Gravid tortoises will lay eggs in bell-shaped holes in the ground. These eggs incubate at temperatures from 28℃ - 32℃ with an ambient humidity between 55% and 90%. Temperature-dependent sex determination is well known to occur with Hermann's tortoises, with temperatures in the lower range producing male tortoises and temperatures in the higher range producing female tortoises. Temperature can also influence incubation length, with wild nests taking longer to hatch than artificially incubated eggs due to the cooler night time temperature cycles. 

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Below is a list of the time it has taken for 12 of my eggs to hatch at a temperature of 31℃ in 2021.

Egg #            Days to hatch

1                    54

2                    56

3                    59

4                    59

5                    60

6                    60

7                    60

8                    61

9                    61

10                  62

11                  64

12                  Did not hatch

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Whilst it is sad, it is normal for some eggs to not hatch and in the wild this mortality rate would be a lot higher due to external factors such as extreme weather, predation, unideal nesting sites and longer incubation times. With my first few clutches of eggs the mortality rates of my eggs was much higher, however with experience, different incubators and discussions with other breeders, hatch success rate is high. this is all part and parcel of the experience when incubating and breeding tortoises. You must take the good with the bad.

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