Thursday, June 14, 2007

A Tortoise Tale!

For those of you who read my bog regularly you will recall I have written about my tortoises very regularly. I have also told you what a 'casanova' Tom is and how is aim in life is to have his wicked way with the two females. His preference recently has been the youngest 'Tog' and she is sometimes receptive to his advances but more often than not she spends her time running away from him, hiding under the ramp to their house. I have returned home a couple of times recently to find Tom on his back waving his legs in the air unable to turn himself over. Knowing it was his own fault for being a bit amourous and eager (well a girl likes to be wooed) I was tempted to leave him- no I wouldn't be that cruel- would I!!
I guessed that Tog was carrying eggs as for the last week she has been trying to dig holes all around the lawn to find a suitable spot to deposit them. I arrived home this morning to see she had found the ideal spot and was actually in the process of laying her eggs. I rushed in the house to grab my camera, which has a movie facility and took this little bit of film. It's not terribly good (I use it so rarely that I forgot to give a commentary and no chance of a re-run!!) but for those who have little knowledge of tortoises you might be interested and it's a good nature lesson for children. The eggs will not hatch because the conditions in this country are not right. I have in the past tried to incubate without success as I do not have the right equipment which is quite expensive to buy. You will probably recall how much the vet bill cost for Topsy earlier this year. Of course if I could have hatched them, the sale would more than cover the vet bill!! In case you are wondering I think there were 7 eggs.

Just in case anyone is remotely interested in past post that include the tortoises:
weigh in
visit to the country
on a clear day

Labels: ,

26 Comments:

At 14/6/07 10:16, Blogger sallywrites said...

Great film Chris! How sad that they can't hatch here.

Good post!

 
At 14/6/07 10:22, Blogger willowtree said...

Way to go Chris Attenborough! When you say "she is sometimes receptive to his advances but more often than not she spends her time running away from him" I assume this is relatively speaking...

 
At 14/6/07 10:38, Blogger Dea said...

That is so cool Chris! My three year old is here fascinated! So what are you going to do, just leave them buried?

 
At 14/6/07 11:05, Blogger Barbara said...

How sad for the Mum tortoise the eggs won't hatch.

 
At 14/6/07 11:31, Blogger Molly said...

Amazing Chris, I am glad that you were able to catch the egg-laying on camera. I imagine seven little tortoises would be cute. Questions about your pets are entering my mind as I type. I must have look at your other posts.

 
At 14/6/07 11:33, Blogger Beccy said...

I wonder if Tog feels sad when her eggs don't hatch.

 
At 14/6/07 12:32, Blogger ChrisB said...

sally we need it to be more constantly hot and humid

willowtree physically they actually move pretty quickly- Tom charges around the enclosed area I use for them !!!

deborah I probably will on this occasion

barbara yes I always feel quite sad about it too.

mjd I only have the tortoises.

beccy mmm I wonder !!!!

 
At 14/6/07 14:25, Blogger FH said...

OH MY GOD!!! It's laying eggs in your backyard!! That is so wonderful.What are you going to do with mini T's?!

 
At 14/6/07 14:46, Blogger ChrisB said...

asha unfortunately they are very unlikely to hatch- would love to have some baby T's :)

 
At 14/6/07 16:44, Blogger my4kids said...

That is to bad they won't hatch like you said it would cover their vet bills...Also would be cool to have the follow up of watching them laid when they hatch.....

 
At 14/6/07 17:33, Blogger Unknown said...

Wonderful Chris. What are they like fried, or you could try an omlette!!

 
At 14/6/07 17:35, Anonymous Anonymous said...

wonderful photo and video! and yes, how sad that they won't hatch...i think i've learned more about tortoises just reading about yours than i ever knew before (and that's a cool thing too) :)

 
At 14/6/07 19:37, Blogger Wendy said...

That video was absolutely amazing to watch!! Thank you so much for sharing! I am going to show it to the kids!!

 
At 14/6/07 20:59, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I seem to rememer that Tortoises like turtles and other members of the family do not do anything towards the raising of the family it just happens. Also the vet told me that one male tortoise can service thirty [30] females!!! I think Chrisb is hatching a plan to work out how to capitalise in future after all it would help with the pension. Love

 
At 14/6/07 22:12, Blogger frannie said...

that is so cool!!! Is there a pet store or somewhere that has the equipment to incubate them? there has to be something--- especially since they are so valuable.

 
At 14/6/07 23:15, Blogger headless chicken said...

That's amazing!
It's sad they probably won't hatch..will the mum be ok with that?

 
At 15/6/07 07:30, Blogger ChrisB said...

my4kids I always feel disappointed as it would be fun looking after babies.

john how could you !! hehehe

elena jane they are quite interesting and I really aught to learn more about them myself.

wendy hope the kids enjoy the biology lesson!!

embee don't think we can keep 30 just to please
Tom!!

frannie one year I rang the Zoo but they weren't very helpful. I thought they would be delighted to help as they have a kiddies programme and I thought it would be interesting but clearly not so !!

headless chicken once the eggs are laid the mum is not interested; maybe that's just as well !!

 
At 15/6/07 15:53, Blogger Pamela said...

that was like a national geographic documentary. Plop.. then the commentator whispers
"at last the next egg has arrived and Tog gently drops it into her nest without breaking the other shells"



I had same thoughts as WT about the Tortoise 'running'

 
At 15/6/07 16:27, Blogger Emma in Canada said...

I was thinking the same thing as frannie, Our zoo is pretty good about helping out reptile owners and whatnot like that...you would think it would be invaluable to their children's programming. Is there a sanctuary of some sort somewhere in England?

 
At 15/6/07 18:13, Blogger ChrisB said...

pamela I'm not sure if 'documentary' is good or bad!!

I came upon a video of a tortoise running today and there is a link in today's post.

emma there is a local branch of the Chelonia Society and I have been thinking about joining.

 
At 16/6/07 00:12, Blogger Sam said...

shouldnt we get you an incubator at the ready?

sorry i missed this yesterday mum - it has been kind of crazy and I am off to vegas tonight.

I am not sure but maybe I'll be able to skype you from vegas. No promises it will work but I will try.

 
At 16/6/07 00:13, Blogger Sam said...

dad must still have super 8 of topsy or tog laying eggs?

 
At 16/6/07 08:05, Blogger ChrisB said...

sam yes we do have that of Topsy it would be a much better showing than the one I did. I really should get an incubator but I might spend a lot of money and still not get any results. I shall think of you enjoying all that sunshine in vegas.

 
At 17/6/07 06:10, Blogger Brooke - Little Miss Moi said...

Dear chrisb. Ohhh that's scary. Nature sometimes elicits the most... un-natural response in me (i.e. looking at the video and thinking 'ewww! Eggs!'). Great footage. It's a shame Tog won't get any babies :(

 
At 17/6/07 19:18, Blogger ChrisB said...

little miss moi didn't mean to scare you !!!!

 
At 18/6/07 05:21, Blogger Beckie said...

Well now - that was really interesting! Thanks! I'm going to have my kids watch the video.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home