My first attempt at hatching Sulcata eggs :) So excited!!!

[TommyTheV]

Hi all,

Shortly after I acquired 3 beautiful Sri Lankan Star hatchlings, one of my young female Sulcata decided to lay. This is her first clutch. Honestly didn't know how long they were laid for but its been mid 70's (at most) outside for the past 2-3 weeks in San Diego so even if it was that long I don't think (or hope not) that they incubated yet.

The story is, as I was watering my garden I saw broken egg shells. Upon inspection something dug up a few and ate it. I've recovered 19 eggs. 1 was badly cracked so I just cracked it fully open to see if it is fertile or not and it is!



If I include all the broken the clutch size is 24 but I manage to only get 18 to start...

I have an extra 1602 Hovabator (for chicken eggs) laying around so figured why not give it a stab. After 4-5 hours of researching online they have been incubating since May 29th, 2023.

If my math is right (and everything else), I should expect hatching around the 1st week of September!

Temp: Mid 80's
Humidity: Min 80's
Perlite as a substrate
No air, no turns
Fingers crossed

Haha

Question: I plan to candle all the eggs by the end of this month. Should I toss out any that doesn't seem to have any veins/growth or should I just keep them all in there for the full term?

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

Shortly after I acquired 3 beautiful Sri Lankan Star hatchlings, one of my young female Sulcata decided to lay. This is her first clutch. Honestly didn't know how long they were laid for but its been mid 70's (at most) outside for the past 2-3 weeks in San Diego so even if it was that long I don't think (or hope not) that they incubated yet.

The story is, as I was watering my garden I saw broken egg shells. Upon inspection something dug up a few and ate it. I've recovered 19 eggs. 1 was badly cracked so I just cracked it fully open to see if it is fertile or not and it is!

View attachment 357498

If I include all the broken the clutch size is 24 but I manage to only get 18 to start...

I have an extra 1602 Hovabator (for chicken eggs) laying around so figured why not give it a stab. After 4-5 hours of researching online they have been incubating since May 29th, 2023.

If my math is right (and everything else), I should expect hatching around the 1st week of September!

Temp: Mid 80's
Humidity: Min 80's
Perlite as a substrate
No air, no turns
Fingers crossed

Haha

Question: I plan to candle all the eggs by the end of this month. Should I toss out any that doesn't seem to have any veins/growth or should I just keep them all in there for the full term?

First and foremost, get them off of the perlite ASAP. When babies hatch they will eat some of their incubation media. If they eat that perlite, it will kill them weeks or months down the road. Use vermiculite instead. Or even plain dirt. Mix water into the vermiculite at a ratio of 1 : 1 BY WEIGHT. So 300 grams of dry vermiculite in you plastic shoe box will need 300 grams of water. Tap water is fine, well water is fine, bottled water is fine, RO or rainwater is fine. Moving the eggs onto new media won't hurt anything as long as you don't turn the eggs. Mark the top dead centers with a pencil and don't change that orientation.

It might only take 80 days depending on how long they were in the ground. Sometimes being in the ground for a while, even with cooler temps, makes them hatch sooner.

Unless you want all males, slowly bump your incubation temps up to the high 80s.

More here:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

And even more here:

Sudan Sulcatas (This never gets old...)

My very first clutch of true 100% pure Sudan sulcatas is now hatching. I don't care how many times I see this, it just never gets old. I dig up the eggs carefully place them in my prepared shoe boxes, watch the temperature in the incubator and tend to them for months, and then... When that...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TommyTheV]

First and foremost, get them off of the perlite ASAP. When babies hatch they will eat some of their incubation media. If they eat that perlite, it will kill them weeks or months down the road. Use vermiculite instead. Or even plain dirt. Mix water into the vermiculite at a ratio of 1 : 1 BY WEIGHT. So 300 grams of dry vermiculite in you plastic shoe box will need 300 grams of water. Tap water is fine, well water is fine, bottled water is fine, RO or rainwater is fine. Moving the eggs onto new media won't hurt anything as long as you don't turn the eggs. Mark the top dead centers with a pencil and don't change that orientation.

It might only take 80 days depending on how long they were in the ground. Sometimes being in the ground for a while, even with cooler temps, makes them hatch sooner.

Unless you want all males, slowly bump your incubation temps up to the high 80s.

More here:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

And even more here:

Sudan Sulcatas (This never gets old...)

My very first clutch of true 100% pure Sudan sulcatas is now hatching. I don't care how many times I see this, it just never gets old. I dig up the eggs carefully place them in my prepared shoe boxes, watch the temperature in the incubator and tend to them for months, and then... When that...

tortoiseforum.org

Thanks for that Tom

I will aim for 88-89F, will that be okay for more females?

Just ordered Organic Vermiculite should arrive soon and change the substrate out. I'll set it up per instructions and try to switch the boxes quickly but carefully so the eggs don't have a sudden big temp drop.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for that Tom

I will aim for 88-89F, will that be okay for more females?

Just ordered Organic Vermiculite should arrive soon and change the substrate out. I'll set it up per instructions and try to switch the boxes quickly but carefully so the eggs don't have a sudden big temp drop.

Set up the new incubation box, and if there is room, set both boxes in the incubator for a while to let the temperatures equalize, before moving the eggs into the new box.

Now you next order of business is setting up another large closed chamber and getting the temps correct BEFORE these babies hatch. Buy some new soaking tubs, and enough shoe boxes to do the brooder stage. You won't be able to do the brooder stage in the little Hovabator, so you need to figure out where you will be doing that. It can be done inside the closed chamber enclosure with the right heating and thermostats. They need the brooder stage for around 10 days, and you'll need at least 6 shoe boxes. No more than six babies per box, and you'll rotate boxes daily. Remove the food from the one they spent the night in, soak them in that one, prepare the new box with food, and then move them into the new boxes after the soak. Then clean the "dirty" box and get it ready for the next day. I believe this greatly reduces the bacterial and fungal load in these warm, wet, humid shoe boxes during the brooder box stage.