Indian Star Tortoise Nesting Dedication

Searching for just the right spot. Earlier in the day it rained just enough to dampen the ground. No matter the relatively insignificant rainfall, the moisture WAS significant to a female Indian star tortoise. She deemed it nesting time. She had begun coursing the entire enclosure at about the time the 3rd droplet had fallen. And she continued until an hour later when she had chosen a site that she felt satisfactory. The site chosen was a grassy area between 2 small woody shrubs. She began the nesting process at 1:30 PM and continued preparation through a heavy rain that filled the in-process nest and a temperature drop (from 83F to 65F) until 4:00 PM. Egg deposition and refilling took another hour and a half. As soon as the female had completed the nesting sequence, Patti redug the cavity with “egg-theft” in mind. In traditional fashion the neck of the nest was long and of small diameter while the egg-site was larger and easily contained the 5 eggs. Interestingly the female, showing more dedication than many do, had not only ignored the temporarily flooded conditions of the nest and the resulting “mudpie” but had encountered and worked around a large horizontal root as well. It took Patti about 15 minutes of careful manipulation to remove the eggs. The eggs are now in the incubator and I’ll let you know the results in about 3 months. Wish us luck.

Nest preparation in progress.

An Indian star tortoise hatching (a few years ago).