Burmese Stars

deadheadvet

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I have what appears to be 7 fertile Burmese Star Eggs. They are about 60 days from hatch date. (assuming I do not screw their incubation up, which I did last year) they should hatch around mid April. They are incubated for female, but that is no guarantee for sex. These are TOTALLY and COMPLETELY UNRELATED to any Burmese on the market. They are F2 out of wild caught stock from the Behler Chelonian Center. You are welcome to contact me via PM if you have any interest. No guarantees that they will hatch but I am very optimistic this go around. Hopefully I have learned from past mistakes and will not repeat them.20161208_140541.jpg
 

Tom

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I would love to know what your incubation recipe is and what mistakes you made last time. Mine should be starting to lay eggs in winter of 2017.
 

deadheadvet

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Good question Tom:
So, the first time, I cooled them down for a month but I think it was too cool. Low 60's, also I think I over added water to the substrate (Vermiculite)
I also think the Vermiculite was not coarse enough. Mistake number 1. Last year I raised the temp a little in the cooler to 65F and that went fine. then I screwed up the eggs by adding water directly to them to try and make sure they were humid enough, big mistake I learned, I likely killed the embryos. So this year I cooled them down for 45 days at 65F, then transferred them to the incubator. 87F and have only added water to a tray in the incubator and have left the eggs alone on coarse Vermiculite. I candled the eggs yesterday after 30 days, and 7 look good. You can see a clear embryo at the bottom of the egg as compared to eggs that are clear all the way through. So I am hoping my previous mistakes have led to a better outcome I hope. Guess I'll know in 60 days.
 

Tom

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I'm glad I asked. I had a giant bag of coarse vermiculite, but I finally ran out. I bought a new and different bag and the new stuff is fine, like coarse sand. I've got some eggs incubating on it now, but no idea how well it will work for me. When I mixed it with water at my usual one to one by weight ratio, this new stuff still felt really dry. Don't know if that is good or bad.

Wishing you the best of luck with this year's eggs and I hope to see some baby pics in a couple of months!
 

Markw84

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Thanks for the great info, I know I asked on a different thread. You are great at sharing and it's really appreciated!

I did not ask, did your females lay outside in December, or do you have an indoor setup for them to lay? If indoors, how did you prepare the laying spot to get the female to choose it? I love your new enclosures from the other thread. Is there a laying location there was well?
 

deadheadvet

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The Burmese laid inside. 3/4 of the enclosure is mulch, the rest is organic soil and Jungle Mix.
That seems to be where they like to dig. On another note, while transporting my tortoises to my new vet hospital, one of the females laid 3 eggs in the tub while in transit. All look good so they went into the chiller 5 days ago.
 

Markw84

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The Burmese laid inside. 3/4 of the enclosure is mulch, the rest is organic soil and Jungle Mix.
That seems to be where they like to dig. On another note, while transporting my tortoises to my new vet hospital, one of the females laid 3 eggs in the tub while in transit. All look good so they went into the chiller 5 days ago.
I've had aquatic lay in the stress of transit, and the eggs were viable and hatched normally. A few were damaged though.

How deep is your substrate if they can lay anywhere in the enclosure? Have you found they choose under heat? Under the edge of cover? Against the side? From the few references I have found to wild platynota, it seems they prefer under the edge of bushes / shrubs.

How big is your laying females? How old? I also have 4 unrelated females from the Behler Center. Two are 6 yrs old now and hope to get eggs this next winter. Perhaps we could compare Dam numbers and see if there are any related. I would give out that info on any young I would sell in the future.
 

deadheadvet

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Females are 6 and 7. 3200g and 5500gr.
The way the set up is, temp is high 80's low 90's during the day. There is plenty of lighting so they look for a spot I guess that is suitable for digging. In the new location there is an area 36x36" with soil and jungle mix 12" deep. The room is 20x16 so plenty of room.
 

kingsley

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Great stuff!! I have 4 clutches but here in AZ I have them in outdoor enclosures and they nest on higher ground dirt. image.jpg Here is one female nesting a few weeks ago , I used a CHE to keep her warm throughout the chilly night, while she completed her task.
 

kingsley

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Please PM me , love to have different blood lines!! Best of luck!!
 

Tom

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Great stuff!! I have 4 clutches but here in AZ I have them in outdoor enclosures and they nest on higher ground dirt. View attachment 200111 Here is one female nesting a few weeks ago , I used a CHE to keep her warm throughout the chilly night, while she completed her task.
Kingsley, What size are your females and what is your ratio of males to females? How are you housing them? All together, or groups with one male a several females?

Mine are just reaching adulthood and I'm still deciding how I want to proceed.
 

kingsley

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I have 5 females (2 sisters) and stud book 443, and another F1 female , I have 2 males that came from Bob Blome. I also have another young stud book female that came from Larry G, The females range from 13 inches to 12 inches and the males are around 10 inches. The F1 female is heavily pyramyded but she has fresh genes that is a good thing. They are all housed outdoors here in AZ and the dry weather doesent help, but I run misters all summer to bump up the humidity. I house them all together for now but I will be splitting them up shortly once I see how the offspring turn out. here is a look at the area I keep them,well secured and with cameras that enable me to moniter them at all times , image.jpg image.jpgimage.jpg
the whole area is around 1200 feet and it is now subdevided between Platynota and Elegans. Please note these pics are from a few years back ,
 

Markw84

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I have 5 females (2 sisters) and stud book 443, and another F1 female , I have 2 males that came from Bob Blome. I also have another young stud book female that came from Larry G, The females range from 13 inches to 12 inches and the males are around 10 inches. The F1 female is heavily pyramyded but she has fresh genes that is a good thing. They are all housed outdoors here in AZ and the dry weather doesent help, but I run misters all summer to bump up the humidity. I house them all together for now but I will be splitting them up shortly once I see how the offspring turn out. here is a look at the area I keep them,well secured and with cameras that enable me to moniter them at all times , View attachment 200124 View attachment 200123View attachment 200124
the whole area is around 1200 feet and it is now subdevided between Platynota and Elegans. Please note these pics are from a few years back ,
Kingsley, are all your platynota stud book registered or just the one? Would love to keep good records on bloodlines and stud book register, but I've heard the keeper of the platynota stud book only accepts institution animals and will not deal with private breeders. What have you found?
 

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