Found Russian Tortoise egg!

Status
Not open for further replies.

keiraliang

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
103
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, TX
I found an egg(Russian Tortoise) in the enclosure this morning.
I don't know how long has it been lay there. when first found,the shell is already hard.

There's male russian tortoise in the same enclosure.

I want to know how to find out if the egg is still alive...

I don't know what to do now. Please tell me~
 

egyptiandan

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
5,788
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Just sitting in the enclosure for a while won't kill a tortoise egg. It would have to get to cold or to warm for that to happen. It's either fertile or it isn't and you won't be able to tell for a few days. Tortoise eggs are hard when laid, so being hard is a good thing. :)
You will need to make or buy an incubator. Buying is easier and you should be able to find one at a local feed/grain store. If you do buy one, get one that doesn't have a fan and doesn't automaticly turn the eggs.
You will need temperatures between 28C and 32C and a humidity level around 70%.
Your egg will be fine at room temperatures for 3 or 4 days.
Do you have a place in your enclosure for your female to dig a proper nest?

Danny
 

keiraliang

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
103
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, TX
egyptiandan said:
Just sitting in the enclosure for a while won't kill a tortoise egg. It would have to get to cold or to warm for that to happen. It's either fertile or it isn't and you won't be able to tell for a few days. Tortoise eggs are hard when laid, so being hard is a good thing. :)
You will need to make or buy an incubator. Buying is easier and you should be able to find one at a local feed/grain store. If you do buy one, get one that doesn't have a fan and doesn't automaticly turn the eggs.
You will need temperatures between 28C and 32C and a humidity level around 70%.
Your egg will be fine at room temperatures for 3 or 4 days.
Do you have a place in your enclosure for your female to dig a proper nest?

Danny

sorry,this is first time doing this, so I have a lot of questions. @_@

The mud in her enclosure is not deep enough to dig a proper nest. She just dig a small hole and lay it.

Could you tell me how to make a incubator so I can see if I can do that.

I didn't turn on A/C recently because it's not too cold in TX now. it's around 73 indoor now, is that safe for the egg? What temperature is too cold for the egg?

I searched online and know that I should move the egg carefully and don't turn it and put it in a container with some stuff in it, can I put sand and mud and some water to maintain the humidity?
Do I need to make some small holes on the container?



I don't know how long the egg is been there. :( I hope it's still ok...
 

egyptiandan

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
5,788
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Seeing as you have a female now that is mature and laying eggs, you will need a place in the enclosure or a seperate container that has enough soil to let her dig a proper nest. This will take 6 to 8 inches of soil (not mud) at least.
It would take to long and be a bit complicated to make your own incubator with you already having an egg (and most likely more on the way). If you can't find a Hovabator (incubator) locally, you can order one online and have them ship it next day. Your egg will be fine at 73F for 3 or 4 days. You can set an egg on anything, sand, aspen, soil, vermiculite, perlite. Just though don't make it wet, slightly damp is fine (and don't add any more water to the substrate for the rest of incubation). No top on the container you use. You'd use a shallow wide container for water to put in the incubator for humidity. For now that the egg is to cool to develop, you don't need any more humidity than whats in the air already.

Danny
 

keiraliang

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
103
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, TX
HEllo,

My friend knows how to make incubator so I put them in the one he made now.

it's the kind with water at the bottom heat up with aquarium heater and then put eggs above it in a container.

Do they(egg) need air in there? the temperature is 86 and humidity is 50%

The Humidity doesn't go higher than 50% but it's already very humid in there.

is this ok?


I see another egg after I dig up the first egg. so there's two of them! :D



Uploaded with ImageShack.us




Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 

Floof

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
1,330
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I don't know anything about breeding Russians, but I've incubated (snake) eggs in the past, so maybe I can help a little there.

To start, those dials are incredibly inaccurate, especially when they're reading the temp/humidity at the edge of the incubator and NOT where the actual eggs are. Get a digital thermometer and put the probe in the box beside the eggs. This will tell you, better, what temperature they're at. As for the humidity, you can tell it's humid in there by the condensation. As long as the eggs are developing well and not dimpling (a sign of dehydration), don't worry about a humidity gauge... Or, if you want to worry about humidity, get a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer that also reads humidity.

If the temperatures end up reading too high once you have a digital thermometer reading the temps next to the eggs, it may be a good idea to get a thermostat. A-life is about the cheapest you can go ($30) while still getting a relatively reliable product. You would then plug the water heater into the thermostat, and place the probe in the egg box beside the digital thermometer and eggs. Set the thermostat to the desired temperature, and it will turn the water heater on and off as needed to keep the box at the desired temperature, as you will be able to monitor with your digital thermometer.

On the subject of ventilation... I don't know if this translates over to tortoise eggs, but, with snake eggs, opening the incubator to check on things once a week provides enough air exchange for the eggs. Once hatching time comes up, more air will be more important, as will checking on them more often... At that time, you can start checking on them (and allowing for that air exchange) once a day.

About the female, and the egg laying. Since you know she is producing viable eggs, I agree with Danny... It's time to create a viable place for her to lay eggs. Either put together a separate container you can transfer her to whenever she displays nesting behavior, or cut out a section of the table's bottom and drop in a deep tub you can fill with soil so she can nest inside the enclosure.

Hope this helps some. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top