# HELP RUSSIAN TORT LAYING EGGS!!!!!!!!!!



## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 5, 2014)

the luck lol. Earlier today i was talking with Yvonne about how my russian eggs never hatch and i just went out to get my torts in for the night and my bob1 was laying!!!! can someone tell me every single step i should take so these eggs hatch?


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## Earth Mama (Oct 5, 2014)

Cool!


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## Peytons torts (Oct 5, 2014)

Put the humidity up to 90%


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## bouaboua (Oct 5, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> the luck lol. Earlier today i was talking with Yvonne about how my russian eggs never hatch and i just went out to get my torts in for the night and my bob1 was laying!!!! can someone tell me every single step i should take so these eggs hatch?



Congrats! ! !
My Hermanni just lay three eggs too last Friday. My first time ever too. Now those eggs are in a incubator.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 5, 2014)

she is still on her nest. she has been on it for 3 hours is this normal?


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 6, 2014)

4 EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## phebe121 (Oct 6, 2014)

I cant wait to see them when they hatch and yes they will be alive no negative thinking


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## Earth Mama (Oct 6, 2014)

I want regular updates on these, okay? I'm excited for you.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 6, 2014)

okay


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## Jodie (Oct 6, 2014)

Congrats! Best of luck to you. Can't wait for pictures of babies.


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## Tom (Oct 6, 2014)

@Carol S 
@kanalomele 
@biochemnerd808 

Please offer this new breeder some tips for successful incubation, since all of you are so good at it! 

The only thing I would offer is to not use perlite. Babies eat their substrate when they hatch. I had a batch of sulcata babies that I bought from a guy who incubated with perlite and necropsy revealed that about a third of them were blocked up with perlite. I've never had this problem when incubating other species on vermiculite. It also helps to remove them to a brooder box as soon as they hatch for yolk sac absorption. I've also read that russian incubation media should be relatively dry and humidity should be maintained with external means like a bowl of water in the incubator.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Oct 6, 2014)

Agree with Tom, wouldn't want anything bad to happen!!  Many people use vermiculite  
Man, I hope your eggs hatch this time! Remember, you're going to be waiting a bit, so if they don't hatch within the first couple months, they are still okay  I hope things work out for you!!


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## biochemnerd808 (Oct 6, 2014)

Congrats on your eggs! 4 is a nice big clutch for an RT. 
Here is what I do, and so far I have had a 100% hatch rate with this method. For the record, I got my info from Melissa (@kanalomele ), so I can't take credit for it... but I hope it help. 

Vermiculite or dry coco coir works well as a substrate. I used coco coir for the last batch because I wasn't expecting that clutch, so didn't have vermiculite on hand. I use completely dry incubation media - when I moistened it the year before, I ended up with a cracked egg. 

I set the eggs into the dry coco coir (without rotating!) and I place 2 containers full of warm water into the incubator as well. The incubator is in a room with low temperature fluctuations (an office or a walk in closet would work well). 
The one part I do differently than Melissa is that I use a Hydrofarm thermostat, because the dial thermostat in the incubator fluctuates too much. I place the little probe of a Hydrofarm thermostat (available from Amazon for $30, and worth every penny!) next to one of the eggs, and plug the incubator (Hovabator) into the Hydrofarm thermostat. I set the thermostat to 89 degrees, and then I leave the eggs completely alone until they hatch. No touching, no messing with them. The containers of water should be sufficient to last for the 60-70 days it takes for the eggs to hatch. Look through the little window in the incubator to see if there is any water in the containers - if they are running low you can briefly open the incubator, and pour WARM water into them. 
Once the eggs are in the incubator, I pile quilts around the incubator to further insulate it - leaving the air holes uncovered. Then I put a piece of tin foil loosely over the area with the air holes. The goal is maximum insulation, to keep the temperatures as constant as possible. The thermometer showed temperature fluctuations of 88 degrees to 90 degrees, which is fine. 

