First time layer dropped another egg today! How do my eggs look? Total of 4 now!

[Stoneman]

She had her front down, and her butt in the air. I walked up to her, and she started to lay an egg! I caught it dropping out of her without it hitting the ground!

I have a question. I put it in with the other ones, and they do not appear to be colored any differently. I have a feeling they did not chalk up. They are about two weeks old. Should they have chalked by now? I hovered my phone's light over them and I did not see a vein or other growth. I know it is common for first year layers to not lay fertile eggs, so I know it is far from guaranteed. I'm going to keep them there until they stink. But what are your thoughts everyone?

 

[Stoneman]

Another thing I noticed that was different about the just hatched egg, is that it appears a little larger and rounder than the other eggs. Do any of the eggs laid appear atypical?

Another question, has diapause ever been studied on Indian Stars?

 

[Stoneman]

@Tom check it out this is the pic right after catching the egg. I have a 3 sq ft nesting box two feet away from where she dropped it. In the food dish.

 

[PA2019]

She had her front down, and her butt in the air. I walked up to her, and she started to lay an egg! I caught it dropping out of her without it hitting the ground!

I have a question. I put it in with the other ones, and they do not appear to be colored any differently. I have a feeling they did not chalk up. They are about two weeks old. Should they have chalked by now? I hovered my phone's light over them and I did not see a vein or other growth. I know it is common for first year layers to not lay fertile eggs, so I know it is far from guaranteed. I'm going to keep them there until they stink. But what are your thoughts everyone?

Sorry in advance if you already mentioned this in another post but what is her average weight and SCL or plastron length? The 6 inch rule that floats around seems to be the standard for possible viability of eggs laid. I would also consider the opposite as well, how large/mature is the male?

 

[Stoneman]

Sorry in advance if you already mentioned this in another post but what is her average weight and SCL or plastron length? The 6 inch rule that floats around seems to be the standard for possible viability of eggs laid. I would also consider the opposite as well, how large/mature is the male?

She weighs 1300, to 1350. She is a big girl. Her carapace length 7.5". She is 16" round measurement, around her waist, and then 5'" wide at her widest part in front of her back legs. I am not sure what SCL means so if I have not answered that I would be happy to provide that info.

I have two males that have been housed with her. The younger juvenile is a little over 4", maybe 4.5" now. He has hardly grown in the last year. But he has good weight for his size, he eats, he poops, he moves around but is very shy. Unless we are not in front of him then he likes to hook up with the female at times.

The older one I believe is around the same age as the female. The person I got them from was not entirely sure of their age, I believe they are age 6 or 7. The male is active, poops, and has put on some weight since I got him, however he has hardly grown, unlike the female. His new growth lines are also very small. He was very actively trying to mate last year when we first got him. I sent in fecal samples of all of them and he was a sick puppy. He had something like a tapeworm, I had to IM flagyl for the condition. This was about eight months ago. He has put on weight, over a hundred grams, now he weighs about 750 grams. He does flash a little bit, but not like before when we first got him. He also does not try to mate as often. We have separated them the last few weeks, and that was when she dropped her eggs. Now we are about to swap the girls with the boys and see if that will encourage more mating.

I am going to change their diet to something higher in fiber and less nutrient dense. Hopefully that improves their health some.

 

[Stoneman]

Now that I think about it, the newest egg was kind of a cream colored when I put it in. Now the eggs look pretty white in the pictures I sent. What do all of you think? Chalked or not?

 

[kingsley]

Few points, I would switch to a lead pencil mowing forward instead the permanent marker to mark the eggs. Markers and ink pens have alcohol and other solvents that would be absorbed through the egg shell thus causing harm to the embryo.

What are your incubator temps and humidity?

No need to diapause indian star eggs.

In my opinion two weeks is not enough time to see embryonic blood vessels,

Chalking is a good sign , and subsequently you will notice an oval shaped clear embryonic development site floating towards the top of the egg and thats a great indication of an fertile ova.

Usually light pink shell is not the greatest indication of a fertile ova although infirtile ova tend to chalk up too.

Time will tell, Best of luck!!

 

[Stoneman]

@kingsley Thank you I will use a pensil next time. The incubator is 88° and 70%. It auto regulates those, sometimes it gets up a little higher in temps, maybe 88.5, I am trying to temp sex for female. I am using an RCOM max 50 so they are supposed to be pretty reliable but I still want to put one or two hyrgo / thermostats in there as a secondary measure.

I opened up the top today without getting into the shoebox and hovered my phone over it with the light on, and did not see any development inside any of them. When I pulled the box out to place the new egg inside, I did see one or two with air sacks that were positioned on the side of the egg, but were not facing up on the egg.

When you say light pink shell is not a good indication, do you mean that what you see from the pictures does not look ideal for them to be fertile?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Stoneman]

Just an update on this post, the eggs never hatched, they actually exploded when I pulled them out to throw them away. All over my bed and bedroom lol, it was an experience for sure. This was several months after they were laid.

An update on my Indians. Their enclosure has been converted to a closed chamber, them and I could not be more happy about it. She weighs 1600 now. We call her Tina the tummy. That girl can put some food away! Hopefully she drops some little ones soon. My incubator is just itching to get running again. My smaller male has mounted her recently. If the 6" rule is true then I might be having more babies on the horizon, because my three powerpuff girls have all broken that size barrier. I have heard 900 grams being a minimum weight, and all three are just about there. I am really excited, I have never hatched a tortoise before.

 

[Yvonne G]

Eggs pooped out on the ground without the nestbuilding, are usually not fertile.

 

[Stoneman]

Eggs pooped out on the ground without the nestbuilding, are usually not fertile.

Hopefully next time she drops some eggs she does it well buried and fertile