinda submerged in the dirt but to the point where half of the egg was sticking out. I am very new to the breeding community and my female Russian tortoise got pregnant twice over the span of 8 months from my male testudo tortoise which all eggs were fertile but the batch before didn't make it. This clutch I really want it to survive but I don't know if they will and they will pop like the other one. I don't have an incubator but created one by myself with a small fish tank organic dirt water and a cup of water and we spray the terrarium/fish tank with water in the morning and night every day. Please help me figure out if the others will survive. Please don't get angered at me due to my situation!


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

can you post pictures? your "incubator" sounds like it needs some work. Also you said "female Russian" and "male Testudo" is the male a Russian as well or is he another type of Testudo? Again, please post pictures


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

Search incubation on the forum and start making the necessary changes


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> can you post pictures? your "incubator" sounds like it needs some work. Also you said "female Russian" and "male Testudo" is the male a Russian as well or is he another type of Testudo? Again, please post pictures


 My testudo I think is a Russian as well also I don't know if age has anything to do with it but there 2 years apart


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> can you post pictures? your "incubator" sounds like it needs some work. Also you said "female Russian" and "male Testudo" is the male a Russian as well or is he another type of Testudo? Again, please post pictures


Also, my room is very dry and it is really hard to keep the humidity but let me go take some pictures of it its not a good incubator because I had to transport them immediately


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> can you post pictures? your "incubator" sounds like it needs some work. Also you said "female Russian" and "male Testudo" is the male a Russian as well or is he another type of Testudo? Again, please post pictures


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

Im no expert on incubation (or any subject for that matter) but I know have some major flaws in your setup. Your should have them on perlite. The substrate you are using is not good.. What are your Temps in the tank? Are you using lights on them? In nature they would be in the dark.
@Toddrickfl1 @Carol S might be able to offer help but I have a feeling its too late for this clutch.


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> Im no expert on incubation (or any subject for that matter) but I know have some major flaws in your setup. Your should have them on perlite. The substrate you are using is not good.. What are your Temps in the tank? Are you using lights on them? In nature they would be in the dark.
> @Toddrickfl1 @Carol S might be able to offer help but I have a feeling its too late for this clutch.


No lights and I think the temps are 70-80 and the soil is a coconut organic soil that is supposed to keep that eggs warm but thank you for the help I will update you and they are supposed to come out this month or next month!


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

Have you candled them?


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> Have you candled them?


Like with a light?


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> Have you candled them?


In that case yes I have and they are fertile my mom says the egg pop and she said there was the formation of the shell so i don't want to do much with the 2 left eggs in fear that they might pop when trying to pour water


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

Yes, like with a light, a flashlight specifically


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> Yes, like with a light, a flashlight specifically


Yes with a flshlight


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> Im no expert on incubation (or any subject for that matter) but I know have some major flaws in your setup. Your should have them on perlite. The substrate you are using is not good.. What are your Temps in the tank? Are you using lights on them? In nature they would be in the dark.
> @Toddrickfl1 @Carol S might be able to offer help but I have a feeling its too late for this clutch.


Torts should NEVER be incubated on Perlite. They eat it upon hatching and it lives their GI tract like sand. I have video of a little baby sticking its head out of the egg and eating substrate.


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> Torts should NEVER be incubated on Perlite. They eat it upon hatching and it lives their GI tract like sand. I have video of a little baby sticking its head out of the egg and eating substrate.


So what should i put them in instead of the organic sand


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2020)

Neon_xero said:


> So my tortoise egg popped yesterday out of no were when my mom was fixing out the water. We switched out the heat lamp but I don't know if the same thing can happen to the others. the egg that popped was kinda submerged in the dirt but to the point where half of the egg was sticking out. I am very new to the breeding community and my female Russian tortoise got pregnant twice over the span of 8 months from my male testudo tortoise which all eggs were fertile but the batch before didn't make it. This clutch I really want it to survive but I don't know if they will and they will pop like the other one. I don't have an incubator but created one by myself with a small fish tank organic dirt water and a cup of water and we spray the terrarium/fish tank with water in the morning and night every day. Please help me figure out if the others will survive. Please don't get angered at me due to my situation!


They pop when they are rotten, or when they are over watered. Russian eggs need to be on dry media, but in a humid chamber.

Its not going to work with the eggs exposed like that. They need to be in a container of some sort. I use plastic shoe boxes, but little Tupperware containers can work for smaller eggs and smaller clutches. Have the eggs directly exposed to the heat sources is a bad idea.

70 is too cool. 70-80 is too great of a spread, and 80 is too cool too.

You can order a Hovabator online for about $60. You might find it even cheaper if you shop around a bit. http://www.lllreptile.com/products/...MIwLCqlc_O7QIVxyCtBh3iNwUrEAQYBCABEgL5K_D_BwE

Read this for more info:





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





How do you know they are fertile? What signs did you see when candling?


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> They pop when they are rotten, or when they are over watered. Russian eggs need to be on dry media, but in a humid chamber.
> 
> Its not going to work with the eggs exposed like that. They need to be in a container of some sort. I use plastic shoe boxes, but little Tupperware containers can work for smaller eggs and smaller clutches. Have the eggs directly exposed to the heat sources is a bad idea.
> 
> ...


