hibernation and breeding

[emmajh]

hi im being given two hermanns 1 male 1 female. they have never been hibernated and i dont fancy hibernating them myself. They have always been kept outside but i shall be keeping them inside with room to roam outside everyday. My question is do they need to hibernate in order to breed successfully?? This is what the current owners were told by the vet. However the female has been laying eggs (unfertile ones) but has just been dropping them out. Just wondering if I build her up a nest on her tortoise table (current owners dont have a nest for her) do you think she will use it and perhaps have success with fertile eggs? thanks

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Do you know, for a fact, that the eggs are infertile? Have they ever been tested?

 

[GBtortoises]

They do not have to be hibernated to breed, however in most cases they will be more inclined to breed with some degree of light and/or temperature reduction (and then increase) in the latter part of the winter or early spring. One of the most important aspects of sucessful breeding for Northern Mediterranean species is some form of seasonal change, even if it's just a minor one. But even those changes have to become part of their annual routine in order to be effective. When they are introduced to a dramatically different environment it will often take them a year or two to become comfortable with their newly established routine, whether it happens naturally or is controlled by you.

In most cases eggs that are deposited on the ground by a female are infertile, but I wouldn't automatically assume that either since females can retain sperm from previous breedings for many years. It could be that she did not have a suitable site to nest and held them as long as she could. I always incubate all eggs with the assumption that they may be fertile until proven otherwise. If she is producing fertile eggs and has a suitable nest site should would most likely go through the nesting process and bury them.