I have just returned home, and went to check that my 43 year old tortoise had returned to her hutch for the night, and was amazed to find that she had laid eggs on the ramp up to the doorway.

It wasn't easy to check in the dark, but I think there are 5 or 6 eggs, although one was broken.  I took on this tortoise as a stray 4 years ago and this is the first time I have seen eggs, which are fairly big.

I can't do much until daylight tomorrow, but I am wondering why this has happened now? is it normal? is there anything I should do? will my tortoise be okay?  I am quite worried.

She has been acting fairly normal, although fairly sluggish because of the poor weather conditions.

Any help appreciated.  Thanks.

Well, this morning I was able to take a good look at everything.  Tortoise came out of the hutch this morning as normal, and went to her usual place to bask in the sun, not there is much of that around.

I removed two undamaged eggs, one of which was what I would call large, there were three others broken up, and yolk laying around.  There was a lot of faeces and urine around this area.

I have cleared everything up, bathed my tort in warm water, and put her back in the garden.  I offered her favourite cucumber and tomato which she initially refused, and then came back for.

She seems normal, I just wish there was more sun for her.  What do others think?  Is this normal?  For further info, she weighs about 2020g and has garden space to herself of approx 30ft X 12ft which I have tried to make as interesting as possible with rocks, mounds and bushes.

Many thanks for reading.