# What do you guys do with all your babies?



## Fauna (Aug 23, 2020)

Just a question(s) for breeders.... some species seem to breed rather prolifically while others seem to have smaller or less frequent clutches. But I was just curious, what do you guys do with all the babies? Do you find homes for them yourselves? Do you use a distributor ? Do you ever find yourselves almost “over run” with babies? When you want to slow down their reproductive rates, I’m sure you separate the sexes , but how does that work with sperm retention? Are eggs sometimes just discarded? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!


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## Tom (Aug 23, 2020)

We sell them so that other tortoise keepers can enjoy raising them the same way we enjoyed raising the parents.

There are many ways to find buyers and I'm certain every breeder uses several methods.

Most tortoise species do not breed fast enough or at a high enough rate to over run anyone. Every breeder finds methods to deal with whatever their situation is. Its truly case by case.

No need or desire to slow their reproductive rate. Its already slow. They are tortoises.

I have never discarded eggs and see no reason to, unless they are infertile or rotten.


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## Fauna (Aug 23, 2020)

Tom said:


> We sell them so that other tortoise keepers can enjoy raising them the same way we enjoyed raising the parents.
> 
> There are many ways to find buyers and I'm certain every breeder uses several methods.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your response. I wasn’t too considered with over population, just more or less wondering how easy it is to find them good homes with responsible owners. I just have hatchlings right now, but in case they aren’t all female I’ll have to be aware that babies could eventually be in my future. I look at shelters and rescues from time to time and all I really see as far as reptiles is ball pythons and RES. The occasional “other”. Rarely it’s a tortoise, and if so, generally a Russian, at least in my area.


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## Yvonne G (Aug 23, 2020)

I breed the leopards to sell. It helps to pay for the others that are harder to breed, that I'm breeding for the experience and knowledge - Manouria, denticulata, SA leopards, and once I get them figured out, I'll be breeding them to sell.

We advertise here and on reptile classifieds and FB. Selling is sort of a double standard. When I was trying to place rescued turtles and tortoises I tried to find good homes, even going to the prospective keeper's home and doing yard inspections.

When selling babies yard inspections aren't done, but follow up advice is given if asked.


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## Fauna (Aug 23, 2020)

Yvonne G said:


> I breed the leopards to sell. It helps to pay for the others that are harder to breed, that I'm breeding for the experience and knowledge - Manouria, denticulata, SA leopards, and once I get them figured out, I'll be breeding them to sell.
> 
> We advertise here and on reptile classifieds and FB. Selling is sort of a double standard. When I was trying to place rescued turtles and tortoises I tried to find good homes, even going to the prospective keeper's home and doing yard inspections.
> 
> When selling babies yard inspections aren't done, but follow up advice is given if asked.


Yeah, the reptile world doesn’t seem to do contracts like the dog breeding world does at times. Where the buyer agrees not to breed or return the animal vs. rehome it or bring it to a shelter should their circumstances change. Which makes sense, reptiles don’t have official pedigrees that I am aware of. I’m just a forward thinker and considering future options. Were I to end up breeding, I’d want to know that the babies wouldn’t end up unwanted or suffering down the road. Obviously once they are homed a great deal of that is out of one’s control. And then if I left the door open to have babies returned to me, I’d have to have a substantial amount of designated quarantine area, even if it weren’t to be in use a lot of the time.


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## ZEROPILOT (Aug 23, 2020)

I'm not a breeder.
But I've had babies pop up and I had a difficult time finding them proper homes.
For me, they were mentally draining. Time consuming and financially unrewarding. 
This isn't an ethical thing.
It's me being honest about me.
It's not for everyone.
My ladies live without males


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## Fauna (Aug 24, 2020)

ZEROPILOT said:


> I'm not a breeder.
> But I've had babies pop up and I had a difficult time finding them proper homes.
> For me, they were mentally draining. Time consuming and financially unrewarding.
> This isn't an ethical thing.
> ...


So what’s your story, if you don’t mind me asking? Did you just end up with males and females and one day there were eggs? And what did you end up doing with your babies? I was kind of thinking that maybe when I’m older, retirement age or so (I’m 35 now), that breeding might be a fun project. I don’t think I could ever REALLY retire. Plus I’ve noticed that Redfoots are still WC at times. There also doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about their wild populations in terms of density and numbers. Or at least it’s not easy to find.


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## ZEROPILOT (Aug 24, 2020)

Fauna said:


> So what’s your story, if you don’t mind me asking? Did you just end up with males and females and one day there were eggs? And what did you end up doing with your babies? I was kind of thinking that maybe when I’m older, retirement age or so (I’m 35 now), that breeding might be a fun project. I don’t think I could ever REALLY retire. Plus I’ve noticed that Redfoots are still WC at times. There also doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about their wild populations in terms of density and numbers. Or at least it’s not easy to find.


Florida. At least south Florida is saturated with Redfoot tortoises.
I get them donated or sold to me pretty regularly. Some I keep. Some I wait until I find the right home for.
Several years ago. I did wind up with one male and six females (or immature males) and started getting eggs. I purchased 3 incubators (only used one that I settled on) and hatched out 5 babies. And quickly assembled a closed chamber for the babies.
I immediately rehomed the male.
I was very excited about them. But then it became pretty apparent to me that few people met my criteria for getting any of them. Of the people that responded to my post. One argued with me that a 10 gallon fish tank was sufficient,,,,And then there was a nice lady that wanted one as a pet for a 4 year old. I declined

I did settle on a pet shop in Hollywood that agreed to keep them in the conditions that I specified and they were sold anonymously. 
Two others also hatched out in my enclosure. One of them I found a home for. The other, the TFO member that initially wanted her, backed out. So I kept it.
I'm 55. I retired two years ago.
This would be a worthwhile hobby if I had a bunch of extra time. I don't. That's because I have way too many projects going on.
And I certainly didn't make any money on this hobby.
I sold the babies for $50 each.
And I've never made a penny off of any adults. Sometimes I break even. Often I lose money.
Once I spent over $2,500 on a tortoise that was sick and afterwards found her a great home for $150.
So I'm clearly no financial tortoise wizard.
I never looked at the hobby from a money making angle. And it never has been profitable. But I suppose that's because of my own actions.
Like I said, I'm not speaking for everyone.
Many keepers breed tortoises successfully and regularly and have great new and old keepers waiting to purchase the newest hatchlings. They are very responsible and are doing a great service to the hobby.
I had a different experience. Probably my own fault. But I just thought I'd ad it to the post.


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## Fauna (Aug 24, 2020)

ZEROPILOT said:


> Florida. At least south Florida is saturated with Redfoot tortoises.
> I get them donated or sold to me pretty regularly. Some I keep. Some I wait until I find the right home for.
> Several years ago. I did wind up with one male and six females (or immature males) and started getting eggs. I purchased 3 incubators (only used one that I settled on) and hatched out 5 babies. And quickly assembled a closed chamber for the babies.
> I immediately rehomed the male.
> ...


Thank you for adding to the post, I appreciate it!


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