Ninety days came and went. Three of the four eggs still looked good (one was infertile), but I was getting anxious now. Ninety days seemed to be the "magic duration" that it took most eggs of our various tortoise species to hatch, and these were showing no signs of pipping yet.

I guess I was more anxious than I normally am because the eggs were Indian star tortoises, Geochelone elegans, a species I had not bred before and about which I knew comparatively little.



The breeders had come from a friend who, after receiving them as hatchlings, had kept them for 13 years in Michigan. Deciding the beautiful tortoises needed different facilities, he passed them on to me.

Stars are more delicate than most species with which I work, but at least I could (and did) get them outside for most of the year, and the tortoises seemed to show their appreciation by breeding often and producing fertile eggs.

One hundred days of incubation came and went. My anxiety was turning to despair. Were the eggs really good or was I misreading the signs? 104 days. Bingo. One egg began pipping. 36 hours later a beautiful hatchling emerged.

At 108 days the second hatchling pipped, and at 112 days the third pipped. A few days following their emergence each hatchling was eating well. I was a happy camper.

More photos under the jump...