A while back, my female Hermann's Tortoise laid 4 eggs in our yard, then a couple of weeks or so later she laid two more in her tank inside the house. Most were infertile which was not surprising since my male had been either abducted by scoundrels or borne off with by a raccoon or other creature of the night (maybe an opossum) quite sometime before she laid them. Thus, he was not around to - how shall I say it... I guess - to have wild chelonian sex with her in the sultry aura of a summertime afternoon under the sweltering hot sun (then again maybe they would do it in the shade). Well anyway, either he got to her before he was taken away from our yard or she retained sperm from the previous time she was gravid. Sperm retention happens in female snakes but I do not know if turtles or tortoises can do it. Out of 6 eggs, only two were fertile, and one may be weak and dying, so I am guessing it was because of sperm retention (which would quite possibly produce fewer fertile and or weaker eggs) as her previous clutches were fully fertile and those were induced, so to speak, while he was still in attendance of her.
Oh what the heck, one tortoise hatched out today and one other egg may still be viable but I doubt it.
No breeding in the near future - at least until I get a new male. One may be on the agenda for this weekend as there is an upcoming herp show here in my neck of the woods.
Later 4 U-All,
GB
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