New Egg Momma With TONS of questions!!!

[TortoiseMomma30]

So my Russian tortoises have had 2 clutches in the past two months!! The first clutch was found the day after Christmas when I was cleaning their enclosure and the second clutch was found January 30th. I have them in an incubator with the temp at 91 Fahrenheit and the humidity is usually kept between 69-72 percent. I have SOOOO many questions. How do I know if they're developing correctly? When should I start looking for signs of hatching? How long should they stay in the incubator after hatching? Will they need their own enclosure or can they go in with Mom(Candy Cane) and Dad(Tank)? What should I look for when candling?? SOO many questions and my brain is going a mile a minute because I can't remember them all lol so any and ALL advice is appreciated!!!!!

 

[biochemnerd808]

Hi there.
I think there is a thread about how to incubate eggs, but here are a few pointers:
Incubation temp should be 89°F or lower. At 91°F it is too hot and you will get a lower hatch rate and a lot of birth defects.
The eggs should be placed in bone dry vermiculite, but the air needs to be humid. I achieve this by placing a few open tupperware type containers of water in the incubator. They will need to be refilled occasionally.
When at about day 60-75 the babies start to pip (break out of their egg), move the egg into a separate container with moist paper towels, with a lid and air holes, in the incubator. Don't help them hatch, they will be stronger if they get out at their own pace. Once they hatch, they might still have a visible yolk sac. Keep them in the little bin on moist paper towel, with some greens, until their belly closes up. Then you should house them like @Tom describes: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

As far as candling goes, it is best to leave the eggs alone. I candle once at 4 weeks. At this point you will see red veins and most likely small dark shadow of a tortoise embryo. If you see nothing in the egg (yellowish white only) at 4 weeks, the eggs are likely not fertile.

One more thing. Your male and female should not be housed together. This can result in your female dying, as the male will chase yer, ram her, bite her, mate her! They really need to be house separately. If you are intentionally breeding, it only takes one successful mating a year to get fertile eggs. Here is some reading on the subject: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/m...d-way-do-not-keep-2-tortoises-together.79458/

 

[Tom]

So my Russian tortoises have had 2 clutches in the past two months!! The first clutch was found the day after Christmas when I was cleaning their enclosure and the second clutch was found January 30th. I have them in an incubator with the temp at 91 Fahrenheit and the humidity is usually kept between 69-72 percent. I have SOOOO many questions. How do I know if they're developing correctly? When should I start looking for signs of hatching? How long should they stay in the incubator after hatching? Will they need their own enclosure or can they go in with Mom(Candy Cane) and Dad(Tank)? What should I look for when candling?? SOO many questions and my brain is going a mile a minute because I can't remember them all lol so any and ALL advice is appreciated!!!!!

What Katie said.

And here is the thread for what to do with eggs and hatclings:

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