First timer. Was not trying to breed

[Meesh]

Hi! I haven't gotten any help on here with my last few posts so im hoping this one is different. If not, I give up on this site.

I have a large female Hermanns tort (Gemma). There has been a few instances where one of my males has broken into her enclosure & visa versa. About 2 weeks ago I went to clean her enclosure & found she had laid 4 eggs. Based on the fact she has had a few unplanned "dates" with one of my males, there is a strong possibility of baby torts. I'm guessing they were laid a couple days before I found them.
I have never tried to breed so im new to this.
The eggs have chalked. I bought a large vevor incubator for them and set it to 31C.
I candled the eggs last night & 3 of them have a dark spot at the bottom and 1 is still completely clear so im assuming maybe 3 out of 4 are fertile. Im keeping the 4th in there just in case to see. I cannot bring myself to get rid of any eggs especially being so uneducated on them.
Figuring out if their fertile has been an emotional rollercoaster lol one day im excited and convinced they are an the next ill read something else that gives me doubt.


Can an unfertilized egg have a yolk sac? 3 have one and 1 is clear .. I can take pics I just try not to disturb them as much as possible. There is no veins but was told 2 weeks is too soon for that..

 

[Ink]

Hopefully an expert will be able to help you soon. Good luck

 

[Ibdeni]

Hi! I haven't gotten any help on here with my last few posts so im hoping this one is different. If not, I give up on this site.

I have a large female Hermanns tort (Gemma). There has been a few instances where one of my males has broken into her enclosure & visa versa. About 2 weeks ago I went to clean her enclosure & found she had laid 4 eggs. Based on the fact she has had a few unplanned "dates" with one of my males, there is a strong possibility of baby torts. I'm guessing they were laid a couple days before I found them.
I have never tried to breed so im new to this.
The eggs have chalked. I bought a large vevor incubator for them and set it to 31C.
I candled the eggs last night & 3 of them have a dark spot at the bottom and 1 is still completely clear so im assuming maybe 3 out of 4 are fertile. Im keeping the 4th in there just in case to see. I cannot bring myself to get rid of any eggs especially being so uneducated on them.
Figuring out if their fertile has been an emotional rollercoaster lol one day im excited and convinced they are an the next ill read something else that gives me doubt.


Can an unfertilized egg have a yolk sac? 3 have one and 1 is clear .. I can take pics I just try not to disturb them as much as possible. There is no veins but was told 2 weeks is too soon for that..

Hi, Although I only have experience with hatching Sulcata tortoises, I thought I would jump on and share a little about my experience. I just had my third clutch hatch about a month ago using an incubator and have had good results. I try not to handle them much for the first few weeks. It is very hard to tell if they are fertile before and even after that. I have even had some that I didn’t think were fertile hatch two weeks after the first one hatched so never throw them out - give them quite a bit of extra time. It has been an exciting process, one that I have really enjoyed! Good luck and happy hatching 🐢

 

[Maggie3fan]

The advice I got from my sister is..keep the eggs until they either explode or hatch...and if you are trying not to breed...why was it possible for an adult tortoise to get out of his pen and into hers? My torts cannot escape their enclosures, and get into another. I don't know as I've ever seen a post from you.
this is just a guess, but maybe nobody responded to you because you come across as aggressive and irritable. Just sayin

 

[Tom]

Hi! I haven't gotten any help on here with my last few posts so im hoping this one is different. If not, I give up on this site.

I have a large female Hermanns tort (Gemma). There has been a few instances where one of my males has broken into her enclosure & visa versa. About 2 weeks ago I went to clean her enclosure & found she had laid 4 eggs. Based on the fact she has had a few unplanned "dates" with one of my males, there is a strong possibility of baby torts. I'm guessing they were laid a couple days before I found them.
I have never tried to breed so im new to this.
The eggs have chalked. I bought a large vevor incubator for them and set it to 31C.
I candled the eggs last night & 3 of them have a dark spot at the bottom and 1 is still completely clear so im assuming maybe 3 out of 4 are fertile. Im keeping the 4th in there just in case to see. I cannot bring myself to get rid of any eggs especially being so uneducated on them.
Figuring out if their fertile has been an emotional rollercoaster lol one day im excited and convinced they are an the next ill read something else that gives me doubt.


