# yellow foot eggs Fertile?



## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Hi

I have a question and i'm probably going to get laughed at but here goes.

Do mature adult female torts lay eggs on a routine level regardless to whether there's a male about or not. 
I know they can hold sperm n eggs for a while. But if a female has never been in touch with a male does it still lay infertile eggs(like chickens do). I only ask because someone I know has had 2 female yellowfoots now since 2007.
They have never in her time had them near any other torts what so ever. They are 20yrs old ish. and they lay eggs regular. She just bins the eggs because not interested in incubating.


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## ZEROPILOT (Jan 7, 2015)

Yes. My "single" female Red Foot used to lay eggs. Although it was not on a regular basis. All duds.


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## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Hold on a minute. So my reds cluck, bob there heads and can lay infertile eggs just like chickens.
If you keep chickens with high humidity will they have smooth feathers. lol

Seriously, thank you, I didn't know that.


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## tortadise (Jan 7, 2015)

Yes if they start an egg cycle it will continue. Some species can control it however. Aldabras are one example of a species that if not in a suitable environment the female will withhold developing ova. It's like a mammal going into heat or menstuating. When the follicles in the oviduct develops eggs they will drop. The only difference is that in mammals te eggs is just a cell membrane and embryo and the egg is a clear membrane. Oviparous reptiles have the embryo and cell membrane encapsulated within a calcified shell (the egg). Some reptiles are live bearers though. Like boas. They still have an egg but it's a clear embryonic sac that the snake still has to "hatch" out of. But when the boa lays the offspring they emerge from the sac immediately after evacuated from the mother. It's the "cycle" of life. Tortoises can control it somehow but majority ounce cycled will always lay whether fertile or not. It's programmed into there purpose to survive.


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## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Makes sense now you've said it.
So I assume a tortoise breeder just incubates all of the eggs and hopes they are fertile. How far into the incubation cycle can you tell that they are not fertile for definite.

Thank you. 
This site is brilliant


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## tortadise (Jan 7, 2015)

Depends on female and male for fertility. Some species have low fertility rates and some have very high. Depends on species. Few weeks with testudo and about a month for other species. But usually you can see embryo development input species(that don't require a diapause) in a couple weeks to a month.


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## stojanovski92113 (Jan 7, 2015)

This is very interesting...I've read this on the forum before. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I found eggs !!! Oh wait I have you guys


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## ZEROPILOT (Jan 7, 2015)

Only my male RFs cluck and it's when they're looking for love. Usually in a thunder storm. Does your female cluck? A male certainly wouldn't be laying eggs.


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## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2015)

No, Only my males cluck and they try it on with each other aswell as my females.


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## marginatawhisperer (Jan 12, 2015)

Question is fine.
I do not know about eventual reproductive differences between tortoises and other reptiles,but at least one lizard can,
and it has recently been proved the komodo dragon can do it too (parthenogenesis). We should not be blind to this remote possibility. Give it a try with some eggs, the cost is small.


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