Breeding Tortoises
Breeding
[Breeding Tortoises]
Tortoises choose their own partners. Some they like and some they don’t. You should ensure that there are more females than males in your group, as otherwise it can get stressful for the females if all the men are after them. Furthermore, the size difference between the pair shouldn’t be too big. You must ensure that the tortoises keep to their annual rhythm, this is important for their fertility. It has been found, that the climate of the previous year plays an important role in the reproduction. If the summer of the previous year was very warm, then you can have good laying results.
Courting Rituals and Mating
Following hibernation, the males start to court the female. The males can be quite rough. They follow and circle the female and bite their back legs in order to stop them walking. With attacks from the front, e.g. biting the head, neck or front legs and ramming the shell, the male tries to move the female into stretching the anal area from beneath the shell. As soon as the female does this, the male tries to climb on top of her. Should the female not be ready to mate, it keeps walking away from the male and the ritual recommences. If she is ready, she stands still and the male can insert his penis into the cloacae of the female. The mating is carried out with thrusting movements. It is possible that the male releases noises. This is completely natural.
Laying Eggs
Normally, tortoises females lay their eggs 4-6 weeks after mating. They thoroughly check their laying place beforehand. They do test burying and wonder backwards and forwards smelling the ground. This procedure can take several days. Should the female be disturbed by males wanting to mate or other animals when laying her eggs, then they must be kept separately for a few days. Once a suitable place has been found, the female buries a hole with its back legs around 15 cm deep. Once the hole is finished, the female sits over it until labour commences. They eggs are pressed out in short intervals, caught with the back legs and carefully placed in the hole. Once she has finished laying her eggs, the hole is closed bit by bit and the earth layers and stamped down. Following this process, the completely exhausted female looks for a place to rest. The hole is closed so that it can no longer be recognised. In the wild, this makes sense, as other animals see tortoise eggs as a delicatessen.
Recovery and Incubation of the Eggs
In our climate, the eggs must be recovered and put into artificial incubation, as our summers are too cold. Dig out the hole with a spoon and remove the eggs, that are marked on the top (with a pencil, a cross or a dot) carefully. The eggs should then be placed in a plastic dish which is around halfway filled with a sand / garden earth mixture. You must observe that the position of the eggs is not changed. Write the date of laying on the egg with a pencil. The plastic dish should then be placed in the incubator (available in zoological shops). Close the incubator and set the temperature between 28 - 34 degrees Celsius. It has been observed, that at warmer temperatures, more female than male tortoises are born.
Hatching
The eggs hatch after around 55 to 70 days. The animals use the so called egg tooth to scratch small cracks in order to allow air into the shell. They then begin to breathe. They then use their heads to crack a small hole in the egg shell. This procedure can take hours. In the meantime, the tortoise shell is evolved. Through turning movements, parts of the egg shell are burst away. After hatching “the little ones” are round, they stretch themselves later. You can then place the babies into a water container and they can drink immediately, they should then be placed back into the dish.
Bringing Up Young Animals
You should now prepare a terrarium or hotbed for outside as soon as possible. They same conditions are required as for adults. A special UV light for reptiles should be installed as young animals need a lot of UV rays and warmth. Should you ensure a varied and vitamin rich diet. Adding lime (cuttlefish shell) is very important, as lime (cuttlefish shell) is important for the hardening of the shell. It can take several days before the little ones eat, this is completely natural. Cut the food a little smaller so that the your animals can grip and eat it easily. Do not over feed your tortoises, as this encourages a rate of growth that is too quick and causes the development of hunches. Bathe your tortoises well every 2-3 days, the young animals can then drink a lot. Don’t forget, that the young animal must be put into an outdoor cage in the next year. This should also be made safe with a barbed wire fence on the top. Birds, cats and other animals can otherwise become dangerous for the young. Everything else should be installed similarly as for adults.
Hibernate Young Animals?
You should not allow young animals to hibernate as long as adults in the first year. Approximately 2 months are suitable and you can increase the time from year to year. The ideal hibernation temperature is between 3-7 degrees Celsius. Animals that are ill should not hibernate, they should be kept in a warm house during winter.
