Incubating Tortoise Eggs- Part II
If you are lucky enough for your tortoise to lay a clutch of eggs and you would like to raise hatchlings, you will need to provide an artificial environment for the eggs to develop and hatch properly. Most keepers in the UK do this using a home made incubator, or one of the ready made alternatives.
There are benefits to both types of incubator, however I chose to make my own as I found it an interesting ‘project’ and it also allows me to expand the size of my incubator (by changing the polystyrene box) as needed.
If you have a clutch of unexpected eggs, it is advisable to purchase a ready made incubator, as home made incubators can take a few tries to get right and may not always hold stable temperatures the first time around.
There are many ready made incubators available. The most popular brand amongst reptile keepers is the ‘Hovabator’ Incubator. It is made from polystyrene and has an accurate thermostat as well as a dial to change the temperature. It also has various ‘wells’ for water to keep the humidity up.
• Avoid incubators with an auto-turn’ feature. This is for poultry eggs and tortoise eggs do not need turning. Turning a tortoise egg will drown the embryo.
• Avoid still air incubators- these are also unsuitable for tortoise eggs.
• Do not rely on the inbuilt thermometer of any incubator. Instead, place a separate thermometer with a digital read out in the egg tray with the eggs. Thermometers with a ‘probe’ are really handy because they allow you to check the temperature without opening the incubator.