# High Orange Yniphora and more



## narattah

I thought I'd share some of my friends' Yniphora (and some Radiata) pictures here.

This one is High Orange and apparently is still very shy.











































Now on to the other ones.





























































Aren't these little guys too adorable?


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## onarock

LOL. OH hey. Why dont you all look at my pics of Super Exotics, some of wich you cant keep in the states, frolicking around on my patio. Unreal! Nice animals


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## coreyc

They are some nice looking tort's


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## CGKeith

WOW! Great looking tortoises.

What is the light colored one in the last picture, that someone is reaching for.


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## narattah

CGKeith said:


> WOW! Great looking tortoises.
> 
> What is the light colored one in the last picture, that someone is reaching for.



That's also a Yniphora. I thought the light ones are quite rare and they do look like replica models.


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## CGKeith

narattah said:


> CGKeith said:
> 
> 
> 
> WOW! Great looking tortoises.
> 
> What is the light colored one in the last picture, that someone is reaching for.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's also a Yniphora. I thought the light ones are quite rare and they do look like replica models.
Click to expand...


Thanks for posting these. They are truly stunning.


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## ISTortoiseLover

Really nice tortoises, would love to visit thailand one day! Its like a haven for rare tortoises! You guys seem to be doing a pretty good job with the animals too.


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## Tort14U

Wow what amazing creatures these Torts are! Just stunning! Thank you for sharing the photos of them with us.


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## narattah

ISTortoiseLover said:


> Really nice tortoises, would love to visit thailand one day! Its like a haven for rare tortoises! You guys seem to be doing a pretty good job with the animals too.



Yeah, tortoises is a big market in Thailand. It's really easy to obtain them here. 

By the way, that high orange one goes for like $6,000+ here, crazy.


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## CGKeith

They all look very smooth, no pyramiding. Can you tell us how they are housed? What the diets are?

I know your humidity will naturally be high. Just wondering about the other conditions involved with raising them that smooth.

Lots of discussion on other parts of the forums here about pyramiding and how to avoid it.

Thanks for your input.


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## ISTortoiseLover

narattah said:


> ISTortoiseLover said:
> 
> 
> 
> Really nice tortoises, would love to visit thailand one day! Its like a haven for rare tortoises! You guys seem to be doing a pretty good job with the animals too.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, tortoises is a big market in Thailand. It's really easy to obtain them here.
> 
> By the way, that high orange one goes for like $6,000+ here, crazy.
Click to expand...


Wow, thats really interesting to know. Is it perfectly legal there to purchase protected species and such? Any permits/license required?


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## Greg Knoell

BEAUTIFUL!


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## RianSeeking

Gosh, they're gorgeous.


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## TKCARDANDCOIN

WOW!I am moving to Thailand.....


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## Tortuga_terrestre

WOW! That is some collection; it makes my collection look crappy hahaha. Im just kidding..I love my CDT's, but I would not mind having a Radiated or an Aldabra in the mix.


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## gummybearpoop

I love all the Astrochelys (Radiata & Yniphora) photos! Thanks for sharing.

I would pay $6,000 for that Yniphora if it were legal here in the states.


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## Kristina

gummybearpoop said:


> I would pay $6,000 for that Yniphora if it were legal here in the states.



+1!!!!!


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## ALDABRAMAN

WOW, they look great, great growth.


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## terryo

They are all so beautiful, that they look fake. Absolutely stunning.


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## jobeanator

they are amazing. i love them!


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## moswen

onarock said:


> LOL. OH hey. Why dont you all look at my pics of Super Exotics, some of wich you cant keep in the states, frolicking around on my patio. Unreal! Nice animals



haha oh my goodness my thoughts exactly!! 

why don't you just pull up in my driveway in a rolls royce and hand me the keys.... to my own car that i accidentally dropped. that's how i feel right now. jealous!! what beautiful animals!


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## Torty Mom

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!!


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## egyptiandan

They are nice  just wish they were back on Madagascar. 

No I'm afraid that _Astrochelys yniphora_ are highly illegal in Thailand. None of them were brought in legally as it's illegal for them to leave any country they are in. Whether that be their native Madagascar or Germany or The Seychelles. 