Can an unfertilized egg have a yolk sac? 3 have one and 1 is clear .. I can take pics I just try not to disturb them as much as possible. There is no veins but was told 2 weeks is too soon for that..

A watched pot never boils...

I like to leave my eggs alone. There are either fertile or their not. Me checking on them won't change anything and it can cause problems if you mess with them too much. I know you are anxious and want to know, but try to leave them be. Check on them every couple of weeks or so.

You know not to turn or rotate the eggs in any way, right? You've got the top of each egg marked so they are always oriented correctly?

It sounds like you have embryos in 3 of the four. Time will tell.

31C is a good temp.

Is the female indoors or out? Did she lay the eggs in a proper nest, or drop them on the surface?

What did you use for incubation media and how much water did you add to it?

Here is a thread with the info you need:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Tom]

Hi! I haven't gotten any help on here with my last few posts so im hoping this one is different. If not, I give up on this site.

I answered on your last post about these eggs. Feel free to ask all your questions. Keep in mind the time difference between the states and the UK when checking for answers too.

 

[Meesh]

The advice I got from my sister is..keep the eggs until they either explode or hatch...and if you are trying not to breed...why was it possible for an adult tortoise to get out of his pen and into hers? My torts cannot escape their enclosures, and get into another. I don't know as I've ever seen a post from you.
this is just a guess, but maybe nobody responded to you because you come across as aggressive and irritable. Just sayin

Well I wasnt trying either way.. i keep them in separate enclosures which are side by side thats how they managed to climb into each others enclosures a cple times before I corrected the problem.. & yes last year I posted an got into it with someone but I dont really remember why. I think he or she kept trying to lecture me on something I wasnt there for but no im def not aggressive or irritable. I come here out of love for my torts.. & thank you sm! I will def take that advice.

 

[Meesh]

I answered on your last post about these eggs. Feel free to ask all your questions. Keep in mind the time difference between the states and the UK when checking for answers t

A watched pot never boils...

I like to leave my eggs alone. There are either fertile or their not. Me checking on them won't change anything and it can cause problems if you mess with them too much. I know you are anxious and want to know, but try to leave them be. Check on them every couple of weeks or so.

You know not to turn or rotate the eggs in any way, right? You've got the top of each egg marked so they are always oriented correctly?

It sounds like you have embryos in 3 of the four. Time will tell.

31C is a good temp.

Is the female indoors or out? Did she lay the eggs in a proper nest, or drop them on the surface?

What did you use for incubation media and how much water did you add to it?

Here is a thread with the info you need:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

Im sorry, I never had any alerts I had to go look up that post to see it. & yes I did read not to turn them or it could kill the embryo. As for water i dont know, I just make sure the tray in the incubator has water every few days. I bought a vevor for $100usd. Not sure how good they are but seems to keep a steady temp. I put a digital repti thermostat in there to make sure & the temp stay at °90.1f.
No she didn't dig a proper nest because I was ignorant to the fact that she needed it. All my torts are too young besides her. But now I know. This sounds very strange & shes the only one of my turtles who does this but she loves to sleep on soft things so ive always given her a baby blanket that she sleeps on and burrows into rather than her substrate and she laid the eggs under that blanket. I remove it a couple times a week to wash it and was surprised with eggs. I felt awful that I didn't know.. But I put them in a container with some of her substrate & started incubating them. I will definitely keep posted if they hatch. Ill just leave them be & let the eggs take as long as they take. Thank you!

 

[Meesh]

I answered on your last post about these eggs. Feel free to ask all your questions. Keep in mind the time difference between the states and the UK when checking for answers too.

This is the incubator I ran out and bought for them.

 

[Meesh]

Im sorry, I never had any alerts I had to go look up that post to see it. & yes I did read not to turn them or it could kill the embryo. As for water i dont know, I just make sure the tray in the incubator has water every few days. I bought a vevor for $100usd. Not sure how good they are but seems to keep a steady temp. I put a digital repti thermostat in there to make sure & the temp stay at °90.1f.
No she didn't dig a proper nest because I was ignorant to the fact that she needed it. All my torts are too young besides her. But now I know. This sounds very strange & shes the only one of my turtles who does this but she loves to sleep on soft things so ive always given her a baby blanket that she sleeps on and burrows into rather than her substrate and she laid the eggs under that blanket. I remove it a couple times a week to wash it and was surprised with eggs. I felt awful that I didn't know.. But I put them in a container with some of her substrate & started incubating them. I will definitely keep posted if they hatch. Ill just leave them be & let the eggs take as long as they take. Thank you!

