Leopard Tortoise Fertility - Your Help Please

[sstephenson]

I've been communicating with a gentleman that has a female leopard that he can no longer care for. He says that she is 16 to 18 years old and about 18 inches long straight line. He said that her mate died unexpectedly 4 years ago. He said that prior to the male's death, she was laying 8 to 10 eggs about 5 times a year. She laid one more clutch after his death, but has not been with a male or laid eggs since.


My question is this: Can I reasonably expect that she will still be fertile if she meets a new male friend? Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[tortadise]

It is certainly possible. The only way to know is to collect the eggs she drops and incubate. Ounce they are all infertile then she will more than likely be out of retained sperm to fertilize the eggs. However over the years the fertility runs lower and lower as the retained sperm is not replenished by a male. But the only way to do this is to keep her separate from your male.

It is very likely she could still lay many fertile eggs. The more age a female has on her the more follicles are developed. So may be very interesting to know if she still lays fertile eggs. Good luck in finding out.