Breeding
- Thread starter abbs
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Do you mean how often they can lay eggs? They can lay several large clutches a year. I dont know if they lay regardless if they are bred or not..or more... TOm?
I dont know... but Im glad you dont plan on it...
I dont know... but Im glad you dont plan on it...
Females will usually lay 3 clutches a year. The clutch size will depend on her size and age. She will produce more eggs per clutch as she grows and ages. For us, 16" is usually the size they need to be before their first clutch. The egg count will vary slightly between clutches but starts around 12 eggs. The largest clutch I have personally seen was 52 eggs!
All this continues forever basically since they will outlive you and possibly your children
All this continues forever basically since they will outlive you and possibly your children
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they're not like chickens, they don't lay "empty" eggs, so they won't lay eggs until the first time they've been bred. statistically, they can lay 3-4 clutches a year, and each clutch can have up to 30 eggs.
tortoises are solitary creatures by nature (i'm sure you know this part i'm just laying the back ground for you), so they do not run around in packs, and they do not call for a mate, so for these reasons they are constantly in season. a tortoise can live in the wild for years without coming across a single other tortoise. any time in the wild that a male comes across a female he will try to breed with her, and she can get pregnant from it any time if she actually lets him... do the deed. sometimes she will lift her hind legs but keep her tail down so he can't get anywhere. a female can keep her eggs for up to 3 years waiting for the right time, place, and temp to lay them if she can't find a suitable place. she can lay a few eggs here, not have any contact with a male for 2 years, and lay a few more eggs there. she is also capable of breeding with one male, laying a few of his eggs, breeding with another male, and laying a few of his eggs and the last guy's eggs in the same clutch.
hope that covers your questions!
tortoises are solitary creatures by nature (i'm sure you know this part i'm just laying the back ground for you), so they do not run around in packs, and they do not call for a mate, so for these reasons they are constantly in season. a tortoise can live in the wild for years without coming across a single other tortoise. any time in the wild that a male comes across a female he will try to breed with her, and she can get pregnant from it any time if she actually lets him... do the deed. sometimes she will lift her hind legs but keep her tail down so he can't get anywhere. a female can keep her eggs for up to 3 years waiting for the right time, place, and temp to lay them if she can't find a suitable place. she can lay a few eggs here, not have any contact with a male for 2 years, and lay a few more eggs there. she is also capable of breeding with one male, laying a few of his eggs, breeding with another male, and laying a few of his eggs and the last guy's eggs in the same clutch.
hope that covers your questions!
My males "breed" 10-15 times a day. This also means that the females get bred that many times... Do you mean how many offspring can they have? Thousands... over decades.
Typically they lay 1-5 clutches a year. Each clutch usually has around 10-20 eggs. I've heard of 60 year old tortoises (not sulcatas yet, since they haven't been "around" in this country for that long) breeding just like they did 50 years ago. I don't know if they have a finite number of eggs, like a human, or not. I suspect not. Danny? Or any one else know this one?
Typically they lay 1-5 clutches a year. Each clutch usually has around 10-20 eggs. I've heard of 60 year old tortoises (not sulcatas yet, since they haven't been "around" in this country for that long) breeding just like they did 50 years ago. I don't know if they have a finite number of eggs, like a human, or not. I suspect not. Danny? Or any one else know this one?
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