Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was surprised when a clutch of South African leopard tortoises hatched out of the ground today after a record cold winter. Many breeders of South African leopard tortoises leave the eggs in the ground to overwinter to break the diapause, as do I. We had the coldest winter ever recorded here with one night down to 0 degrees F. Many of the native trees froze as well as exotics (palms, eucalyptus, etc.). My turtle ponds had 3-inch thick ice on them. I assumed all the leopard tortoise eggs in the ground froze but that was not the case.

That is pretty remarkable, Richard. Thanks for sharing the news. Have you found any more babies since the first one, and was that one normal in all respects or did it have any abnormalities, etc?

Bill Zovickian

Ooops! I thought the first post said you found ONE baby, but in rereading it, it says one clutch, so I have to restate my prior question. How many hatched, and did ANY of them exhibit any abnormalities? If so, are there more than the number of abnormalities you normally see in such a group of babies? I am asking this question because I wonder if the lower than normal incubation temperatures this winter may have caused any scute issues, eye issues, etc., or anything else you don't generally find in your babies.

Bill Z