Not fertile

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Hanako

There are several males, but they are all only 3 years old. I think they may be a bit too young, although they are far too willing to mate! They are big enough to get the job done. Unfortunately, the only older male is my Big Boy who is now 11 but as he is the smallest, I don't think he was able to do the job because the bigger (and unfortunately young) males would be the ones that would get the females. Natural selection I suppose - the bigger gets the rewards.

I incubate at 32 degrees.

Then its definitely the male then:0)
Can I ask what size are the 3yr olds, as that's very young for mating success.
How big is the oldest male?

[Hanako]

Four youngsters (3 years old) had access to the females. They are all 102-105 mm. They are very keen to mate, in fact, they are unstoppable. My Big Boy is approximately 10mm smaller. (I measured the 3 years old but guessed the Big Boy's size; he dug himself so I felt mean to dig him out to measure him.)

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Hanako

Four youngsters (3 years old) had access to the females. They are all 102-105 mm. They are very keen to mate, in fact, they are unstoppable. My Big Boy is approximately 10mm smaller. (I measured the 3 years old but guessed the Big Boy's size; he dug himself so I felt mean to dig him out to measure him.)

What species are they, sorry I have forgotten:0)?
What weights?

[Hanako]

They are THH. The youngsters are from Corsica. The 11 year old is from a different locality.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Hanako

They are THH. The youngsters are from Corsica. The 11 year old is from a different locality.

That explains the sizes:0)
But at three years old they are probably still immature, and is why no fertile eggs so far.
Give them another year or two and you should see fertile eggs:0)

[Gordon]

Are you sure they are that old i have some four year olds that are no where near that size but they are very active

[Hanako]

Originally Posted by TURNIP

Are you sure they are that old i have some four year olds that are no where near that size but they are very active

I am pretty sure, I have got them since they were tiny babies. I don't starve my tortoises; they are eating every day and as much as they want to. But they are smooth so I must be doing something right. And they don't seem to be overweight.

I don't hybernate any more, so maybe that's the difference from yours?

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Hanako

I am pretty sure, I have got them since they were tiny babies. I don't starve my tortoises; they are eating every day and as much as they want to. But they are smooth so I must be doing something right. And they don't seem to be overweight.

I don't hybernate any more, so maybe that's the difference from yours?

I will say it is possible to get smooth tortoises that are still too large for their age.
As my first ever hatchling, I had no info to go by (pre internet) on how to rear hatchlings. So I fed her every day on good foods, but she grew fast but still smooth. Her keratin is too thick. I learnt a hard lesson, but got it right the second time, and I have reared smooth hatchlings since. :0)

[Hanako]

Originally Posted by sandy

I will say it is possible to get smooth tortoises that are still too large for their age.
As my first ever hatchling, I had no info to go by (pre internet) on how to rear hatchlings. So I fed her every day on good foods, but she grew fast but still smooth. Her keratin is too thick. I learnt a hard lesson, but got it right the second time, and I have reared smooth hatchlings since. :0)

I noticed there are two conflicting advises on this forum. Someone is saying that one shouldn't overfeed tortoises, that they should be kept fed but still hungry, because those people advise very slow growth.

Others are saying that growing youngsters tortoise can't get fat because if they eat more, they will just grow more rather than becoming fat.

I also read somewhere that young children and animals know when they had enough. (Unfortunately it doesn't work for adults because they have learned to ignore the signals their body is sending them and eat because they want to /feel that need to/compensate something missing out of their life/deal with emotional problems etc. It doesn't work with older children either because they are copying adult behavior. But it does work with younger children, especially babies, toddlers and pre-school age.)

Anyway, I really can't see a reason why tortoise should have to grow slowly. In the nature they grow slowly because they don't have enough food available, but that's exactly like with humans. Majority of people now are several stones heavier than they were thousands of years ago, when we had to hunt and had no cars and have very different lifestyle. To add to it, I have seen that some of those who claim that tortoise have to grow slowly still often have quite bumpy tortoise. So I realised that whether tortoise is bumpy or not doesn't really depend on how slowly/quickly it grows, but on the humidity.

I have seen the pictures of why bumpy tortoise is unhealthy. But I still haven't seen any proof that quicker growing tortoise, if it is still smooth, is unhealthy. So I let my tortoises eat as much as they want to; I keep checking that they have size appropriate to their weight (that they don't get fat), but I don't really care whether they grow quicker or slower than other people's tortoises of the same ages. I don't care whether they are bigger for their age or smaller for their age. When they reached their adult size, they strop growing, so your slower growing tortoises will eventually catch up.

Anyway, I am sorry that you may not agree with me, but if you show me any proof that tortoise has to grow slowly to be healthy, maybe I will learn something and change my way. However, my tortoises are healthy, seems to be happy and are laying eggs, so I probably don't do that much wrong. They wouldn't lay eggs if they were not cared for properly, would they?

[4chester]

You will also find the different locales of the various THH subspecies grow at different rates, so making comparisons between them is a kinda fruitless activity.

Your animals, so you bring the them up the way you want.

I'm sure Gordon will share his thoughts and may part with some of his THH Young, one of these days and share some of the photos