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If I were to breed my tortoise, who's shell is slightly pyramiding...Would his/her babies have pyramided shells too? Or other related health problems??
Breeding
- Thread starter smoke_kush
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From what I have read here the pyramiding is something that is related to their after hatch care, not genetic, so it should have no influence whatsoever.
Dawna
By the way, my husband asked about your screen name. Any meaning behind it? Leave it to him.
DG
Dawna
By the way, my husband asked about your screen name. Any meaning behind it? Leave it to him.
DG
I agree with Dawna.
Please DONT breed your sulcata.. Leave that to the profesionals.. Esp this breed.. of course that is my opinion.. but read the debatable topics...or talk to a rescue. Better yet. go volunteer at one.. and you might change your mind about breeding. 
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There are professional breeders? You mean they have degrees for tortoise breeding? What school is that from?
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Truth. I am also a little concerned with the coloration of my Sulcata's shell. It has been getting darker by the minute. Is it caused by calcium intake or his uvb? I was reading about uvb's that cause reptiles to not open their eyes. I took my tort out and was really really concerned with what I saw. He kept blinking a lot and didn't really stop until I soaked him. I hope he's okay but I use a 5.0 uvb ZooMed iguana light. Do I need a new one? I bought the TNT from Carolina pet supplies and was wondering if you can use calcium and TNT at the same time, or is it one or the other?
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my baby seems to blink a lot with bright sunlight when we take her out to roam the yard. gotta love 70 degree weather in Feb.!!!
Just make sure yours has somewhere to hide to get away from the light. Ours likes to burrow on the side of her hide away from the lights when napping.
Just make sure yours has somewhere to hide to get away from the light. Ours likes to burrow on the side of her hide away from the lights when napping.
Breeders: Good ones who know what they are doing and have done it for years; a business/hobby, vs back yard breeders.
Yes there is a difference.. and No, not a school with a degree.
Yes there is a difference.. and No, not a school with a degree.
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Laura said:
I wonder how many of those "professional" breeders started out as back yard breeders?
I don't think that starting out "backyard" is the point here.
Why would you want to buy from someone who is just breeding for the sake of doing so (as most backyarders are--"we wanted our kids to experience the miracle of birth" etc) When you can go to someone who breeds for genetics, has an actual set of records of his animals, knows the importance of yolk sac absorption and every other minute detail required for proper raising of tortoises?
Also, there IS a way to go to "school" for this. The breeder that I get my ball pythons from, and my geckos etc went to a university for a degree in Biology. He also took business and computer classes for knowledge of how to run his own breeding business, and keep online, and computer records.
Now, it doesn't take too much intelligence to breed anything these days, with the internet offering the exact way to do so, at no price. But I would NEVER want to get a reptile, or tortoise or anything from someone who didn't know exactly what they were doing.
In that way, I much prefer the breeders who "went to school for tortoise breeding." Or who, at the very least, can demonstrate their IMMENSE level of knowledge and love of the animal before I start pulling out my wallet.
Why would you want to buy from someone who is just breeding for the sake of doing so (as most backyarders are--"we wanted our kids to experience the miracle of birth" etc) When you can go to someone who breeds for genetics, has an actual set of records of his animals, knows the importance of yolk sac absorption and every other minute detail required for proper raising of tortoises?
Also, there IS a way to go to "school" for this. The breeder that I get my ball pythons from, and my geckos etc went to a university for a degree in Biology. He also took business and computer classes for knowledge of how to run his own breeding business, and keep online, and computer records.
Now, it doesn't take too much intelligence to breed anything these days, with the internet offering the exact way to do so, at no price. But I would NEVER want to get a reptile, or tortoise or anything from someone who didn't know exactly what they were doing.
In that way, I much prefer the breeders who "went to school for tortoise breeding." Or who, at the very least, can demonstrate their IMMENSE level of knowledge and love of the animal before I start pulling out my wallet.
if you do breed and they lay eggs you can always just destroy the eggs, and save a few, if you want a few babies for your self or something. Sulcatas are over bred, much like RES, best just to not breed them if all possible, or destroy eggs as needed.
I think that the stress of being constantly gravid or laying is detrimental to your tortoises health. Why not just keep the two sexes seperate? And not cause a problem?
With the problems that can be caused by laying, or being gravid, such as becoming egg bound, or having a prolapse, why risk it?
