Two Tortoises One Egg
 

My Russian tortoise egg pipped early this morning,leaving it to is own devices I let nature take its course like all the others that have hatched.
This evening it seemed to struggling to get out of its shell so I very carefully removed a small amount of shell from the top of the egg.
Looking closely I could see a largest yolk sac,upon closer inspection I could see a leg popping out of the shell some way from the tort.
Low and behold there was another tortoise in the shell presumably attached via the same sac.
I have further exposed the top of the shell to reveal to fully formed tortoises that appear to not be conjoined with each other.
They are now in the incubator with the temps turned down and for nature to take its course.
Is this a rare occurrence and has anybody experienced this and any advice would be helpful

Gordon has recently hatched Horsfield twins so hopefully he will notice this post and reply.

As Mary has said I had a pair hatch out on Christmas day and I had no idea the egg had twins in it as I normally candle all my eggs and over the years have had a lot of twins but these are the first to survive.
If they have a large yolk sack I would leave them where they are as long as possible but if they decide they want out I would keep them in the incubator as long as they will keep still. If they still have a lot of sack make a nest with some kitchen paper and damp it down then push your finger in it to make an indentation then sit them in it but you must keep it damp.

Thanks for that Gordon,I have done all that but it is an extremely large egg sac and the torts are at each end of it.
Unfortunately the largest one died during the night and the little one isn't very well.
There was a lot of blood and stuff in the bottom of the egg this morning,it looks like the bigger tortoise has pierced the sac with his back claws in an attempt to get out.
That's nature I guess,you can only help so much,that is the first loss out of a dozen or so hatchlings.

So sorry to hear that. :-(

that's sad but there is nothing else can be done. hope tweeny survives, CB

It's a very difficult one and pretty rare for them both to survive. Fingers crossed for the little one.

Update,little one is still alive but looks weak,was quite lively last night.
Took the decision this morning to tie off the egg sac with dental floss.
The bigger one is still attached so I am worried about infection,after removing most of the shell the sac is really big still and there is a lot of blood that looks like there may have been another trying to form.
Don't have much hope for the little one but I have tried my best for him/her..
Whether I have done the right things I don't know but time will tell.

I think tieing off the egg sac is the best thing to do otherwise the little one will do more damage trying to drag the other one around. When I had twins hatch it was the opposite way around the small one died and the other one is now nearly three but I had to tie off the sac as well.

Gosh - bit of a rollercoaster for you.

Good luck.