Eros and Gaia Return?

[Zamric]

Hello everyone! I know it's been a minuit since I've showed my face here, but Life has a habit of happening when you arnt looking!
I thought Id drop in and show a few pics of Eros and Gaia.... these are kinda old (@2years) and the little "Third" is the only known live birth of this union. Saddily the little one only survived 18 months.

current weights are Gaia... 35lbs, Eros 12.5lbs

 

[wellington]

Lovely as always.
I had a hard time getting eggs to hatch. I had a total of 5 I believe out of many clutches.
I think diapause is needed as @Tom has mentioned before recently and can explain.

 

[Yvonne G]

I wondered what happened to you. When I saw your name pop up on previous threads yesterday I said, "Hallelujah!!!" Glad you came back. Your tortoises look great.

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone! I know it's been a minuit since I've showed my face here, but Life has a habit of happening when you arnt looking!
I thought Id drop in and show a few pics of Eros and Gaia.... these are kinda old (@2years) and the little "Third" is the only known live birth of this union. Saddily the little one only survived 18 months.

current weights are Gaia... 35lbs, Eros 12.5lbs

Here is what I typed up the other day:
Diapause. Most leopards in this country are a mix of genetics, including South African leopard genetics. The eggs will likely never develop without a cooling period first. Even the eggs you have already been incubating can be cooled, and then tried again.

The breeder of my SA leopards lets them incubate naturally in the ground. The eggs are laid from May to November, so they can sit in the ground all summer and will not even begin to develop. Then Fall and Winter come and the ground get cold. It rains, there are nights that drop below freezing, 90 degree hot spells in January, etc... but those eggs just sit there. Things gradually warm in spring, and as the adults begin to lay again, last years eggs finally begin to develop.

I've tried many recipes to hatch them without much success. Finally, last year, I left a bunch of eggs sitting at room temp for months, gradually cooled them, and then put them in my garage fridge all winter. I pulled them out in spring, gradually warmed them and left them at room temp for about a month, and then popped them in the incubator. 80% hatch rate. Best I ever got. And the babies looked super healthy and vigorous.

So for your eggs: Pull all of them out of the incubator, and any new ones, and let them sit at room temp for about 6 weeks. Then cool them at 45-60 degrees for a few months. Then another 6 weeks at room temp, and then into the incubator at 86 for about 100-110 days. Its good if the incubator drops a couple of degrees at night too. There are some digital proportional thermostats that will do that.

Also, just because the male is mounting and grunting, does not mean intromission has taken place.

It is also critical that babies be started correctly, and almost all of the advice found online is wrong. Here is the right info:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Zamric]

Lovely as always.
I had a hard time getting eggs to hatch. I had a total of 5 I believe out of many clutches.
I think diapause is needed as @Tom has mentioned before recently and can explain.

Here is what I typed up the other day:
Diapause. Most leopards in this country are a mix of genetics, including South African leopard genetics. The eggs will likely never develop without a cooling period first. Even the eggs you have already been incubating can be cooled, and then tried again.

The breeder of my SA leopards lets them incubate naturally in the ground. The eggs are laid from May to November, so they can sit in the ground all summer and will not even begin to develop. Then Fall and Winter come and the ground get cold. It rains, there are nights that drop below freezing, 90 degree hot spells in January, etc... but those eggs just sit there. Things gradually warm in spring, and as the adults begin to lay again, last years eggs finally begin to develop.

I've tried many recipes to hatch them without much success. Finally, last year, I left a bunch of eggs sitting at room temp for months, gradually cooled them, and then put them in my garage fridge all winter. I pulled them out in spring, gradually warmed them and left them at room temp for about a month, and then popped them in the incubator. 80% hatch rate. Best I ever got. And the babies looked super healthy and vigorous.

So for your eggs: Pull all of them out of the incubator, and any new ones, and let them sit at room temp for about 6 weeks. Then cool them at 45-60 degrees for a few months. Then another 6 weeks at room temp, and then into the incubator at 86 for about 100-110 days. Its good if the incubator drops a couple of degrees at night too. There are some digital proportional thermostats that will do that.

Also, just because the male is mounting and grunting, does not mean intromission has taken place.

It is also critical that babies be started correctly, and almost all of the advice found online is wrong. Here is the right info:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

I only know of 3 good size nest that she has laid and only 3 from the 2nd nest escaped the ground. I’m not looking to breed and at most can confidently rehome only 3 or 4. I have no problem with unhatched nest