Breeding

[Raymo2477]

I am not planning on breeding my Hermann's until I get the race issue straightened out.

That being said I have separated my pair but my female is extremely active. She's digging a lot and I wonder if she could be gravid?

I wanted to know when Hermann's normally mate and what is needed to set the mood. I breed corn snakes and you need a winter hibernation to get better results.

 

[CactusVinnie]

Ray, have you pictures of them? Carapace, plastron, inguinal scute region? Or check Chris Leone stickies on ID Hermanni.

If she diggs with the hind legs resulting a small hole that is abandoned, it may be related to egg-laying. If she diggs with the front legs, and hide in the resulting burrow, it's just digging to make herself confortable in a good, shady place.

HOT! HOTTER!
Brumation alert! The guy living in the Balkans is about to hit again! He will keep saying "Brumate/hibernate your TEMPERATE CLIMATE TORTOISE!!!"
Of course it's nonsense, anyone knows that Hermanni came from Central Africa and Amazonia, so they don't need brumation...
Seriously now, it's risky for them... if you brumate them in the freezer compartiment .

Eastern PA seems good for them, only to brumate in controlled conditions. Enough rain and heat, meaning enough good weeds to fatten them up in an outdoor enclosure.

EDIT: saw the male in the other topic.
What is their provenance? Do you know about the conditions in wich they were raised?
Have they ever hibernate? If not, better skip this year (if keeping them with some cool cycles for winter, maybe getting eggs in 2013 too!), then let them outdoors all next year, from April to November (they will burrow by themselves for winter), to have them fit and strong. Then you can brumate them in controlled conditions, if you decide to. They should be healthy and strong for that, and you have all the time to learn to do it properly. After brumation, they will try to copulate even in the same day!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Hermann's do not need a brumation period to be "in the mood" for Reptile Romance...basically, all you need is a male and a receptive female (males are ALWAYS receptive...and that includes tortoises, too! )

Or, as we phrase it here in The Repubic,"He's so h****, the crack of dawn ain't safe!"

And, it's possible that your female might be looking for somewhere to lay, so, if you haven't yet done so, dig a hole in the enclosure and fill it w/ potting soil...if she digs, then covers it up, you may find eggs!

This may turn out to be of use: http://www.petcaregt.com/petcare/Homemade-Reptile-Incubator.html