# My Sulcata laid 47 eggs



## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Last September I got a female Sulcata so that I can breed her with my male that I got ten years ago and she was a pretty small female weighing about 30-40 pounds and I thought she maybe laying 15 eggs but on March 31 she laid 25 eggs and then just 28 days after she laid 22 more I was wondering if it was normal for a Sulcata to lay that many eggs that fast or if I just had some beginners luck?


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

Totally normal. I saw the title and was all ready to admit defeat and that you'd broken my record of 42 eggs in one clutch. My sulcatas typically lay 3-4 clutches each year. Most clutches are 22-28 eggs, but my female Daisy usually lays 32-36 in each clutch. Daisy is 10 years old and about 55-60 pounds. Mine typically have 5-6 weeks between clutches, but 30 days happens once in a while.

I hope that you are housing them separately most of the time. Males can be relentless and will literally harass a female to death. You should have at least two females per male and 3-4 females per male is better for the health of all of them. But then you'll have a baby factory.Best to have just one, or if you have two, house them separately.


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> Totally normal. I saw the title and was all ready to admit defeat and that you'd broken my record of 42 eggs in one clutch. My sulcatas typically lay 3-4 clutches each year. Most clutches are 22-28 eggs, but my female Daisy usually lays 32-36 in each clutch. Daisy is 10 years old and about 55-60 pounds. Mine typically have 5-6 weeks between clutches, but 30 days happens once in a while.
> 
> I hope that you are housing them separately most of the time. Males can be relentless and will literally harass a female to death. You should have at least two females per male and 3-4 females per male is better for the health of all of them. But then you'll have a baby factory.Best to have just one, or if you have two, house them separately.



Great thank you for your response and yes I house them separately I am looking into getting another female but I’m having trouble selling just these 40 babies but I love the process of breeding them and hatching the eggs.


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

Shadowhunter said:


> Great thank you for your response and yes I house them separately I am looking into getting another female but I’m having trouble selling just these 40 babies but I love the process of breeding them and hatching the eggs.


I love it too. Some people frown upon it nowadays, but that doesn't bother me. I like being able to offer healthy well started babies to people, instead of the typical dry started babies that are going to die a few weeks after people purchase them, and then go on to tell people how "delicate" babies are. They aren't delicate at all if you just keep them in the right conditions and keep them hydrated. I also have no trouble moving the few that I produce.

Have you read this:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> I love it too. Some people frown upon it nowadays, but that doesn't bother me. I like being able to offer healthy well started babies to people, instead of the typical dry started babies that are going to die a few weeks after people purchase them, and then go on to tell people how "delicate" babies are. They aren't delicate at all if you just keep them in the right conditions and keep them hydrated. I also have no trouble moving the few that I produce.
> 
> Have you read this:
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/



I just read it and I did everything pretty well I had a 100% hatch rate so far I put the babies out of the vermiculite while they were hatching so they wouldn’t get covered in it I put them in the same incubator on a plastic shoebox with paper towel and I read what you said about keeping them outside I just moved them outside today because I thought that it was too cold in my garage it’s 70-74 degrees what do you think I should do? Btw they are secure outside no predator could get to them


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

I have a large bird brooder that I use while the babies are in the brooder boxes. You could also just leave them in their brooder boxes inside the incubator to maintain temps.


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> I have a large bird brooder that I use while the babies are in the brooder boxes. You could also just leave them in their brooder boxes inside the incubator to maintain temps.



They’re already a month old


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

Shadowhunter said:


> They’re already a month old


At a month old they should be living in a large closed chamber. Warm and humid all day every day. Daily soaks, and an hour of sunshine 3-4 times a week. Like this: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-stack-of-animal-plastics-closed-chambers.165626/


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> At a month old they should be living in a large closed chamber. Warm and humid all day every day. Daily soaks, and an hour of sunshine 3-4 times a week. Like this: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-stack-of-animal-plastics-closed-chambers.165626/



Ok so that I’m doing right and one last thing, what do you do about the tortoises flipping over because I get like 3 or 4 Fluor over a day and I’m scared one might flip over overnight and I won’t notice it till next morning and it might be dead or hurt


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

Shadowhunter said:


> Ok so that I’m doing right and one last thing, what do you do about the tortoises flipping over because I get like 3 or 4 Fluor over a day and I’m scared one might flip over overnight and I won’t notice it till next morning and it might be dead or hurt



Mine will sometimes flip in their little shoe box brooder boxes, but they seldom flip in their enclosures.
What size enclosure are yours in? Can you post a pic of it?


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> Mine will sometimes flip in their little shoe box brooder boxes, but they seldom flip in their enclosures.
> What size enclosure are yours in? Can you post a pic of it?


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2018)

Bad news. Those tortoise houses aren't any good for any age or any species. Poor design and it doesn't work. To small for adults that can handle dry conditions and too open to be able to maintain the humidity and warmth that the babies need. Your babies need to be in an indoor closed chamber and they need to be kept warm and humid. They should be soaked daily and only out in the sun for about an hour 3-4 times a week. I've done repeated side-by-side experiments with clutch mates to discern these things.


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Well right now I’m in a tight spot because My parents are already mad at me for spending so much money on the incubator and cages hopefully if get to sell all these they’ll see I can actually make back the money I spent and let me do that


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 15, 2018)

Tom said:


> Bad news. Those tortoise houses aren't any good for any age or any species. Poor design and it doesn't work. To small for adults that can handle dry conditions and too open to be able to maintain the humidity and warmth that the babies need. Your babies need to be in an indoor closed chamber and they need to be kept warm and humid. They should be soaked daily and only out in the sun for about an hour 3-4 times a week. I've done repeated side-by-side experiments with clutch mates to discern these things.



Is there anything I can do now for under $100?


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## daniellenc (Jul 16, 2018)

Shadowhunter said:


> Is there anything I can do now for under $100?


Yes!! Cheap rubbermaid christmas tree box with a hole cut in the lid for the CHE to provide heat they desperately need (seventies is too cold for a hatchling), and a UV light mounted on the inside lid. Remember babies need it humid and warm to thrive and digest properly as well as daily soaks.


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## Shadowhunter (Jul 16, 2018)

daniellenc said:


> Yes!! Cheap rubbermaid christmas tree box with a hole cut in the lid for the CHE to provide heat they desperately need (seventies is too cold for a hatchling), and a UV light mounted on the inside lid. Remember babies need it humid and warm to thrive and digest properly as well as daily soaks.



Ok thank you I have a bunch of those storage containers laying around


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