Its like leaving a dog un-spayed or un-neutered, or allowing a dog to run free and get pregnant just "because its nature"
You can't spay a tortoise. But you can EASILY prevent them from procreating.
I just don't see the logic in not doing so, especially with the excessive amount of unwanted tortoises, especially sulcatas.
With the problems that can be caused by laying, or being gravid, such as becoming egg bound, or having a prolapse, why risk it?
Its like leaving a dog un-spayed or un-neutered, or allowing a dog to run free and get pregnant just "because its nature"
You can't spay a tortoise. But you can EASILY prevent them from procreating.
I just don't see the logic in not doing so, especially with the excessive amount of unwanted tortoises, especially sulcatas.
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http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk/vetscorner/stasis.htm
actually you can spay a tortoise.
And sorry, I don't buy the whole professional breeder in torts. It takes too many years to reach breeding age to really develop "blood lines".
I bought my baby salcata from a couple that had been dealing with torts for 20 years. And they had to purchase adult breeders to get started. I'm not saying that I agree with breeding for the sake of breeding, but to say that it is extra stress? They do this on their own in the wild. The go through the season whether they get to breed or not. Ever seen an ig in heat? they are crazy.
Just remember that this year's hobby breeders are next decade's professional breeders.
actually you can spay a tortoise.
And sorry, I don't buy the whole professional breeder in torts. It takes too many years to reach breeding age to really develop "blood lines".
I bought my baby salcata from a couple that had been dealing with torts for 20 years. And they had to purchase adult breeders to get started. I'm not saying that I agree with breeding for the sake of breeding, but to say that it is extra stress? They do this on their own in the wild. The go through the season whether they get to breed or not. Ever seen an ig in heat? they are crazy.
Just remember that this year's hobby breeders are next decade's professional breeders.
A barn cat will have kittens every two months if you let her.
Does that mean that she SHOULD? So its ok, to just let your animals procreate because that is what they naturally do? I'm sorry, but I think that that is a load of crap.
And yes, it does stress the body. Pregnancy is not an easy thing for any animal.
And if you let a cat, or dog or whatever breed as many times as it possibly can, by housing it with the opposite sex, you are not allowing nature to take its course. You are just forcing breeding as soon as they come into season because the female tortoise has no where to run too, if she is not interested.
What do you think the odds are, that every tortoise is bred, and becomes gravid every time they are in season? If that was how it worked, why are so many species dying off?
Does that mean that she SHOULD? So its ok, to just let your animals procreate because that is what they naturally do? I'm sorry, but I think that that is a load of crap.
And yes, it does stress the body. Pregnancy is not an easy thing for any animal.
And if you let a cat, or dog or whatever breed as many times as it possibly can, by housing it with the opposite sex, you are not allowing nature to take its course. You are just forcing breeding as soon as they come into season because the female tortoise has no where to run too, if she is not interested.
What do you think the odds are, that every tortoise is bred, and becomes gravid every time they are in season? If that was how it worked, why are so many species dying off?
Yes, spaying a tortoise is medically possible. No, most owners do not want to put their tort through that serious of a procedure, and incur the high cost and risk. Keeping torts in separate enclosure except for breeding actually more closely mimics their environment in the wild. In the wild, a tort is said to not run into another tort on a daily basis--only to breed. It would be tough to build an enclosure so large that the female torts have the space to be left alone.
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I'm not advocating breeding, just that if your going to do it, you have to start somewhere. I think the torts were doing fine in the wild before we started killing them off.
Meg90 said:
Sorry Meg but I had to say it.
My husband is constantly telling me that sex is a great stress reliever. So wouldn't it work the same for torts.
But we are"fixed" so no "eggs" hatching here. Thank goodness, because I morph from a human to a whale during pregnancy. Very scary transformation.Dawna
Interesting topic...
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Try using the Reptisun 10.0 long tube(in case your using the compacts which are bad for their eyes)smoke_kush said:
I think what most people are trying to say on this thread is if you're not even sure what could be the causes of pyramiding in a sucata and you're not even sure if your light is causing damage to it's eyes or discoloration of their shells then why are you talking about breeding? Not to be mean, but don't you think a little bit more experience under your belt might help you here? Maybe waiting a while and learning all you can learn about sucatas first might be wise. You might find in the long run that you won't want to. Good luck with the lighting. Candy
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