At 55 days I start shining a flash light into the incubator once daily without opening it, to check on the eggs. When I see an egg pipping, I get a little container ready by placing a moist paper towel into it, and I remove the egg from the incubation substrate and into the little bin, inside the incubator. Don't open and close the incubator a bunch, because the membrane can dry out, making it harder for baby to hatch. Don't 'help' baby - it can take several days to hatch, and some babies peck a hole and then sit inside the egg a while longer, absorbing the yolk sac some more. 

When baby hatches, I briefly check on it, weigh it, and place it back into the little bin in the incubator. I start offering food the day after they hatch, and some eat soon, some wait. I soak for 10 mins in very shallow lukewarm water once daily for the first 4 or so days. Then after 4 days to a week, I move baby to a closed chamber enclosure. @Tom wrote a great care sheet for baby RTs. 

I should mention that the babies from a given clutch can hatch over the course of several weeks. I think it must be a survival technique. The earliest hatch came out at 61 days, the longest waited until day 73.


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## Jabuticaba (Oct 6, 2014)

Congrats!


May
THBs: Darwin & Merlin
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket
IG: @AUSSOMEAUSSIES


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 6, 2014)

i just realized my humidity thing that tells me the incubators humidity is not working correctly. whats a good cheap humidity thing i can order on amazon?


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## lismar79 (Oct 6, 2014)

Congrats!!!!!!!!


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## Peytons torts (Oct 6, 2014)

You can get a heat and humidity thermometer I got mine at petsmart I think it's a zoo med one


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## biochemnerd808 (Oct 6, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> i just realized my humidity thing that tells me the incubators humidity is not working correctly. whats a good cheap humidity thing i can order on amazon?



To be perfectly honest, my hygrometer broke a long time ago. I don't worry about it. 2 tupperwares of warm water in an incubator, and your humidity should be just fine for RT eggs.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

well i don't think the eggs are fertile


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## stojanovski92113 (Oct 30, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> well i don't think the eggs are fertile


I just noticed your thread and was going to give you a HUGE congrats...but why are you thinking they are not fertile?


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

yea its been 24 days and the eggs haven't changed, i cracked them open and they where never fertile.


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## stojanovski92113 (Oct 30, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> yea its been 24 days and the eggs haven't changed, i cracked them open and they where never fertile.


Oh man bummer...I'm sorry  I know that you were really excited too!


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

lol this girl lays so many eggs for me and they never hatch. I'm not sad about it, because its every time this happens.


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## leigti (Oct 30, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> yea its been 24 days and the eggs haven't changed, i cracked them open and they where never fertile.


I'm sorry, maybe next time they will be fertile. And then you will hear the pitter patter of little teensy-weensy tortoise feet   hang in there.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

lol, i hope so


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## stojanovski92113 (Oct 30, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> lol this girl lays so many eggs for me and they never hatch. I'm sad about it, because its every time this happens.


Well maybe in time she will, it just wasn't meant to be be right now...I know it's hard to hear....But I but when she does lay eggs they will be well worth the wait & amazing & the right timing! Again I'm sorry


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

oops i ment to say I'm not sad about it.....i hate typing


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## G-stars (Oct 30, 2014)

What's the longest you have left them in the incubator for? What if they are late bloomers?


— Gus


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

one time i left them in the incubator for about 3 months and after that i cracked them open and there was no signs of them being fertile.


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## G-stars (Oct 30, 2014)

Sounds like you need another male lol


— Gus


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

but my parents say no more torts


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## stojanovski92113 (Oct 30, 2014)

russian/sulcata/tortoise said:


> but my parents say no more torts


The parents....you gotta respect the parents...at least you have tortoises at your age...I told you what I had to do LOL...


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## G-stars (Oct 30, 2014)

That's right I remember now. We had this conversation before. 


— Gus


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

okay okay!


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Oct 30, 2014)

but i still want to breed tortoises when i older, hopefully it will be my job


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