Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey brad,

how did you do this year? any eggs still in the incubator?

i currently have 14 eager eaters and four more viable eggs to go. i should have three new females producing by next year, one is a CB 10 yo. so, second generation is soon to start.

cheers,
matt

I did something different this year.

1) I didn't have room for hatchlings so I let someone else take the eggs produced by my females through May. Those eggs were incubated in the normal fashion and and I think produced about 8-9 hatchlings out of 12-13 eggs.

2) After May I left the eggs in the ground just to see what would happen. There was rain, cool nights in the 50s, then stretches of dry weather in the 90s. But I chickened out when the remnants of a hurricane came through and I pulled the eggs out of the ground. Unfortunately 5 of the 7 eggs were complete duds with no signs of development, and the other two don't look good either. I'll know in a couple weeks. I don't know if the weather, the clay soil, or just infertility in the last batches caused the duds. I won't try natural incubation again anytime soon. Plus the torts tend to dig short tunnels through the egg laying area when the temps get over 95, so there are no safe places in the enclosure for eggs in the long term.

I think it's interesting that I got the largest # of eggs from my group even though they hibernated at relatively warm temperatures (in the mid to upper 50s) last winter, versus temps in the 40s and low 50s during previous winters. Hatch rates over the last 2 years have run about 50-60%, but I have only one male. Next year I will have a 2nd male who will be in the mood, so that might improve fertility.

hi brad,

there's a good sized literature suggesting that multiple males increases fecundity AND fertility rates. one of the adaptive explanations for multiple paternity -- which RTs practice. you just might see an increase in fertility rates with a new male. good luck.

i also hibernated at warmer temps this year (northern cal winter temps:40s-50s) instead of the usual 4*C. in a walk-in cooler. didn't affect fertility rates (~17 out of 21).

cool stuff,

matt