Hermani tortoise eggs, advice needed!!!

[Sherbie14]

Hi, I'm tracey, I live in the UK. I have two hermani tortoises, Sherman, my male he's 6 years old and herbie my female she's 7 years old, herbie laid her first clutch of eggs 16th of April 2014, she laid two eggs, within three hours I placed them in a home made incubator. On 30th of April 2014, herbie laid another egg and them another on 1st of May 2014. I had some concerns about herbie's behaviour while laying, she never dug a nest, she laid on the surface and walked away every time, and was always early in the morning.

I have some questions about the eggs, they have all been looking good up until a few days ago, the egg that was laid on the 1st of May is leaking fluid, very smelly fluid, is this egg rotten? I haven't disturbed the eggs since putting them in the incubator just doing a daily check on them, today I used a torch to see if I could see anything in this egg and there's a dark shadow showing there is something in there, when shining on the other eggs they all look empty?? Advice needed please x

 

[wellington]

I don't know too much about eggs, but I'm sure the one that smells bad is bad and should be disposed of. The others, well sounds like one might be good, but id will try to get someone here that has had experience with hatching. @tortadise @Tom @Yvonne G Hopefully one of them will be able to help you soon.

 

[tortadise]

Could you post a pic maybe. Have they been with a male. At that duration you would definitely see something. 90 days or so for these to hatch MAX.

 

[Sherbie14]

They have been together since they were babies, Sherman is a very sexually active male, and has been since about 18months old, . Thank u for ur quick reply I really appreciate it x

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Usually, eggs laid on the surface are not fertile, but they can be at times. Are these her first eggs? I find the first clutches tend not to be fertile as well, but again, every now and then I am surprised with a hatchling. If the egg smells bad and is leaking, it's probably not good. Sometimes they get moldy or the yolk hardens and it looks like there might be something in it, but it's just the mold or yolk. There's no harm in keeping it for a while though and watching it (as long as you can tolerate the smell!) I usually keep eggs until they explode or are obviously infertile. Hope that was helpful!

 

[Sherbie14]

Usually, eggs laid on the surface are not fertile, but they can be at times. Are these her first eggs? I find the first clutches tend not to be fertile as well, but again, every now and then I am surprised with a hatchling. If the egg smells bad and is leaking, it's probably not good. Sometimes they get moldy or the yolk hardens and it looks like there might be something in it, but it's just the mold or yolk. There's no harm in keeping it for a while though and watching it (as long as you can tolerate the smell!) I usually keep eggs until they explode or are obviously infertile. Hope that was helpful!

That is helpful thank you, I'm going to keep it for a bit and see what happens, yes these are her first eggs, I'm new to all this, I spoke to someone from a tortoise association and they said the she could lay more eggs soon?? Is this right?? How many clutches a year do Hermanns usually have? Will she keep laying every year now?? I also have some questions about my male, when herbie laid her eggs he was really quite for a few weeks, wouldn't come out of hiding unless I brought him out, this week he is back to normal trying to mate with herbie all the time, is this normal?? Should I separate them?? Thanks for ur quick reply xx

 

[Moozillion]

If you have only 2 torts together, the male will constantly try to mate with the female. This is terribly stressful for her because they're confined and she can't get away from him like she could if they were in the wild. I've seen photos of female torts with torn and painfully infected vents from basically being raped constantly. The female will try to avoid the male and often cannot get to her food or is too stressed to eat. They can get sick and can even die if it goes on long enough.

The usual recommendation is 3 females to 1 male, with lots of space, lots of sight barriers and places to hide. I would separate them immediately.

 

[JoesMum]

Unfortunately, male testudo are very demanding. In the wild, they live largely solitary lives; they meet up to mate and move on. They don't want or need company. In captivity, keeping just two together leads to the male constantly harrassing the female. This leads to the female becoming withdrawn, probably sick and could result in her death.

If they are kept in a large outdoor enclosure with lots of sight barriers so that she can get sime peace and quiet, they may cohabit successfully. However, it recommended that they are kept separately or in groups of 3 or more.

I would recommend that you keep them separately from now on. If you want to breed them, introduce them to mate and then separate them to lead the solitary lives in peace that they need.