soft eggs

[cmacusa3]

I've done some research and couldn't find a solid answer on this subject. I've got a female leopard that has laid 5 clutches this year and 4 of those clutches have hatched, the 5th she laid about 3 weeks ago and all were good as well. Yesterday she dropped 3 eggs on the ground that were very soft and pliable, I haven't seen this before. is it possible she has too many inside her and dropped some to help with discomfort? She gets calcium and hasn't had any issues. Thoughts/Idea's?

 

[wellington]

The only thing I can help with, is one of my females years ago, laid eggs on top of the ground and they were soft and dented. However, it was mine first time laying. After that she did it right.
Seeing yours isn't a first timer, it could just be she had too many clutches and not enough calcium to harden them up. That's just a guess.
Maybe @Tom will have a better answer.

 

[etreal]

Mine (Jacinta), has done the same thing the two years she had laid eggs, but before laying the real clutches into the ground every 3 weeks.

Last year she laid several times soft shelled eggs before starting to dig, and this year she did it one time.

@Tom mentioned it is a normal process as a preparation for laying eggs, but I cannot give you more information.

Best regards.

 

[Tom]

I've done some research and couldn't find a solid answer on this subject. I've got a female leopard that has laid 5 clutches this year and 4 of those clutches have hatched, the 5th she laid about 3 weeks ago and all were good as well. Yesterday she dropped 3 eggs on the ground that were very soft and pliable, I haven't seen this before. is it possible she has too many inside her and dropped some to help with discomfort? She gets calcium and hasn't had any issues. Thoughts/Idea's?

The only time I have seen this sort of thing is BEFORE a first time mom actually starts digging nests and laying good eggs. I call it "priming the pump". If she is dropping soft duds on the surface after laying several good nests, then something is wrong somewhere. Diet and calcium intake seem the most obvious places to look.

What are you feeding to this female? How much and how often? Is there cuttle bone available? How much calcium supplementation and how often? Is there some protein in the diet like clover, alfalfa, green beans, peas, Mazuri, etc...?

They use a lot of water making nests. Do you soak after laying? Do you add some water to the diet in the form of water on the greens or watery food like cucumber or opuntia pads for a while after laying?

You are not a beginner, so I'm pretty sure you already understand these concepts. I'm writing this more for other newer breeders reading along who might not know these things, and also to re-introduce ideas that you may have forgotten about. I find it helpful to go back and mentally re-examine basics sometimes.

 

[cmacusa3]

The only time I have seen this sort of thing is BEFORE a first time mom actually starts digging nests and laying good eggs. I call it "priming the pump". If she is dropping soft duds on the surface after laying several good nests, then something is wrong somewhere. Diet and calcium intake seem the most obvious places to look.

What are you feeding to this female? How much and how often? Is there cuttle bone available? How much calcium supplementation and how often? Is there some protein in the diet like clover, alfalfa, green beans, peas, Mazuri, etc...?

They use a lot of water making nests. Do you soak after laying? Do you add some water to the diet in the form of water on the greens or watery food like cucumber or opuntia pads for a while after laying?

You are not a beginner, so I'm pretty sure you already understand these concepts. I'm writing this more for other newer breeders reading along who might not know these things, and also to re-introduce ideas that you may have forgotten about. I find it helpful to go back and mentally re-examine basics sometimes.

Good on all the above, I'm going to up her soaking time and add more cuttlebone to the area, They have a good area to soak and sprinklers run everyday, food is just about all you listed plus Mulberry and Hibiscus. Its funny I've noticed eggs like this and I always assumed it was a rescue I have that was raised very poorly with some signs of MBD, but yesterday I caught my big girl in the act. I just checked the camera's and she's walking around grazing and even drank from the water.

 

[Tom]

Good on all the above, I'm going to up her soaking time and add more cuttlebone to the area, They have a good area to soak and sprinklers run everyday, food is just about all you listed plus Mulberry and Hibiscus. Its funny I've noticed eggs like this and I always assumed it was a rescue I have that was raised very poorly with some signs of MBD, but yesterday I caught my big girl in the act. I just checked the camera's and she's walking around grazing and even drank from the water.

I figured you'd have all the bases covered. That makes this odd. When everything is done "right" you usually don't see issues like this. Please keep us posted on the progress and if you learn anything new about why this is happening.

@zovick @Markw84 @Kapidolo Farms @Rodriguez Chelonians
Any of you guys have any insight to share?

 

[cmacusa3]

The only other idea could be the heat? Its been extremely hot and humid here the last few weeks, maybe it could be something else to throw into the mix.

 

[cmacusa3]

Mine (Jacinta), has done the same thing the two years she had laid eggs, but before laying the real clutches into the ground every 3 weeks.

Last year she laid several times soft shelled eggs before starting to dig, and this year she did it one time.

@Tom mentioned it is a normal process as a preparation for laying eggs, but I cannot give you more information.

Best regards.

This is her first year of laying, so maybe its just some mechanism within some of them, and those other eggs I found in the yard weren't from another tortoise, but were in fact hers.

 

[zovick]

The only other idea could be the heat? Its been extremely hot and humid here the last few weeks, maybe it could be something else to throw into the mix.

@Tom

Unfortunately I don't have an answer for why this type of thing happens, but did have somewhat similar issues with a couple of female Radiated Tortoises over the years. Both females were experienced egg layers and had nested many times and both had produced live babies, etc. One of them laid several soft shelled eggs (read incompletely calcified shells) on top of the ground a couple of times and the other one laid eggs with no shells whatsoever (just separate globs of albumin plus a yolk) on top of the ground a couple of times. Neither tried to bury those abnormal eggs, they just dropped them on top of the ground.

Both had the best of diets and plenty of vitamins and calcium supplements. Both of them within six months to a year or so after these episodes began again laying normal eggs in nests which they dug and covered. These later eggs were fertile and hatched.

I attributed these occurrences to a temporary malfunction in the gland or organ which deposits the shells onto the eggs. Perhaps due to an infection or perhaps just due to the system needing a rest as these females normally nested every 6 weeks during their normal reproductive season (late March through early December in GA).

 

[cmacusa3]

Well I guess she just had a glitch. She laid 12 tonight along with the 10 just over a month ago. So whatever happened between those dates with the soft eggs is a mystery