Danny


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## ChiKat

WOW stunning tortoises


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## ISTortoiseLover

egyptiandan said:


> They are nice  just wish they were back on Madagascar.
> 
> No I'm afraid that _Astrochelys yniphora_ are highly illegal in Thailand. None of them were brought in legally as it's illegal for them to leave any country they are in. Whether that be their native Madagascar or Germany or The Seychelles.
> 
> Danny



Ah, a real pity. Instead of smuggling, Madagascar shd have licensed and bred their 
Tortoises and then sold them to the world. But then you'll hear of how poor their country is and they lack the funds... Not to mention food to feed their ppl and they resorted to eating wildlife. Disastrous cycle.


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## narattah

CGKeith said:


> They all look very smooth, no pyramiding. Can you tell us how they are housed? What the diets are?
> 
> I know your humidity will naturally be high. Just wondering about the other conditions involved with raising them that smooth.
> 
> Lots of discussion on other parts of the forums here about pyramiding and how to avoid it.
> 
> Thanks for your input.



It depends as some are housed outdoor and keep them indoor at night. The weather here is very hot and humid (65-85% humidity). They don't really get any extra care more than any other kinds of tortoises though so I'm not sure about how they all get smooth shells. In fact, I have never seen any pyramided ones.

About the diets, they are fed grasses, water morning glory, bok choy, lettuce etc.




ISTortoiseLover said:


> narattah said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ISTortoiseLover said:
> 
> 
> 
> Really nice tortoises, would love to visit thailand one day! Its like a haven for rare tortoises! You guys seem to be doing a pretty good job with the animals too.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, tortoises is a big market in Thailand. It's really easy to obtain them here.
> 
> By the way, that high orange one goes for like $6,000+ here, crazy.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Wow, thats really interesting to know. Is it perfectly legal there to purchase protected species and such? Any permits/license required?
Click to expand...


As Egyptiandan said, it's not legal worldwide, but still many people privately have them in possession here. 





gummybearpoop said:


> I love all the Astrochelys (Radiata & Yniphora) photos! Thanks for sharing.
> 
> I would pay $6,000 for that Yniphora if it were legal here in the states.



Lol, you guys are filthy rich!
For $6,000, I'd rather get 4 Aldabras for the same price 

Anyway, a typical Yniphora baby (2-3") here costs only around $800 here so it's really worth raising it if you can afford it.


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## gummybearpoop

narattah said:


> Lol, you guys are filthy rich!
> For $6,000, I'd rather get 4 Aldabras for the same price
> 
> Anyway, a typical Yniphora baby (2-3") here costs only around $800 here so it's really worth raising it if you can afford it.




Hahaha far from rich, but I would sell all my tortoises just to get a pair.

Someone told me babies are 700-1000. I wish they were legal and available in the states.


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## narattah

I believe there must be some people in the states who secretly and privately keep them.

I don't know, but the babies aren't all that hardy though


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## gummybearpoop

"I believe there must be some people in the states who secretly and privately keep them."

I believe the same. If they are breeding them, the general public would never know.


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## egyptiandan

It would definately help the species if Madagascar was putting more effort into breeding _A. yniphora_. That would though not stop smuggling as it still would be illegal to ship animals out of Madagascar. As part of CITES Madagascar has to follow the rules. _A. yniphora_ are CITES I animals, so can't legally be shipped out of whatever country they reside in. The CITES I designation makes it impossible to supply the world with hatchling from any country. This applys to all CITES I animals.

Danny


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## cueboy007

franeich said:


> I don't know, but the babies aren't all that hardy though



I've heard the same thing that they are not as hardy as radiated, I can't live with the idea that they could die on me, I'd much rather get radiated, 
Beautiful specimens, they look like mini soccer balls.


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## narattah

It would be great if some experienced owner write up a care sheet or perhaps a pocket book


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## ISTortoiseLover

Oh yes. Pls write abt radiates!


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## Sweetness_bug

Love the pics! Very nice and unique looking torts! Absolutly Beautiful !! You are very lucky


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## Laura

does madagascar at elast have a breeding program for them? or are the ones that do get out lucky and they only chance of species survival if something should go wrong? 
If they had them and sold them, then that would be one wa to get money into the area.. 
backwards....


