# 108% Hatch Rate?



## Tom (Mar 13, 2022)

You read that correctly. 108%. How is that possible, you might ask? Well I will tell you...

Last year, most of my Burmese star clutches had a 100% hatch rate. I hatched a total of 84 of them from 9 clutches out of five females, and only 4 eggs didn't hatch. 2 from one clutch didn't hatch, one from another clutch, and one from a third clutch. The other 6 clutches were 100%.

That trend continues this year. 33 eggs from 3 clutches and 32 hatched about a month ago. Now I have three more clutches hatching. First clutch of 10 all hatched. The second clutch had 12 eggs from a first time mom. This is female is my sixth and she came from the Behler Center. I got her a year later than my others and she had a dry start and is fairly bumpy because of it, but has now finally come online. So of her 12 eggs, all hatched into 13 babies. Yep. 13 babies from 12 eggs. Siamese twins... Or would this be Burmese twins? Joined at the yolk sac. These two babies both came from the same normal looking egg. One is slightly smaller than normal, but the other one is the same size as the rest of their clutch mates. I don't know how they both fit in there...





Experience has taught me that when there is any kind of problem with the yolk sac, the baby doesn't survive. This yolk sac does not look good, so I'm not expecting either to live. I'm hoping for the best, and I've tied it off in the middle with some dental floss, but my expectations are low.

So I have 23 babies form 22 eggs. The third clutch just began pipping last night but so far I see 9 heads poking out of 11 eggs:




I don't know what I'm doings so well with these guys, but it seems to agree with them. I've tried to create an optimal environment for them with good temperatures year round, good foods, and good hydration, but I do that with all of my tortoises, and always have. I can't account for this unusually high rate of fertility and positive egg development. I think about it constantly, trying to learn from such success and apply it elsewhere to other species in need, but I really don't know what is making such a difference. I suppose the whole combination of factors is working in their/my favor.

Anybody want a bunch of unrelated Burmese star babies? I've got you covered if you do...


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## Blackdog1714 (Mar 14, 2022)

Fantastic work sir! Obviously the system you use and promote to people works very well indeed!


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## Maro2Bear (Mar 14, 2022)

Burmese Twins


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## MEEJogja (Mar 14, 2022)

That is absolutely awesome! Keep us updated on how they do.


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## wellington (Mar 14, 2022)

Wow that's cool. I hope they both make it. Keep us posted.


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## biochemnerd808 (Mar 14, 2022)

That's very cool, congratulations.

For the twins where the connected yolk sac looks very fleshy, one thing that I have found to work with those is once they are separated to let it get some sun exposure every day, so that the fleshy dangly bit dries up and shrivels rather than starting to rot from the moist paper towels in the brooder box. I also dipped the tip it into some diluted iodine tincture to help prevent bacterial growth. The two babies I had to do this with are both alive and well, one is 7 now, one is 5. (Mine were not twins, but had what looked like a weird fleshy bit hanging out after the orange yolk sac had absorbed).


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## Tom (Mar 14, 2022)

biochemnerd808 said:


> That's very cool, congratulations.
> 
> For the twins where the connected yolk sac looks very fleshy, one thing that I have found to work with those is once they are separated to let it get some sun exposure every day, so that the fleshy dangly bit dries up and shrivels rather than starting to rot from the moist paper towels in the brooder box. I also dipped the tip it into some diluted iodine tincture to help prevent bacterial growth. The two babies I had to do this with are both alive and well, one is 7 now, one is 5. (Mine were not twins, but had what looked like a weird fleshy bit hanging out after the orange yolk sac had absorbed).


Thank you. Worth a try.


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## Gijoux (Mar 16, 2022)

Tom said:


> You read that correctly. 108%. How is that possible, you might ask? Well I will tell you...
> 
> Last year, most of my Burmese star clutches had a 100% hatch rate. I hatched a total of 84 of them from 9 clutches out of five females, and only 4 eggs didn't hatch. 2 from one clutch didn't hatch, one from another clutch, and one from a third clutch. The other 6 clutches were 100%.
> 
> ...


Last year I hatched out 3 sets of twins from Pearl, one of my youngest Leopard Tortoise females. Her babies were all hatching weighing on average 18.5g, as she was young herself. The first twins hatched December 20, 2020, with one very active baby weighing 13.0g and a fully developed tiny baby weighing 3.4g, which was deceased. I was a Midwife for 10 years and delivered about 1000 babies at home, with some twins and one set of triplets, so I had some tools for birthing. I found my stitch removal scissors worked like little cord cutting scissors. I have to admit I was worried sick that the viable baby would bleed out, but no blood what-so-ever. This baby thrived and grew nicely, but was smaller than its clutch mates weighing 53.4 g on March 2, 2021, while the others weighed around 72.2g. The second set hatched March 4, 2021 with one baby weighing 10.9g and the second baby 6.4g and both were alive and active. I separated these two the same way. They both survived and grew nicely. The fellow who took them both, along with a third baby, sent me pictures recently and even the smallest was growing nicely and not that far behind the others. It was interesting that one of these twins had a split scute and the other did not. I'm wondering if these twins are considered identical or fraternal. I don't think they are considered Siamese unless they shared actual internal organs. My third set of twins hatched on April 4, 2021 with the viable baby weighing 16.9g with the deceased baby only 1.9g. Pearls other babies in this clutch weighed about 19.5g, so this baby wasn't terribly small and actually caught up to the other clutch mates by the time they were sold. I would definitely separate those babies and I guarantee they will live, if they have been able to eat.


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## enchilada (Nov 12, 2022)

any updates with the twins?


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## Tom (Nov 12, 2022)

enchilada said:


> any updates with the twins?


One made it and one didn't. The little one made it.


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