Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

beardie barmy · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:06 pm Post subject: good breeding signs

my male Herman tortoise has started chasing my female and tries to mount her and nip her back legs is this a good sign that she could become gravid soon any info is most welcome as its my first time doing this thank you in advance

mark_w · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:14 pm Post subject:

It certainly is a good sign! He is at least trying to mate with her. The only possible drawback is that if he is still young, he may do this for a while before actually being big and strong enough for the job.

Good luck
Mark.

beardie barmy · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject:

there both 8 years old if he does do the job how will i tell ?

mark_w · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject:

If you see him mounting the female, then you will know!

Otherwise, I don't know. You'll have to wait and see if you get any eggs...

Cheers,
Mark.

Nikki76 · I'm new here... Joined: 29 Apr 2007 Posts: 8

Hi
If your Hermanns are eight years old, they should have reached sexual maturity. Has your female ever laid eggs before? My female laid a batch of 7 eggs that proved to be infertile, but her second batch were! Signs to look out for if she is due to lay eggs are;

Moving her back legs from side to side (as if scraping the ground).
Sniffing the ground, and eating bits of substrate.
Isolating herself from others (if kept in a group).
She may also go off her food.

Provide a mound of soil for her to lay any eggs she may have.
If there is a male present, remove him for a few days if possible (though he should ignore her if she is gravid).
If you wish to incubate the eggs, they will need to be carefully excavated as soon as possible after laying, and transferred to an incubater (with temperatures between 26-31 degrees). Be careful not to turn the eggs.
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1.1.0 Leopard Tortoises (Geochelone Pardalis)
1.2.1 Hermann Tortoises (Testudo Hermanni)