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Red foot eggs

bmielke Apr 11, 2007 08:26 PM

I have a question concerning incubation time tables. I have recently hatched five red footed tortoises. One hatched in 125 days. Another at 126 days. Another at 172 days and the last at 146 days. I still have one egg left incubating (185 days), does it have a chance to hatch? Why are the incubation times so different? All the eggs were in the same incubator with the same temperatures and humdity.
Red foot incubation question

Replies (5)

DaviDC. Apr 11, 2007 11:51 PM

From what I've heard from a friend who raises redfoots & Russians, this is not unusual. Last summer one of the redfoots laid for the 1st time & there was almost a month between the 1st hatchling & the last.

She had 5 Russian eggs & 2 large babies hatched within a couple of days of each other. After a couple of weeks she decided the other eggs were duds but kept them in the incubator anyway. About a month later she was surprised to find a tiny hatchling wandering around over the vermiculite. It was half the size of the other 2 but seems to be completely healthy. She gave it to me & the little sucker even went into hibernation on it own last October. I put it in the refrigerator for a few weeks & it came out raring to go.

-----
DeeCee

mayday Apr 12, 2007 06:54 AM

Oh yeah. I can relate...
My clutches of redfoot eggs have NEVER hatched together. Not in 28 years.
Typically in a clutch of four, one will pip at 4.5 months, then another a day or two later. Then another a week or so after that and the last after yet another week or more. In fact, I will often have eggs from the female's second, third or fourth clutch begin to hatch before the eggs from the previous clutch are finished hatching.
As in your case, the eggs are kept in the same incubator, the same temps and humidity and right next to each other. They will have chalked at the same time and seemingly developed at the same rate. But for some reason the actual hatching is not synchronized.

mayday Apr 12, 2007 01:17 PM

There will often be a big gap in the hatching time. Sometimes a month or more in the same clutch.

scott pasqua Apr 12, 2007 08:13 PM

I have been breeding Redfoots for over 5 years now and only until last week did I have one full clutch hatch within 4 days of each other.

I was very suprised.
6 eggs.6 babies.

bmielke Apr 12, 2007 08:45 PM

Thanks to all that replied. I have add red foots for seven years but last summer was the first year they produced eggs.
Five eggs were laid last September (with five out of six hatching), and still waiting on the sixth. I also had two eggs laid in January. I did lose one of those eggs. The one from September was laid on the 15th. I will let it continue to incubate.

Thanks Again,
Ben
red foot eggs

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