# ***Incubation Help***



## SheldonsKeeper (Apr 24, 2019)

Hello All,

Hoping I can get some advise for my Easter Eggs (Laid on Easter Monday!)

So just to fill you in...
I got Tatty back in August 2018 and she was kept with another two tortoises, who were all unconfirmed gender - I took mine to the vets and had it confirmed I had a girl. The previous owners thought she was a boy as she had been 'bullying/attacking' the other two torts which is why they were selling and had said they have found eggs around March/April time the last few years.

My Tatty is 8yr old Hermmans (Testudo hermanni hermanni) she laid 4 eggs and I have decided to try and incubate them after all the effort she put into pushing them out bless her! I was lucky to be there when she started to lay her eggs and literally caught them as they came out - graphic but amazing to experience.

I just have a few questions that hope somebody or some people could answer for me;

If she has been in contact with males since last August could these eggs be fertile?
How or when can I tell if these eggs are fertile?
Any other advise would be amazing as this is my first time!
Thanks in advance!


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## Tom (Apr 24, 2019)

Yes they can be fertile.

You can see signs as early as the first week or two of incubation. Chalking, color change inside the egg, and eventually veins and darkening inside.

Some tips here:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/


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