Geoemyda spengleri, worlds easiest hatchling setup?

zovick

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Time for an update. My spengleri has reached the 80 gram mark, and is a confirmed male :) Overall, my experience with raising him has been one of the easiest hatchling growing experiences ever! I’ve raised some of the more delicate species of tortoises, Pyxis, elegans, nabeulensis, kleinmanni, and spengleri are by far the easiest.

I house him in a Rubbermaid tub with 1/4” spring water, some plastic plants, and a bit of sphagnum moss to keep the water slightly acidic. He eats pellets, worms, isopods etc…with gusto. I also dust his worms with a pinch of ground-up herb mix that I use for my tortoises. Not sure if it’s necessary, but I figure it helps with fiber intake etc… There is no UVB or basking light over him.

Half of his tub is near a window, and in the early morning, the light hits the side closest to the window. Sometimes he sits on a pile of rocks in the morning, enjoying the sunlight.

I feed him in another tub, as he poops after eating usually. I will place a UVB over him feeding 1-2 times a month, honestly just so I feel better. His pellets contain d3, and I dust his food 2x/month with calcium with d3.

Once he reaches the 100 gram mark I will transition him to a soil substrate instead of water. I wanted to make sure he grew grew smooth, as a lot of these guys get curling of their spiky ends. I’ve been growing dwarf white isopods for a year now and will seed the substrate for hunting/enrichment and bio activity.

I can verify that the only thing they seem to be easily stressed by is temperature. I notice he is way more active when temps go above 78. I think it’s because he is looking for a cooler area to hide in. He seems most content around 69-75 degrees. I also noticed when trying to feed him in temps under 65 he is sluggish and will do a quick ‘head twitch’, or not feed at all. I’ve read online that others have seen similar behavior.

Without a doubt this species is my favorite, or a very close second to my Pyxis. After spending tons of time/money building/engineering sophisticated PVC close-chamber setups with automated LEDs, UVB, basking/CHE bulbs etc…it’s so refreshing to just have a plastic tub that you can setup in 10 minutes with no electrical and have a happy, healthy animal.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask, and just in case, I’m always looking for more of these guys, PM me if you have any leads thanks :)
Nice job raising that guy! Congrats on your set-up and methodology.
 

PA2019

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Several months ago I was lucky enough to receive a 1.2 group from a fellow tortoise forum member. 1.1 show signs of terrible husbandry from the original owner (not the owner I received them from, he did an excellent job). The other 0.1 is younger, and is basically perfect.

I decided to place all 3 into large separate bins similar to what I have been doing for my original male, except the bins have soil, plants, leaves, and are seeded with isopods for hunting/tank maintenance. The bins give roughly 3.88 sq ft of floor space which is large compared to what most breeders use.

For the first week, the group hide in their shelters, but now can be seen digging through the leaves/substrate looking for food throughout the day and exploring.

After 4 months all seem to be thriving. There are areas of their shells which appear to have chronic discoloration and old injuries that have healed. I am watching those areas very closely for signs of enlargement or changes. The last owner thankfully took pictures starting several years ago, and there doesn't appear to be changes in the areas of question from then till now.

I feed the entire group every 4 days. I am still trying to transition the new 1.2 group onto pellets. I dust their worms with pureed pellets and a mix of vitamins, calcium with d3 and a pinch of dried herbs for fiber. I plan to slowly wean them off the worms once they are habituated to the taste of the pellet mix.
 

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turtlesailor

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Man I would love to have them someday. They are my new dream turtle-like how spotted turtles were when I was a kid.

I saw turtles&tortoise inc had one for sale…I was hoping the huge price tag would linger the game. But I missed out! :/
 

PA2019

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Man I would love to have them someday. They are my new dream turtle-like how spotted turtles were when I was a kid.

I saw turtles&tortoise inc had one for sale…I was hoping the huge price tag would linger the game. But I missed out! :/

They are out there, just really hard to find. For some reason this past season, multiple breeders were stating poor hatching success. Hopefully next year more will be available.
 

turtlesailor

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They are out there, just really hard to find. For some reason this past season, multiple breeders were stating poor hatching success. Hopefully next year more will be available.
I’m on the lookout. I’ve join on Facebook on a group dedicated to this species. I’m very apprehensive to spend $$$$ through classified ads though.
 

PA2019

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New update. I have been working on the new chelonia room, and just completed my newest creation, a rack system for the spengleri. I"m trying to find ways of maximizing organization while giving plenty of space. Its a 5-tier design and fits each tub with enough space to roll half the tub out with ease for maintenance, feeding health checks etc..

I have a LED grow light above each tank putting out minimal heat. Another benefit of this species is not requiring a heat source or UVB, creating simple setups.
 

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dionaeamuscipula2

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I'm thinking of trying to create an enclosure for one of these turtles. Do you think an arcadia jungle dawn would be too bright? If so, do you mind sharing the type of LED grow light you use? I want to be able to grow live plants in the enclosure as well. Also, searching for these guys is incredibly difficult. Do you mind citing the breeder whom you initially acquired yours from? Pierloni remarks that this species is very difficult to acclimate if the individuals are wild caught instead of captive bred, so I'd like to purchase from a reputable breeder
 

PA2019

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I'm thinking of trying to create an enclosure for one of these turtles. Do you think an arcadia jungle dawn would be too bright? If so, do you mind sharing the type of LED grow light you use? I want to be able to grow live plants in the enclosure as well. Also, searching for these guys is incredibly difficult. Do you mind citing the breeder whom you initially acquired yours from? Pierloni remarks that this species is very difficult to acclimate if the individuals are wild caught instead of captive bred, so I'd like to purchase from a reputable breeder
Here is the link to the lights I bought. I would not recommend a ton of light on these guys, think about their environment, it’s not bright on the forest floor, they spend lots of time under brush and they have huge eyes.

Can’t give you any names but recommend that you join several Facebook groups to network with breeders in the USA.
 

dionaeamuscipula2

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Here is the link to the lights I bought. I would not recommend a ton of light on these guys, think about their environment, it’s not bright on the forest floor, they spend lots of time under brush and they have huge eyes.

Can’t give you any names but recommend that you join several Facebook groups to network with breeders in the USA.
Makes sense in regards to the lighting. I've requested to join the facebook groups as mentioned. However, I think the link regarding the lights may be broken? First time using a forum of this sort, and can't see the link if you have provided it. Also, just one last question, how much do you feed them per feeding session? If the information still holds true in the earlier post, I see that you feed them every four days. Do you keep feeding until they stop showing interest?

Appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions!
 

PA2019

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Makes sense in regards to the lighting. I've requested to join the facebook groups as mentioned. However, I think the link regarding the lights may be broken? First time using a forum of this sort, and can't see the link if you have provided it. Also, just one last question, how much do you feed them per feeding session? If the information still holds true in the earlier post, I see that you feed them every four days. Do you keep feeding until they stop showing interest?

Appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0814L4XPL/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Try that one. I actually have started increasing feeding to every two days now. They are very active recently and I wanted to make sure I increased their caloric intake. I’ll dial it back when they slow down in October ish
 

PA2019

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The group is growing! Added several more from this past breeding season. They are such fun, easy to care for species. I think their reputation as being very fragile applies only to the WC imports that came in back in the day. Hoping for a successful pairing between my oldest male and female in the springtime.
 

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PA2019

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Up to 13 of these guys now
 

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