leopards bred...have questions...

[egyptiandan64]

Very few of my eggs have ever been dry when laid. All my eggs this year have been covered in mucus. Like Ed said they are real slippery and you have to be real careful.
I too would dig up the eggs and incubate them inside. A temperature of 30 to 31C in the incubator is just fine.

Danny

Originally Posted by wizzasmum

I asked a simple question. I have retrieved numerous hermanni eggs from the ground. I always without fail let my torts lay in the ground quite naturally and always retrieve the eggs after they have covered the nest. I know that some people move the tortoise off the nest and remove the eggs there and then. I happen to think this is unkind (and BTW have no idea if you do this or not before I am jumped on) and prefer to dig them up. In several years and many nests I have only once broken one egg this way, and this was because I did not know the tortoise had laid and was digging the ground over. I have never come across a snotty egg. I assume the snot is absorbed into the soil. I have never seen a leopards nest as I have no intention of breeding from my leopards.
Come to think of it last year when my hermanni female was induced her eggs were not snot coated either. Julie was with me when this happened and we picked the eggs up as they were laid - no snot!
I cannot watch Animal Planet as I do not have sky TV.
Your remarks were nasty and uncalled for Ed.

I can honestly say that when Sue induced her tort,there was definately none of the snotty stuff described.All of the eggs were perfectly clean.I have never had any of the stuff on my tort eggs either.
Ed,please stop being so snappy when members experiences are different to yours,it doesnt make good reading when you bite like this,is getting constant now,and boring

[Pussygalore]

are torts native to hawaii, if so then wouldn,t they hatch themselves, those temps seem pretty hot to me, they might take a bit longer but if they do breed and lay over there then would it not be worth the risk, I don,t know if there are any wild torts there but maybe theres a zoo or similar that keep them and perhaps your freind could ask them whether they leave the eggs to hatch themselves, I wish we,d had some of that lovely weather, is it like that all year round?.

[terrypin]

Originally Posted by egyptiandan64

Very few of my eggs have ever been dry when laid. All my eggs this year have been covered in mucus. Like Ed said they are real slippery and you have to be real careful.
I too would dig up the eggs and incubate them inside. A temperature of 30 to 31C in the incubator is just fine.

Danny

hi i have too agree with Danny if you watch the whole nesting process you will see that the eggs are covered in mucus to protect them as they drop into the nest i personally wait until the female has covered up then retrieve them by this time they are nomally dry.

terry

[EJ]

I normally retrieve the eggs as they are being laid if I can catch the female. This way the eggs are nice and clean because I always suggest never cleaning the eggs outside of a dry brushing. I believe that mucus coating serves some kind of purpose throughout the incubation process.

Anyway, the point is that they do indeed do dry out if left in the ground for very long.

Originally Posted by terrypin

hi i have too agree with Danny if you watch the whole nesting process you will see that the eggs are covered in mucus to protect them as they drop into the nest i personally wait until the female has covered up then retrieve them by this time they are nomally dry.

terry

Well of course he eggs are not dry when they come out - they have just left a live body! My torts eggs are only wet though and not mucousy at all and certainly not coated enough to protect them. As for retrieving when they are laying - only a man could do that Dirt is natural and where they want their eggs to be. I know of one breeder who incubates the eggs in soil with excellent results. BTW - I always watch the nesting process where possible - from a distance of course.

[vicedretard]

thanks all i told my friend everything you have told me he has decided to let the first clutch of eggs stay underground see how they do while he has retrieved the second clutch and placed in the incubator...so we will see which hatch first and if the ones left in the nest hatch...i told him i though it was hot enough here year round he is just worried cause our winter although it doesnt get really cold (not below 70F) it does rain quite heavey most days...so

to answer Q's ...no there are no native torts to hawaii...none...our zoo only has galapagos and sulcatas... and no neither have bred at our zoo for them to experience whether the underground nest is enough or it they should be extracted...thanks again for all the replies