Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Turtles > about star tortoise

about star tortoise

22 15:57:25

Question
Sir can you guide me how i have to take care of eggs, my tortoise has laid 2 eggs yesterday in our tub containing sand of height 8 inch?

Answer
Hi Kalyan,

Sorry for the delay--it's the Christmas holidays here.   It's difficult for me to give you advice on incubating eggs, since I don't know what kind of equipment you can get in India.  The best option is to obtain a reptile incubator (here that would be a Hovabator), because it's easier to control temperature and humidity.  Incubation time will last somewhere between 90-120 days, but could be longer.  Incubation medium is generally vermiculite; sand is probably not a good medium because it's more difficult to maintain the right level of humidity.  It's important to maintain a fairly constant temperature and some air flow, but the eggs should not become too wet or be allowed to dry out.

Here is a link that details incubation information, including temperatures and humidity (this would be using an incubator):  http://startortoises.net/incubation.html.  If you cannot obtain a ready-made incubator, there are several YouTube videos and online instructions for making one, but this is not something I can help you with since I haven't had the need to make one myself.