15 yr old red foot never laid eggs

onterrio

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario Canada
I'm considering buying a 15 year old red foot female. She has lived alone and never laid eggs. I was wondering if it is okay to pair her up with a male. Will she start laying eggs once she has some male companionship?
 

Bryan

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
590
How big is she and is her anal scute gap large enough to pass eggs?
 

Anyfoot

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
6,306
Location (City and/or State)
UK Sheffield
They lay eggs anyway when mature. Or at least I know of one case that has. Are you sure she is a she. Can you get photos.

@Redstrike did yours lay eggs without a mature male about?
 

onterrio

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario Canada
How big is she and is her anal scute gap large enough to pass eggs?
They lay eggs anyway when mature. Or at least I know of one case that has. Are you sure she is a she. Can you get photos.

@Redstrike did yours lay eggs without a mature male about?
I've asked for pictures, I'll put them up when I get them. Thanks
 

onterrio

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario Canada
Here's the pic of her tail. I'd really like her but I want a female that'll lay eggs. I have 2 Hermann's tortoises and the female laid her first eggs 3 weeks ago. I was so excited my husband thought I won the lottery. Now I'm hooked. What do you think? 15 years old and never laid an egg. If I get an adult male will she start laying?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3099.JPG
    IMG_3099.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 54

onterrio

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario Canada
....I'm in Canada - adult tortoises are much harder to come by here than in the States. Breeders hardly ever sell their adults and we can't have them shipped from the States. Otherwise I'd just buy a proven breeder. Thanks again for your opinions.
 

Anyfoot

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
6,306
Location (City and/or State)
UK Sheffield
Here's the pic of her tail. I'd really like her but I want a female that'll lay eggs. I have 2 Hermann's tortoises and the female laid her first eggs 3 weeks ago. I was so excited my husband thought I won the lottery. Now I'm hooked. What do you think? 15 years old and never laid an egg. If I get an adult male will she start laying?
It's female.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
29,065
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Are you planning on keeping them in a very large area?
The thing is that an active male can and will peruse a female 24/7 at times and you may end up with a very unhappy and unhealthy tortoise.
I would keep no less than 2 females for a male.
Myself, I have 1 male and 3 females and enough room for them all to live in harmony.
 

naturalman91

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
2,015
Location (City and/or State)
Medford Oregon
Here's the pic of her tail. I'd really like her but I want a female that'll lay eggs. I have 2 Hermann's tortoises and the female laid her first eggs 3 weeks ago. I was so excited my husband thought I won the lottery. Now I'm hooked. What do you think? 15 years old and never laid an egg. If I get an adult male will she start laying?


one male to one female isn't gonna cut it you'll see a lot of aggressive mating behavior best way i can say it is 3 females to 1 male. or your male tort will rape the female over and over until it injures her.
 

jockma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
639
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles County
Ditto, I was gonna say when I first saw this thread but never kept more than one tortoise so I didn't want to overstep my bounds.

The males will always stress out the females, but if you have only one female this situation can result in death. Three females per male means the male spreads out his harassment instead of focusing on one poor female so the females feel bothered by him but not to the extent that it impacts their health or kills them.
 

onterrio

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario Canada
There is another female available that I want to buy. I was planning on having more than 1. If the male gets too aggressive, I know I will have to separate him from the female (s).
 

SarahChelonoidis

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
1,892
Location (City and/or State)
Toronto, Canada
I'd love you to see photos of your winter enclosures - it's nice to see inspiration from other Ontario keepers who also need big indoor spaces.
 

allegraf

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
1,431
That anal opening is way too small to pass an egg. If you put her with a male, she may become egg bound. The anal opening should be big enough to pass an egg the size of a ping pong ball. Are you sure she is 15? How big is she exactly?
 

New Posts

Top