# Horsefield Tortoise Eggs



## raffy-micha (Apr 30, 2021)

Hi! My horsefield tortoise laid 2 eggs 76 days ago. These are her first fertilised eggs. We have definitely seen veins previously in the eggs. However, for the past 4 weeks, the veins have disappeared and the eggs appear to look discoloured. There is no sign of collapsing on either eggs but nothing inside seems to be growing anymore. I do believe these eggs have gone bad but I am just looking for clarification - I really don’t want to risk disposing of a good egg.
There was also a smell coming from the incubator however after smelling both eggs, there was no smell coming from the eggs themselves. Just looking to see if this is also normal!


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## Lyn W (May 1, 2021)

Hi and welcome.
I don't know anything about hatching eggs or even how long they take, but if you use the search facility you may find some answers there.
Maybe @Tom or @Yvonne G can help so I've tagged them for you.


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## turtlesteve (May 1, 2021)

What to you mean by discolored? 

Eggs near hatch date will start to look dark inside with an air pocket near the top that look white. But in the time prior to this they usually look reddish or yellow with a dark mass.


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## Tom (May 1, 2021)

raffy-micha said:


> Hi! My horsefield tortoise laid 2 eggs 76 days ago. These are her first fertilised eggs. We have definitely seen veins previously in the eggs. However, for the past 4 weeks, the veins have disappeared and the eggs appear to look discoloured. There is no sign of collapsing on either eggs but nothing inside seems to be growing anymore. I do believe these eggs have gone bad but I am just looking for clarification - I really don’t want to risk disposing of a good egg.
> There was also a smell coming from the incubator however after smelling both eggs, there was no smell coming from the eggs themselves. Just looking to see if this is also normal!


Have you candled the eggs?

What incubation media?

What incubation temp?

Did you add moisture to the incubation media?

Pics would help.


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## raffy-micha (May 2, 2021)

I have been candling the eggs! The temperature is kept at 31 degrees C. As for moisture, I’m not quite sure. Here’s a recent picture of the eggs, I can’t candle them and get a picture as I don’t wanna risk dropping or tilting them slightly but the inside essentially looks the same as the outside.


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## raffy-micha (May 2, 2021)

Found a recent-ish picture of the inside of the egg.


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## Carol S (May 2, 2021)

The eggs before they hatch will look dark at the bottom and have an air pocket at the top of the egg. I candle my eggs without picking them up. I use a small mag flashlight. From what I can tell by the picture, it looks like they are close to hatching.


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## Toddrickfl1 (May 2, 2021)

raffy-micha said:


> I have been candling the eggs! The temperature is kept at 31 degrees C. As for moisture, I’m not quite sure. Here’s a recent picture of the eggs, I can’t candle them and get a picture as I don’t wanna risk dropping or tilting them slightly but the inside essentially looks the same as the outside.


These actually look like they do right before the hatch imo.


Carol S said:


> The eggs before they hatch will look dark at the bottom and have an air pocket at the top of the egg. I candle my eggs without picking them up. I use a small mag flashlight. From what I can tell by the picture, it looks like they are close to hatching.


I agree, my turtle eggs looked like this right before hatching.


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## raffy-micha (May 2, 2021)

Really? They‘ve looked like this for a while now and I was starting to think that they'd simply stopped developing.


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## Tom (May 2, 2021)

raffy-micha said:


> I have been candling the eggs! The temperature is kept at 31 degrees C. As for moisture, I’m not quite sure. Here’s a recent picture of the eggs, I can’t candle them and get a picture as I don’t wanna risk dropping or tilting them slightly but the inside essentially looks the same as the outside.


You're not sure about whether or not you added moisture to the media? I don't understand. Either you added water, or you didn't.

Are you incubating them on paper towels?


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## raffy-micha (May 3, 2021)

Tom said:


> You're not sure about whether or not you added moisture to the media? I don't understand. Either you added water, or you didn't.
> 
> Are you incubating them on paper towels?


The eggs are on paper towels, yes.


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## raffy-micha (May 3, 2021)

raffy-micha said:


> The eggs are on paper towels, yes.


Never mind, I completely missed the question! I have been adding a small container of water into the incubator and topping it up every now and then. The incubator just doesn’t offer readings for humidity.


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