Incubation vs Outside

[IanE]

I have a Russian tortoise that lives outside and just laid eggs.

I have never tried to incubate anything and was hoping for a quick shopping list for Amazon. The local pet store is out of incubators, so 2 day shipping seems to be my best choice, unless I'm better off leaving them be outside. They seem to be in a pretty safe place, but Texas weather can be unreliable.

So far, based on what I read, I'm thinking I need:

• Incubator (which one?)
• Vermiculite
• Pete Moss
• Thermometer / Hygrometer
• Plastic Container to hold everything
• Will a regular spray bottle work to maintain moisture in the vermiculite?

So, my main question is, what incubator do I get? I probably won't use it much, but don't want to get the cheapest and not have something that could work.

Also, since I have to wait a couple of days to get the incubator, and then need to give it time to stabilize, do I just leave the eggs where they are in the meantime?

And then perhaps the most important question, what do I need to do for my tortoise who surely just had an exhausting day.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

-Ian

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ian, and welcome to the Forum!

The Little Giant bird brooders work just fine. You don't need the one that turns the eggs, as you're not supposed to turn tortoise eggs at all once they've started to grow. Moist vermiculite in a small plastic container with holes punched along the rim and the lid on works fine. I keep a cup of water inside the incubator, then spritz the vermiculite with water as it dries out.

I can't keep my tortoise eggs in the ground because the red ants drill in through the shell and eat the insides.

 

[N2TORTS]

1 word = "Control"

 

[Tom]

Your eggs should be fine in the ground even for weeks. I leave my sulcata eggs in the ground from December until June and get 100% hatch rates. Russian eggs should be even more tolerant of temperate weather conditions. I have lots of ants in my area too, but they have never bothered my tortoise eggs. I wonder what the difference is.

You don't need peat moss.

You can soak your female in warm shallow water every other day for a couple of weeks and give her a little bit of calcium supplementation on her food 2 or 3 times a week for the next few months.

 

[N2TORTS]

Tom ...since we are close to each other , when does this natural incubation happen? Spring /summer months? I know the ground is much to cold to produce half the year outside where we live . Any pictures of these wonderful 100% ers?

 

[cdmay]

If you decide to leave the eggs in the ground as they were laid I would recommend building some sort of screen or wire mesh cover to put over the nest area. This will do two things: First, it will keep boogies such as raccoons, possums and the like from getting to the eggs. Second, when the eggs hatch it will keep the neonates from wandering off into your yard and disappearing.
As Tom said, the eggs should be just fine in situ and since it is springtime I think they will incubate naturally with no problems. I've had numerous clutches of various red-footed tortoise races, and a few clutches of Hermann's and leopard tortoises that I had missed over the years incubate and hatch in the ground even after experiencing cool weather.

If you decide to purchase an incubator for future nestings, I highly recommend the basic Hov-a-Bator model that you can pick up at most feed stores or order online from places like Big Al's Pet Supply, etc. These incubators are inexpensive, simple to set up/operate and they work for many years.
I've used them since 1979.