Also she has substrate. Its about 6" deep. I made it sound like she only has that blanket. She prefers to use an burrow into the blanket is what I meant. But she has both options.

 

[wellington]

Not sure how you weren't trying to breed when you let males and females live together in pairs which is very bad as you been told or in groups, you are going to have breeding and eventually eggs. Nothing bad with wanting to breed except not being prepared. Your other threads you have both sex together.
You should now make sure you have the proper sized enclosures, not a Guinea pig cage, with an area for egg laying that the females can properly dig a nest into. Eventually all your females that has lived with a Male will be laying eggs.

 

[Meesh]

Osure sure how you weren't trying to breed when you let males and females live together in pairs which is very bad as you been told or in groups, you are going to have breeding and eventually eggs. Nothing bad with wanting to breed except not being prepared. Your other threads you have both sex together.
You should now make sure you have the p.proper sized enclosures, not a Guinea pig cage, with an area for egg laying that the females can properly dig a nest into. Eventually all your females that has lived with a Male will be laying eggs.

You obv didnt read correctly.. I clearly said the male has gotten into her enclosure & visa versa meaning they are seperated like what is your deal with me? lol its always YOU! just dont comment on my posts if youre going to be like that

Not sure how you weren't trying to breed when you let males and females live together in pairs which is very bad as you been told or in groups, you are going to have breeding and eventually eggs. Nothing bad with wanting to breed except not being prepared. Your other threads you have both sex together.
You should now make sure you have the proper sized enclosures, not a Guinea pig cage, with an area for egg laying that the females can properly dig a nest into. Eventually all your females that has lived with a Male will be laying eggs.

 

[Meesh]

You obv didnt read correctly.. I clearly said the male has gotten into her enclosure & visa versa meaning they are seperated like what is your deal with me? lol its always YOU! just dont comment on my posts if youre going to be like that

Guinea pig cage? Weve gone over this an im not proving you wrong again with pictures. Im Asking you nicely to move on i shouldnt have to block you

 

[wellington]

You obv didnt read correctly.. I clearly said the male has gotten into her enclosure & visa versa meaning they are seperated like what is your deal with me? lol its always YOU! just dont comment on my posts if youre going to be like that

Your other posts/threads, go back and read them. Your posts/words, you have a group of females with a Male. Then you also have a Male and female pair housed in a Guinea pig cage. When the opposite sex is housed together there is going to be mating/breeding.
No problem with you, just what you are saying and doing. The two never add up!

 

[wellington]

Guinea pig cage? Weve gone over this an im not proving you wrong again with pictures. Im Asking you nicely to move on i shouldnt have to block you

Lol

 

[Meesh]

Your other posts/threads, go back and read them. Your posts/words, you have a group of females with a Male. Then you also have a Male and female pair housed in a Guinea pig cage. When the opposite sex is housed together there is going to be mating/breeding.
No problem with you, just what you are saying and doing. The two never add up!

Those are posts from over a year ago about different tortoises. This is now about this tortoise.. Smh you must be bored.. Please move on. Im here for my animal, youre here for w.e this is.. Have a great day!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hey, Meesh: You asked if an infertile egg has a yolk, yes,it does.

 

[jsheffield]

It seems like the question at the heart of this thread has been answered, and beyond that it's devolving... so let's move on.

Jamie

 

[wellington]

Those are posts from over a year ago about different tortoises. This is now about this tortoise.. Smh you must be bored.. Please move on. Im here for my animal, youre here for w.e this is.. Have a great day!

It doesn't matter which tortoise. Being with a male at any time when big enough to try to breed and you will have eggs. Tortoises, females, can hold onto sperm for a while. Each species seems to have a different amount of time they can hold it. If this one was ever housed like your other ones, or as you mentioned, this isn't the first time he got to her, or her to him, then there's a better chance then not there will be eggs. That's likely the only reason he wanted in with her was to breed. Now that you know this, you will have to make adjustments for her and the others that has lived with males so they can properly dig a nest. You can still incubate them once laid, you will just have to dig them up.