Eggs

[FGCinHB]

Found 6 eggs on the lawn in a corner of the yard today about a foot away from my female russian, put them in a shoebox next to the heatlamp and temps have varied today from 80-90. I've never had eggs before so can someone offer some tips on what to do next and how long it will take for them to hatch, below is a picture of my setup right now.

 

[Yvonne G]

You need to get that temperature more stable. It should NOT vary. In my opinion, you should cover the container to maintain the humidity inside and I believe 90 is way too high. You'll cook the eggs. Also, eggs dropped on the ground are usually not fertile. This isn't a hard, fast rule, they MIGHT be fertile.

Yvonne

 

[desertsss]

Congratulations on your discovery. I know nothing about eggs, but I hope they work for you. I did see though an egg setup with a temp/hydrometer gauge right next to the eggs for constant monitoring. I forgot who posted, but she would be the lady to ask I think. I will try to find the post.

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http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-6892.html

this shall show you a little. Good luck!

 

[egyptiandan]

You should be able to find a Hovabator incubator at a local feed or grain store. The temperatures are best kept constant between 28C and 32C.
You need to set-up and run the incubator for 24 hours to make sure you are getting stable temperatures.

Danny

 

[tortoisenerd]

Hope they are fertile! If not, good practice for some real ones anyways.

 

[FGCinHB]

Well here is my set up now, temp is a stable 88 degrees, don't know what the humidity is I'm just keeping the water tray full. I guess time will tell. When should I be able to tell if they're developing and is it OK to pull them out to candle them?

 

[jlyoncc1]

Good luck with your eggs! Also, who is the scrapbooker? I spotted the sizzix in the background. Tortoises and scrapbooking are my 2 favorite hobbies!

 

[Isa]

Good luck with the eggs,
keep us updated

 

[FGCinHB]

Good luck with your eggs! Also, who is the scrapbooker? I spotted the sizzix in the background. Tortoises and scrapbooking are my 2 favorite hobbies!

My wife is the scapbooker, she's not very happy that I set up the incubator on her table but till I find a better place thats where it stays.

 

[Yvonne G]

My wife is the scapbooker, she's not very happy that I set up the incubator on her table but till I find a better place thats where it stays.

Be careful with her supplies. If your incubator is like mine, it has a couple very small holes in the bottom and water does leak out...could wreck her paper supplies.

Yvonne

 

[FunnyGirl]

I think that is so cool how you went out and got an incubator and all that. For that reason alone I hope they hatch for you!

I love your sig line with the anti-tortoise wife about three lines under the Scotty! BWAAA HAAAA HAAAA!

 

[Jacqui]

When the eggs hatch, you should leave them on her table. I bet wouldn't take long til she not only was spending more time watching those adorable hatchlings, then doing her scrapbooking. Might melt her heart and turn her into a real tortoise lover.

 

[FGCinHB]

Been almost 3 weeks since they were laid so I candled them today, there is a slight band of increased density showing about 1" wide in the middle of the eggs but I don't see anything else. The eggs glowed yellow when I candled them and I read on another site that if they were fertile they would glow pink, yellow means not fertile. Looks like these will not hatch but I'm going to leave them in the incubator for a few more weeks and check again.

 

[Yvonne G]

Right! I always leave eggs in the incubator until they either explode or smell so rotten it impossible to be in the same room with the incubator! I've been fooled before. I hatched three out of four yellowfoot eggs that I would have sworn were rotten.

Yvonne

 

[FGCinHB]

Well just got home and let me tell you, when an infertile egg breaks open in the incubator it is a smell that can't be described, it has to be experienced. I have 5 eggs left in the incubator, 4 of them show a gas bubble and nothing else but 1 has a solid dark spot a little smaller than a quarter inside, fingers are crossed that I get a least 1 hatchling in 6 weeks.

 

[Millerlite]

Good luck on the eggs, For future eggs i would def. get a incubator or build one, pretty much you want to keep humidty and heat stable, you dont want the eggs to be wet though its a fun balancing act,