New Leopard Mother

[Big Bertha1]

Hi. I'm new to this forum. My 6.5 yo Leopard laid her first clutch of 12 eggs and I now have them in a Reptibator (88F and RH 74%). How do you easily maintain the RH% in the Reptibator? When should I expect her next clutch? Can you recommend a reliable upright incubator with shelves? Also, I would appreciate general tips for a successful hatch as this is my first. Thank you for your help.

 

[wellington]

@Tom
@Markw84
@Yvonne G
can best guide you on what to do. I have had very few clutches and not a lot of success with them. So I'll leave it to those that have more experience. Be sure you follow advice that is a long time breeding member.

 

[Tom]

Hi. I'm new to this forum. My 6.5 yo Leopard laid her first clutch of 12 eggs and I now have them in a Reptibator (88F and RH 74%). How do you easily maintain the RH% in the Reptibator? When should I expect her next clutch? Can you recommend a reliable upright incubator with shelves? Also, I would appreciate general tips for a successful hatch as this is my first. Thank you for your help.
View attachment 394181View attachment 394180View attachment 394179View attachment 394178

Hello and welcome. Lots of tips for you:
1. You can put all the eggs in one box. I do 24 to a box like that.
2. Put the lid on the shoe box. You don't need to drill holes. There is enough ventilation with the lid on.
3. Did you an add water to your vermiculite? Should be a ratio of 1 : 1 by weight. So 300 grams of vermiculite and 300 grams of water.
4. Humidity needs to be in the 80s. 74 is too low. After you consolidate the eggs into one container, you can clean out the other container and fill it with water. You might also have to plug ventilation holes in the incubator. I use black electrical tape for this purpose.
5. You are more likely to get some to hatch, or get better hatch rates, if you diapause the eggs before incubation. This is really easy to do: Go unplug the incubator and let it sit for one month at room temp. Totally fine if the temp dips into the 60s at night and climbs into the 80s during the day. Also fine if your AC hold the temp at 72 all the time. After a month or two, plug it back in. If you skip this step eggs that might have hatched might not.

More info 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

 

[Big Bertha1]

Thank you Tom. I appreciate your expert advice. I will follow your steps.

 

[Tom]

Thank you Tom. I appreciate your expert advice. I will follow your steps.

You are welcome. And feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to talk tortoises!

Also, don't be discouraged if this doesn't work out. It's common to have low fertility or no fertility in first clutches sometimes. If these don't hatch, the next batch or two should do better. Oh... Your other question: How often do they lay? My leopards laid about once a month from May through October or November.

 

[Big Bertha1]

Hello and welcome. Lots of tips for you:
1. You can put all the eggs in one box. I do 24 to a box like that.
2. Put the lid on the shoe box. You don't need to drill holes. There is enough ventilation with the lid on.
3. Did you an add water to your vermiculite? Should be a ratio of 1 : 1 by weight. So 300 grams of vermiculite and 300 grams of water.
4. Humidity needs to be in the 80s. 74 is too low. After you consolidate the eggs into one container, you can clean out the other container and fill it with water. You might also have to plug ventilation holes in the incubator. I use black electrical tape for this purpose.
5. You are more likely to get some to hatch, or get better hatch rates, if you diapause the eggs before incubation. This is really easy to do: Go unplug the incubator and let it sit for one month at room temp. Totally fine if the temp dips into the 60s at night and climbs into the 80s during the day. Also fine if your AC hold the temp at 72 all the time. After a month or two, plug it back in. If you skip this step eggs that might have hatched might not.

More info 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

You are welcome. And feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to talk tortoises!

Also, don't be discouraged if this doesn't work out. It's common to have low fertility or no fertility in first clutches sometimes. If these don't hatch, the next batch or two should do better. Oh... Your other question: How often do they lay? My leopards laid about once a month from May through October or November.

Hi Tom,
My lady leopard is at it again.
1st clutch: 15Aug; 12 eggs
2nd clutch: 18Sep; 8 eggs

Tonight (25Sep) she dug her deep hole and is getting ready to lay again.
Is this frequency typical? If not, what may have happened?
I'll keep you posted as to what happens and how many, if any.

 

[RandyTortoise]

You are welcome. And feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to talk tortoises!

Also, don't be discouraged if this doesn't work out. It's common to have low fertility or no fertility in first clutches sometimes. If these don't hatch, the next batch or two should do better. Oh... Your other question: How often do they lay? My leopards laid about once a month from May through October or November.

Tom, are you saying that leopards regularly have more than three clutches in a season?

 

[Tom]

Tom, are you saying that leopards regularly have more than three clutches in a season?

All of mine did. My SA leopard females would all lay about 7 or 8 clutches per year from May into November. They stop laying usually end of November as the days got shorter and the weather finally cooled after summer. I was getting 240 eggs a year from three females.

 

[RandyTortoise]

All of mine did. My SA leopard females would all lay about 7 or 8 clutches per year from May into November. They stop laying usually end of November as the days got shorter and the weather finally cooled after summer. I was getting 240 eggs a year from three females.

Wow!

 

[Big Bertha1]

Hello and welcome. Lots of tips for you:
1. You can put all the eggs in one box. I do 24 to a box like that.
2. Put the lid on the shoe box. You don't need to drill holes. There is enough ventilation with the lid on.
3. Did you an add water to your vermiculite? Should be a ratio of 1 : 1 by weight. So 300 grams of vermiculite and 300 grams of water.
4. Humidity needs to be in the 80s. 74 is too low. After you consolidate the eggs into one container, you can clean out the other container and fill it with water. You might also have to plug ventilation holes in the incubator. I use black electrical tape for this purpose.
5. You are more likely to get some to hatch, or get better hatch rates, if you diapause the eggs before incubation. This is really easy to do: Go unplug the incubator and let it sit for one month at room temp. Totally fine if the temp dips into the 60s at night and climbs into the 80s during the day. Also fine if your AC hold the temp at 72 all the time. After a month or two, plug it back in. If you skip this step eggs that might have hatched might not.

