Incubation takes 70 to 100 days depending on the temperature and humidity of the nest. Like many reptiles, the sex of the hatchling is temperature dependant. F will be males. Predation on the eggs and hatchlings is high. Young tortoise are 1 to 2 inches at hatching and grow less than an inch per year.
Hatchlings often dig side burrows off of the adult s burrow but sometimes dig their own burrow.
As development increases, habitats become fragmented and can lead to isolation of populations or leave individuals without mates. Vehicles hit and kill many gopher tortoise. Additionally, fire suppression causes vegetation to become too thick, altering the physical structure of the habitat and screening out the vegetation that the tortoise eat. Other threats to the gopher tortoise include free-ranging or feral cats and dogs which eat many young tortoise and eggs. The signs of this disease include inflamed respiratory tract, wheezing, runny nose, and swollen eyes.