Hi! I was cleaning out my Russians enclosure today, and found an egg. My tort Greta lives alone but did get out of our back yard recently and went on an adventure. She was returned 3 days later. Is this a tort egg?
Can anyone please suggest what I do with this egg? Or if she happens to lay anymore? My son is extremely excited... But I told him not to get his hopes up for baby torts. Do I keep it in her enclosure?
A female tortoise can hold fertilized eggs or sperm for several years. So if she was, for instance, in a bin with male and female tortoises at the pet shop, she may have fertilized eggs inside her. USUALLY eggs laid on top of the ground aren't fertile, but some have been known to hatch out babies. So its always best to err on the side of caution.
Put the egg somewhere safe and don't turn it anymore. Make a little x in pencil on the top dead center, and don't let it turn.
Get some vermiculite. I get it from OSH. Mix one part water and one part vermiculite by weight, NOT volume. Drill two or three small holes in a Tupperware or deli-cup, fill it half way with the damp vermiculite and bury the egg about half way. Put the lid on. Set it somewhere out of the way. It will be fine at room temp for a few days at least.
Get a Hovbator or Little Giant still air incubator at a local feed store and take a few days to set it up and let the temp stabilize after you've made your adjustments. Use a good quality remote thermometer. Set your temp some where between 86 and 88. I like to fill the water chambers at the bottom of the styrofoam for added humidity. Once the temp is steady and and you are done making adjustments, pop the egg container in there and then leave it alone. If the media dries out, add a small amount of water around the edges of the cup, but not near the egg. In about 60 days, you will either have a baby, or you won't.
If the baby hatches, get a plastic shoe box and drill some holes around the top. Line the bottom with damp paper towels. As soon as the baby is out of its shell, rinse him and his egg shell in warm water and then put both in the shoe box. He might not eat it, but put a small amount of greens in there too. Change the paper towels and greens daily while the baby gets a warm shallow soak. After about a week the umbilical scar will have closed up and you can move him to a regular enclosure, or just send him to me.
Thanks Tom, for your help... I am going to attempt to do all you suggested. No, there are no bird nests around, it definitely looks like the pictures of Russian tort eggs I have seen.