- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
- Messages
- 2,140
Feeling very accomplished today. For the first time ever (for me) we've successfully hatched Manouria emys emys. These were a few years in the making but they were more than worth the wait. After 58 days of incubation, so far 10 perfect hatchlings have emerged from their eggs. Yep, dinosaurs were born here today.
My method was simple and not much different than how we incubate most of the species bred here. They were kept in hovabators in one of my tortoise rooms that stays cooler (around 70F). I started off with keeping the vermiculite very damp and after the 4th week, I stopped misting the eggs. The vermiculite lost a decent amount of moisture but it never became dry at all. The eggs rested on depressions in the vermiculite inside closed tupperware containers. Only a few small holes were punched in the tops. I let the temperature fluctuate between 86 and 88F but they remained on the warmer end for the majority of the time. At 58 days, the eggs have begun to hatch today October 1st, 2014. So far, 10 beautiful neonates have emerged with the rest all starting to pip. There is one other set of fertile eggs that are being incubated for male in another hovabator. They have not started to pip as of yet.
My method was simple and not much different than how we incubate most of the species bred here. They were kept in hovabators in one of my tortoise rooms that stays cooler (around 70F). I started off with keeping the vermiculite very damp and after the 4th week, I stopped misting the eggs. The vermiculite lost a decent amount of moisture but it never became dry at all. The eggs rested on depressions in the vermiculite inside closed tupperware containers. Only a few small holes were punched in the tops. I let the temperature fluctuate between 86 and 88F but they remained on the warmer end for the majority of the time. At 58 days, the eggs have begun to hatch today October 1st, 2014. So far, 10 beautiful neonates have emerged with the rest all starting to pip. There is one other set of fertile eggs that are being incubated for male in another hovabator. They have not started to pip as of yet.
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