Baby Russian hatched

[Linz2491]

That's a really good price considering how hard is to breed them and produce fertile eggs .

Why is it so hard to breed these guys?

 

[ForestExotics]

Cool and nice!

 

[guille24]

I heard that most of the time the eggs are not fertile and they not lay that many so I guess that's why it's kind of hard , So I really would like to learn more about how to breed them and how to do it right

 

[Lovenmysuber]

Oh my goodness how cute! Congrats!!

 

[teebrach]

Oh baby!! What a cutie! That's like 1/20th the size of my Russian! Just adorable, congrats!

 

[Tom]

Why is it so hard to breed these guys?

Its not that its hard, its that its just hit or miss for some people. Some people just put a male and some females together and soon have hatchlings. Other people do everything "right" and get no babies year after year. There are many factors but there does not seem to be a clear cut reason why some fail and others succeed. Also, they only lay two or three small clutches per year. Sometimes only one egg at a time. So even if things are going well, a person can only expect to get a few babies per female per year.

 

[terryo]

Congrats! Some of the cutest babies I've ever seen. You must be so excited.

 

[justino4444]

So cute - can I have it pleeeaaaase [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

 

[pam]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo cute

 

[shellfreak]

A lot of speculation on why its hit or miss. Some say that the sub species comes into play. If different sub species the chances of fertile eggs are slim. I have different sub species of males vs females. The other egg is getting really grey, which means the turtle is really filling out all open space. Should hatch this week. I'll post more pictures if it does. The other little guy is an eating machine. Spend most of the day walking in and out of its water dish.

 

[shellfreak]

You can see the grey patch on the egg. The shell is getting very thin, should break out tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Tom]

Very exciting stuff! Thank you for sharing this with us!

Can you tell us your incubation parameters? Temps and what you did for humidity and moisture?

 

[shellfreak]

I use a digital incubator with hatch rite substrate. I've tried it all, and have had the best of luck with other species with hatch rite. Incubated at 87 degrees. I kept humidity around 70. I noticed that when humidity was high the eggs cracked or were too flaccid for the turtle to break and they would die in the egg. When I finally gave up on the incubation and opened the eggs up, they were essentially fully developed. So I tried lowering humidity. Seemed to work this time.

 

[[email protected]]

Adorable, how sweet they are.

 

[Cynthia]

How exciting, just adorable!

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

Wow, congratulations! Very beautiful hatchling, and I can't wait to see the other egg begin to hatch!! Great job

 

[shellfreak]

The second egg was a dud. I guess it died at some point. I cracked it open this morning. 1 hatchling is better then none. the hatchling is doing awesome. Eating like a champ.

 

[Tom]

What made you decide to crack it open? Did it smell? Looks like it was near term.

 

[shellfreak]

I thought the shell was getting thin at a certain area from it trying to poke out. But the grey portion started to cover the entire side of the shell. And then it cracked a little, but no head poked out. Then it started to stink. So I assumed it was dead. Bummer.

 

[T33's Torts]

Sorry bout the second hatchling.. What are you going to do with the other? Are you going to eventually ad him to the breeding group?