More info 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

Hi. I've been incubating the eggs and have 5 viable eggs remaining. I've been having a mite issue. Humidity is 80-90% in the Reptibator incubator. Temp is 89-90F. The Reptibator does not seal 100%. I'm wondering if an upright incubator with a door seal will prevent mites. Please provide me your thoughts and an upright incubator brand name, if recommended. Thanks.

 

[Tom]

Hi. I've been incubating the eggs and have 5 viable eggs remaining. I've been having a mite issue. Humidity is 80-90% in the Reptibator incubator. Temp is 89-90F. The Reptibator does not seal 100%. I'm wondering if an upright incubator with a door seal will prevent mites. Please provide me your thoughts and an upright incubator brand name, if recommended. Thanks.

It is very unlikely that you have a "mite" issue. It's much more likely that they are springtails or some other harmless detrivore. Can you post a pic?

No incubator is, or should be, air tight. There needs to be some air movement with some fresh air coming in over time. Not a lot, but it can't be sealed either.

 

[RandyTortoise]

What is the most reliable incubator in your opinion? I have had issues with two so far and in one instance shot up to 45 degrees c and cooked the eggs. A lot of them!

Any suggestions? Is the reptibator reliable?

 

[Tom]

What is the most reliable incubator in your opinion? I have had issues with two so far and in one instance shot up to 45 degrees c and cooked the eggs. A lot of them!

Any suggestions? Is the reptibator reliable?

Home made. All the way. I haven't tried any of the multi-thousand dollar lab grade ones, but all of the regular affordable ones are inaccurate unreliable junk. The cheap Little Giant or Hovabators work better than the more expensive reptile ones in my experience.

Due to the volume of eggs I was getting, I had to make my own incubator out of an old stand up freezer. I took the compressor out to reduce weight, and put an RHP top and bottom, controlled by a Helix digital proportional thermostat. A small computer fan blows across each RHP to keep the air circulating and the temperatures more even throughout the whole thing. I can fit about 18 shoe boxes of eggs in it.

I've seen them made out of the glass drink fridges from liquor stores too. Just about any large insulated container can work.

 

[RandyTortoise]

Home made. All the way. I haven't tried any of the multi-thousand dollar lab grade ones, but all of the regular affordable ones are inaccurate unreliable junk. The cheap Little Giant or Hovabators work better than the more expensive reptile ones in my experience.

Due to the volume of eggs I was getting, I had to make my own incubator out of an old stand up freezer. I took the compressor out to reduce weight, and put an RHP top and bottom, controlled by a Helix digital proportional thermostat. A small computer fan blows across each RHP to keep the air circulating and the temperatures more even throughout the whole thing. I can fit about 18 shoe boxes of eggs in it.

I've seen them made out of the glass drink fridges from liquor stores too. Just about any large insulated container can work.

Sadly, I have found out the hard way. I have two small incubators that each hold about 30
Eggs. I was successful in hatching 7 babies and then the incubators started having really bad temperature swings. I tired about everything I could with watching and taking temps daily. Then I came home for work to an alarm and one of the incubators had shot up to 45degrees Celsius and cooked all the eggs. Two months later the other did the same thing. All were lost.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I've seen them made out of the glass drink fridges from liquor stores too. Just about any large insulated container can work.

Here is a recent example for anyone interested:

EASY wine fridge incubator build

I scored another non-functioning wine fridge on Facebook marketplace for $20. The interior lights still work, and it has 2 separate sides. I've used the little square unit (top) for years, but ran out of space this year. I'm using a heat cable with a JumpStart digital thermostat for the top...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Tom]

Sadly, I have found out the hard way. I have two small incubators that each hold about 30
Eggs. I was successful in hatching 7 babies and then the incubators started having really bad temperature swings. I tired about everything I could with watching and taking temps daily. Then I came home for work to an alarm and one of the incubators had shot up to 45degrees Celsius and cooked all the eggs. Two months later the other did the same thing. All were lost.

So sad. Tell us which type of incubator you were using to help others avoid this fate?

With a good thermostat on a custom built incubator, this really should never be a problem. A few years ago, I had a mouse invasion in my garage where my incubator sits. The mice chewed through the wire of the thermostat's probe. This shut off the heat and my eggs were at 65F for at least a few days in the middle of incubation. All I could do was eliminate the mice and replace the thermostat, which I did. Those eggs all hatched normally, and I didn't see any problems.

 

[RandyTortoise]

So sad. Tell us which type of incubator you were using to help others avoid this fate?

With a good thermostat on a custom built incubator, this really should never be a problem. A few years ago, I had a mouse invasion in my garage where my incubator sits. The mice chewed through the wire of the thermostat's probe. This shut off the heat and my eggs were at 65F for at least a few days in the middle of incubation. All I could do was eliminate the mice and replace the thermostat, which I did. Those eggs all hatched normally, and I didn't see any problems.

It is called Vevor. The person that sold me my adult female leopard used them with good result, apparently.

 

[Tom]

It is called Vevor. The person that sold me my adult female leopard used them with good result, apparently.

Thanks for sharing. Adding that to the list of ones I will never buy.