Thanks to both of you for your awesome feedback. To date I haven't had any experience breeding tortoises, but have successfully bred box turtles. I have 5 years of experience at keeping tortoises, as I have a pair of aldabra tortoises as well as a few star tortoises.
--John, you mentioned a getting a mentor;that sounds like a good idea either way (having breeding experience or not.) Can you point me in the right direction as to where to look for one, or basically should I just email around?
Thanks again to both of you, you have been very helpful.