# EGG SENSITIVITY



## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 7, 2012)

Any experiences with egg sensitivity. Has anyone ever bumped or anything you may have experienced that you might have thought would damage or even kill the tortoise developing inside? I am not sure that tortoise eggs are all that sensitive while developing, just curious for others experiences and opinions.


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## ascott (Feb 7, 2012)

Greg...I have never coached any eggs...but I have read lots and the thing that always sticks in my mind is that if/when you locate the eggs that you should always be sure to not roll or tip the eggs but that if you pick em up you should be sure to place them down in new location the same way they were found...mark the top side and move them in lateral fashion so not to disturb the baby inside...now this of course is all based from what I understand in an egg that has developed a bit of hardness and not to a just laid wet egg still..you know like as they drop....now this is all that I am aware of and again...not based on what I have done personally 

I am sure the experts will have better advise.... Wait a minute!! You are I would imagine well versed at this silly...


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## jwhite (Feb 8, 2012)

I have something. About a month ago I was doing some enclosure maintainence and while I was turning the soil I found 2 Russian eggs. I have no idea how long they were there and I kind of flipped them around while turning the soil. I placed them in the incubator anyway and now a month late and they are showing good signs of being fertile. I just candled them this afternoon and they have good veins running through them and what appears to be a growing hatchling.

Jon


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## Tim/Robin (Feb 8, 2012)

I have accidentally flipped several different eggs. I have not lost any of them. I agree with you, they are not as delicate as most lead to believe. With that said, I still use the utmost caution when handling them.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 8, 2012)

I am have also bumped eggs in the past while in the incubator and they have continued to develop.


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## Weda737 (Feb 9, 2012)

I know it's not tortoises but that whole "don't tip the egg" thing applies to reptiles in general. Last year I had the worst trouble with my sneaky cats finding their way to my snake "tubs" and pretty much tipping and dropping the crap out of my eggs, I'd come in and find the incubation box dropped on the floor. Never had any issues. Babies all came out speedy and snappy. This happened several times, I have no idea how long they were like that, no longer than a day though, I checked every day. So it could have been a matter of hours, and it happened at just about all stages of development. Still no issues, not that I'd condone playing ping pong with an egg, I just think sometimes we humans go a little overboard with our protectiveness. Oh the gift and curse of having the intelligence to make conscious decisions.


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## GBtortoises (Feb 9, 2012)

I have "accidently" found eggs outdoors on several occasions over the years while digging in the tortoise enclosures. Many of which were tossed and turned and rolled before I realized they were there. All were placed in an incubator unless they were very obviously no good. Some of them were fertile and went on to hatch. Some weren't fertile. But I never recall having any that had begun development and then died due to my mishandling. 
Like everyone else that posted, I'm not saying that mishanding is okay. I still take every precaution to not turn, shake or severely disrupt eggs once I discover them or while they're incubating. But I like a lot aspects of tortoise keeping, I think they're much tougher than we assume.


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## bettinge (Feb 9, 2012)

I try very hard to NEVER disrupt an egg once placed in the incubator. I rarely candle, and never touch unless absolutely necessary. I have never rolled an eggs that was less than three days old, but knock on wood, I probably will now!

I have prematurely opened an egg, twice, when I thought they were dead. Once the tort lived, and once it didn't. I hope I have learned my lesson! Its odd why some in the same clutch take many (ten plus) days longer to hatch. 

You want to know what's really odd? The tort that lived has grown extremely fast compared to its clutch mates in the exact same environment, nearly twice as fast. I don't get it.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 9, 2012)

*Interesting, we usually have all hatch with several days of each other, however we have had some go over 20 days apart to hatch.*


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## CGKeith (Feb 10, 2012)

I had one get moved/rolled a bit in the incubator (by another baby that hatched from an earlier clutch, it was very active coming out and started digging under anything it could).  

The others from that clutch hatched within a few days of each other. The one that got rolled didn't and I thought it was done for. I had candled it prior to that and did see nice signs of veins. I left in the incubator anyway and almost 30 days after the others had hatched this one started to pip. I gave it a couple of days and then checked and the baby had died in the egg and had a very large yolk sack.


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## Kirsten_Lenz (Feb 13, 2012)

My 5 yr old Red Foot Tortoise just laid her first unfertilized egg this afternoon and the thing was so hard and calcified it was amazing. I cracked it in a dish to examine it's thickness and it was several millimeters thick. It was very difficult to break. But as for developing eggs it's okay to gently pick them up as long as you don't roll them. Use a non-toxic food coloring type marker to mark the top and then move them slowly and only laterally.

Kirsten & Ellie


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## gmarie808 (Feb 15, 2012)

How do you know when the eggs are no longer viable? The 2 I saved from the 5 of the first clutch are 70days old today. Worried, I loosened the coconut substrate and noticed the eggs were really dented, more than they were when I first put them in. I read here in the forum that they dent when the humidity is too low so I ran my vaporizer over them for the past hour or so. Any opinions are appreciated.

Aloha & Mahalo from *)*_Hawaii_*(*


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 15, 2012)

gmarie808 said:


> How do you know when the eggs are no longer viable? The 2 I saved from the 5 of the first clutch are 70days old today. Worried, I loosened the coconut substrate and noticed the eggs were really dented, more than they were when I first put them in. I read here in the forum that they dent when the humidity is too low so I ran my vaporizer over them for the past hour or so. Any opinions are appreciated.
> 
> Aloha & Mahalo from *)*_Hawaii_*(*



*I have minimal experience with redfoot eggs,, however the eggs being really "dented" sounds like the result of lack of humidity. and possibly dehydrated. You mentioned coconut substrate, I have never used that for incubation. Any way to post pictures of the condition of the eggs for a visual observation? What temperature and humidity levels are you using? As far as being able to tell when eggs are no longer viable, I keep them in the incubator until I am positive that no life exists, sometimes it takes over six months until I can tell for sure. Many have shared stories of super long incubation days with eggs hatching. I can tell if an egg has life developing within the first 40 days by the candle test. I will find a picture of some rotten eggs from last year, I pool them into one incubator just for good measure in case that one may hatch. I will post it soon.*

*OK, these are all rotten aldabra eggs from 2011!*


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## tyler0912 (Feb 15, 2012)

Sorry to hijack this but.........
What if your egg was due to hatch in about a day or so and you dropped it or cracked it in half....would the baby comeout fine or would it die?


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 15, 2012)

tyler0912 said:


> Sorry to hijack this but.........
> What if your egg was due to hatch in about a day or so and you dropped it or cracked it in half....would the baby comeout fine or would it die?



*50/50? **If it was due to hatch and you just cracked it open, I would think it would have a good chance to live. If you dropped it, that could kill it! The egg sack is very tender.*


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## tyler0912 (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks...it always plays on my mind.


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