So for the heat lamp, we had another one but it was 90 degrees and we thought It poped from that also for candeling they have chalking and since that other egged poped my mom saw the formation of the shell and she said there was flesh in the egg so the other ones look like that egg


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> They pop when they are rotten, or when they are over watered. Russian eggs need to be on dry media, but in a humid chamber.
> 
> Its not going to work with the eggs exposed like that. They need to be in a container of some sort. I use plastic shoe boxes, but little Tupperware containers can work for smaller eggs and smaller clutches. Have the eggs directly exposed to the heat sources is a bad idea.
> 
> ...


I will get the incubator but there due this month or next month so I will see if they survive but thank you very much for the advice I will take that into a note and I will try to keep ya updated.


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## method89 (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> Torts should NEVER be incubated on Perlite. They eat it upon hatching and it lives their GI tract like sand. I have video of a little baby sticking its head out of the egg and eating substrate.





Tom said:


> Torts should NEVER be incubated on Perlite. They eat it upon hatching and it lives their GI tract like sand. I have video of a little baby sticking its head out of the egg and eating substrate.


I meant vermiculite... not sure why I said Perlite... Thanks Tom.


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2020)

Neon_xero said:


> So what should i put them in instead of the organic sand


I usually use vermiculite. I've also used sphagnum peat moss (the dirt-like kind, not the long fibered kind) and coco coir. I've also used the native dirt where they were laid.

I want to try using the SIMS method with no substrate, but haven't done that yet.

Just know that whatever media they are in will be eaten. I remove my hatchlings from the media and the incubators the moment they get out of their egg. After 7-10 days, they all poop out little flecks of vermiculite with their first bowel movements. This happens with or without a yolk sac.


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## Leotheturtle (Dec 14, 2020)

Neon_xero said:


> So my tortoise egg popped yesterday out of no were when my mom was fixing out the water. We switched out the heat lamp but I don't know if the same thing can happen to the others. the egg that popped was kinda submerged in the dirt but to the point where half of the egg was sticking out. I am very new to the breeding community and my female Russian tortoise got pregnant twice over the span of 8 months from my male testudo tortoise which all eggs were fertile but the batch before didn't make it. This clutch I really want it to survive but I don't know if they will and they will pop like the other one. I don't have an incubator but created one by myself with a small fish tank organic dirt water and a cup of water and we spray the terrarium/fish tank with water in the morning and night every day. Please help me figure out if the others will survive. Please don't get angered at me due to my situation!


Aw omg i hope that you find the correct things to help them!


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> I usually use vermiculite. I've also used sphagnum peat moss (the dirt-like kind, not the long fibered kind) and coco coir. I've also used the native dirt where they were laid.
> 
> I want to try using the SIMS method with no substrate, but haven't done that yet.
> 
> Just know that whatever media they are in will be eaten. I remove my hatchlings from the media and the incubators the moment they get out of their egg. After 7-10 days, they all poop out little flecks of vermiculite with their first bowel movements. This happens with or without a yolk sac.


Ok thank you!


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## Neon_xero (Dec 14, 2020)

Leotheturtle said:


> Aw omg i hope that you find the correct things to help them!


thank you


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## Salspi (Dec 14, 2020)

I found this video very interesting. So he's incubating snakes. doesnt have the perlite issue like torts do. So, gotta come up with a diff substrate or a way to keep the eggs from rolling while using no substrate,like in a SIMS incubator.


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2020)

method89 said:


> I meant vermiculite... not sure why I said Perlite... Thanks Tom.


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2020)

Salspi said:


> I found this video very interesting. So he's incubating snakes. doesnt have the perlite issue like torts do. So, gotta come up with a diff substrate or a way to keep the eggs from rolling while using no substrate,like in a SIMS incubator.


I love this. I did something similar back in the old days and helped hatch a bunch of black throat monitors this way.


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## Salspi (Dec 14, 2020)

Tom said:


> I love this. I did something similar back in the old days and helped hatch a bunch of black throat monitors this way.


I thought it was pretty cool too. Hes gotta have absolutely stable parameters in there.


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## Danimal (Dec 15, 2020)

Tom mentioned the SIMS method. I used the SIMS method successfully for a few years breeding crestie morphs. Small jellybean sized eggs, anyway, you don't have to worry about substrate if there isn't any.  You'll still need an incubator though. 

Also, before someone goes out and spends a bunch of money on an incubator, I've made them out of Ice coolers, soda fridges (the kinds next to the checkout) and full sized, freezer on top, refrigerators. It's super simple even for the non DIYer. Just be patient with the learning curve and do your homework.

ps. craigslist is your friend.


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## nightoff (Dec 16, 2020)

I don’t know where you live but here in South Florida, I have found it easiest to leave the eggs where they are laid, if they’re in a safe area, and I put a round wire cage around the eggs so that when the tortoises hatch they come up and end up corralled in the little wire cage. That way they are in their natural environment that the tortoise has decided is suitable. That I know of, all but one of the eggs hatched and the one that didn’t hatch, I don’t know if it was fertile.


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