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## Marty333

I found this website
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/angonoka.html


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## Neal

Laura said:


> does madagascar at elast have a breeding program for them? or are the ones that do get out lucky and they only chance of species survival if something should go wrong?
> If they had them and sold them, then that would be one wa to get money into the area..
> backwards....



I was talking to my vet about this. He said there was a guy in Madagascar breeding a large group of ploughshares. They weren't breeding to supply the world with tortoises only to ensure the species survival. Anyway, he told me that the person who was doing this had a lot if not all of the tortoises stolen, so at current I'm not sure if there is any breeding program for them, at least not publicly. I believe the guy who was doing the program has some youtube videos.


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## egyptiandan

Check out page 20 here Laura and Neal http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-TSA-Magazine-August-2010

Danny


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## Neal

Great article Danny! Do you know about what my vet was refering to?


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## egyptiandan

Yes I do 

It wasn't all the animals, but somewhere around 75 animals were stolen from the breeding project a few years ago. Most were young animals but 2 were adult females (the adult females popped up in Germany). I think only around a quarter of them were found and returned.

Danny


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## onarock

They have yniphora at the Honolulu Zoo and I believe they have been successfull at breeding them


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## egyptiandan

That I'm afraid is a sad story 

They did have a group at the zoo that included a male. They could never get him to breed naturally, so they decided to harvest sperm (with an electric cattle prod). They got the sperm and inseminated the females they had. They did get fertile eggs from this and 1 did hatch. Unfortunately they tried again to get sperm from the male, but couldn't. He stopped eating after the procedure and died 30 days later. As it should be, they have never harvested sperm from another tortoise, at any zoo, after this incident.
I know they have at least one female and the CB animal (now adult and unfortunately a female) still at the zoo.


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## zoogrl

What beautiful tortoises! I had never heard of them before, I like learning about the different species of torts on this forum


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## narattah

egyptiandan said:


> That I'm afraid is a sad story
> 
> They did have a group at the zoo that included a male. They could never get him to breed naturally, so they decided to harvest sperm (with an electric cattle prod). They got the sperm and inseminated the females they had. They did get fertile eggs from this and 1 did hatch. Unfortunately they tried again to get sperm from the male, but couldn't. He stopped eating after the procedure and died 30 days later. As it should be, they have never harvested sperm from another tortoise, at any zoo, after this incident.
> I know they have at least one female and the CB animal (now adult and unfortunately a female) still at the zoo.



That is very sad to hear and I'm sorry for the lost of the male 
So where did that one and only hatchling go?

Aren't there a big breeding program at Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar? 
You have probably seen this Yniphora video that says it,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGdgiCbwT0I

They need to get another male at Honolulu Zoo or perhaps ship the two females back to Madagascar to join the breeding program.


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## Neal

narattah said:


> Aren't there a big breeding program at Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar?
> You have probably seen this Yniphora video that says it,
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGdgiCbwT0I



I believe this is the guy I was talking about.


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## Yvonne G

Was that back when Sean Mc...was at the Honolulu zoo, Danny? I'm disgusted by this.


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## narattah

Neal Butler said:


> narattah said:
> 
> 
> 
> Aren't there a big breeding program at Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar?
> You have probably seen this Yniphora video that says it,
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGdgiCbwT0I
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I believe this is the guy I was talking about.
Click to expand...


Oh nooo . I guess that video was not up to date then as it was posted last year (2009).

How's the current situation at that place now? Is it consistently being restored?


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## Neal

I could be wron, once Danny gets on he'll clarify. Danny said they have got some of them back, hopefully he is being very secretive about it.


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## egyptiandan

Sean McKeown was there for the first procedure, but not for the second.
http://www.tortoise.org/archives/yniphora.html

Not all the tortoises were stolen from the breeding facility in Madagascar (also it was a few years ago that this happened, the theft that is). They are still breeding and getting hatchlings right now. It would be nice if they can set up assurance colonys around the world. This way if something happens in one place it won't doom the species.

Danny


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## narattah

I was thinking the same thing. The breeding colonies need to be established more dynamically in case of any unfortunate events.
Maybe in the next few years, they will.


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## Neal

I know a good spot in AZ they could set one up. Right in my backyard baby!


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