# Heart breaking news. (broken egg)



## Jlant85 (Mar 8, 2014)

I came home last night not expecting anything and I saw this....


She showed no sign of being egg bound... No sign of aggression, no pacing around, and no digging holes... My heart broke when I saw this last night... This was our first egg... My male only mounted her once but by accident! He's in a different enclosure too!


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## milkandsam (Mar 8, 2014)

*RE: Heart braking news.*

 so sad! Sorry about your egg


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## Tom (Mar 8, 2014)

*RE: Heart braking news.*

This is a good sign. Many females start out their egg laying "career" like this. At least three quarters of the females that I have raised to maturity dropped eggs on the surface like this. Sometimes the shells are leathery and just tear open, sometimes they just smoosh them. Its all part of the process. I call this "priming the pump". The females body is basically preparing to go into full time egg production and the first few just pop out like this many times. I have a feeling it happens more often than people think and other tortoises or other animals sometimes clean up these initial "warm up" eggs before they are seen by the keeper.

Within the next few weeks, you better get this female into a large outdoor area where she can find a suitable nesting spot. She'll probably have a clutch to lay soon.


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## Jlant85 (Mar 8, 2014)

*Heart braking news.*

Tom your awesome! You just answered I next question! Your like a mind reader or something! Lol... Yeah my outdoor enclosure is ready... Been preparing all winter long.


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## wellington (Mar 8, 2014)

*RE: Heart braking news.*

Sorry about your first egg, but very happy for the post and news you got from Tom. I guess this really isn't as sad of a thread as first thought. 
So, I will say it now, CONGRATS on your future eggs


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## diamondbp (Mar 8, 2014)

*RE: Heart breaking news.*

Tom nailed it. I was gonna say that the egg wasn't fully formed with an outer shell, at least that I could tell from the picture. It's a rare thing indeed for a young female to lay a nicely formed nest with healthy fertile eggs for their very first nest. In time you will have more eggs than you know what to do with.


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## T33's Torts (Mar 8, 2014)

*Re: RE: Heart breaking news.*



diamondbp said:


> Tom nailed it.



Ditto.


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## Jlant85 (Mar 18, 2014)

*Heart breaking news.*

Tam you were right! My baby laid her next clutch! 3/17/14. 2 eggs! I got it incubating at 86-88 and humidity is a little high 89-90... I'm going to air it out for an hour to see if humidity drops...


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## kathyth (Mar 18, 2014)

*RE: Heart breaking news.*

I'm so happy this has turned to good new's!!


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## biochemnerd808 (Apr 22, 2014)

Awesome news about the second clutch! 
I think that a tortoise's behavior before laying can sometimes give us a clue as to whether the egg is fertile. My female Timmy 'dumped' an egg on the surface after hibernation, and she did the same with 2 eggs last year. There were plenty of nesting sites for her. Then this Spring, she dug nest holes and laid 2x 3 eggs in there, and covered them up. They are all showing veins now!


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