Hello! I'm Suzy, new to this forum, although I have been keeping turtles for 32years. I have been keeping map turtles, mud and musk turtles and american box turtles, mostly. I have an 8yr old redfoot "Nibbles" who is a darling. A 10 year old elongated tortoise "Buttercup" who is shy but growing well. And the monster, "Lumpy" (My husband named her) who is a rescued Burmese Brown, with a badly deformed shell when I got her 4-5 years ago. We thought Lumpy was a male until today when we witnessed her laying eggs. First time she has laid them since I've had her. She came from a hoarder and was kept with many other burmese browns. I don't know if the eggs she laid today are fertile, but I'm going to try to incubate some. I'm hoping others may share their experience with tortoises, especially the burmese brown.
Hello! I'm new to this forum
- Thread starter redterra
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Hello and Welcome
redterra said:
Welcome to the forum and sounds like you have lots fun with all of them. Best luck to those eggs.
May I ask for some picture of "Lumpy". She is lucky to be with you and your husband now.
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Hello Suzy welcome to the TFO from AZ and good luck with your eggs !
Hi Suzy, and welcome to the Forum!
Did lumpy build a nest mound?
Did lumpy build a nest mound?
Hello and welcome Suzy
Yvonne G said:
Yes she did her best to do so. She's been driving me nuts all winter! her winter quarters need an upgrade for sure. The substrate is sphagnum peat. The other torts keep their pens' substrates packed down solid, but Lumpy scoops it up against one corner of the enclosure, stands on it and tries to stick her head over the sidewall. I thought "he" was just wanting more room, since "he's" gotten bigger (we are planning on building a larger indoor winter quarters this summer). I did find 3 eggs in the nest mound, but when I caught her laying, she was alongside her water pan on top of a flagstone that had about 3inches of loose peat on top of it. I salvaged 6 eggs from the rock and 3 from the nest. and she ate/smashed about 3-4 more. This was on sunday. Now she seems to be resting on top of the nest mound. I want to give her some dandelion or other high calcium food, but not sure if she will eat if she is nest guarding.
Ive got the eggs at 80% humidity and temp at 82F. Is that an okay temp? not sure what the range is
Suzy
Here is Lumpy letting me know her pen is too small
So I take her out for exercise
Here is a top view of her. She has what I call "depressed hips" which have been improving since living with us. Her scutes are also pyramided, but with the new smooth growth I've put on her, the pyramids are less noticeable:
Suzy
So I take her out for exercise
Here is a top view of her. She has what I call "depressed hips" which have been improving since living with us. Her scutes are also pyramided, but with the new smooth growth I've put on her, the pyramids are less noticeable:
Suzy
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sam1989
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So adorable!!
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Welcome! She is beautiful! Hope your eggs hatch out some little beauties .
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You have done nice work with her since you got her. She lays on top of the mound protecting the eggs and nest, or so she thinks. How big is she?
Thanks, Mikeh
She is 14.5 inches (36cm) SCL. She was probably about 10 inches SCL when I got her, and she's grown about 4 inches or so in straight length in the last 5 years. Her carapace was flatter, too. Now she has "domed up" and increased more than 4 inches in girth.
I did give her some dandelion, which she ignored for hours until I moved it within reach.
She is 14.5 inches (36cm) SCL. She was probably about 10 inches SCL when I got her, and she's grown about 4 inches or so in straight length in the last 5 years. Her carapace was flatter, too. Now she has "domed up" and increased more than 4 inches in girth.
I did give her some dandelion, which she ignored for hours until I moved it within reach.
burmese brown still laying
My burmese brown mountain tortoise, now named Lady Lumpy, has laid 7 more eggs in the last 2 days, more than a week after laying the first 14. Does anyone else have experience with breeding this species? I would like to hear about others' experiences.
suzy
My burmese brown mountain tortoise, now named Lady Lumpy, has laid 7 more eggs in the last 2 days, more than a week after laying the first 14. Does anyone else have experience with breeding this species? I would like to hear about others' experiences.
suzy
RE: burmese brown still laying
Hi Suzy:
I think I asked you on your other thread if the tortoise built a nest. I didn't see if you answered that question or not.
If you didn't harvest eggs from inside the nest mound, chances are good the eggs are not fertile. The Manouria tortoises will build a mound, then dig down into it and deposit the eggs (all at one time), then guard the mound for several days.
If you have found eggs here and there in the habitat, I'd say this was either her first time laying or that the eggs aren't fertile.
I just found your other thread. I think for the sake of confusion, I'm going to merge the two.
The depressed hips is a sign of MBD, so be sure the tortoise gets plenty of calcium and vitamin d3. Also, she looks awfully dry. Is your moss moistened?
Hi Suzy:
I think I asked you on your other thread if the tortoise built a nest. I didn't see if you answered that question or not.
If you didn't harvest eggs from inside the nest mound, chances are good the eggs are not fertile. The Manouria tortoises will build a mound, then dig down into it and deposit the eggs (all at one time), then guard the mound for several days.
If you have found eggs here and there in the habitat, I'd say this was either her first time laying or that the eggs aren't fertile.
I just found your other thread. I think for the sake of confusion, I'm going to merge the two.
The depressed hips is a sign of MBD, so be sure the tortoise gets plenty of calcium and vitamin d3. Also, she looks awfully dry. Is your moss moistened?
Could she even be laying fertile eggs?...she has been alone for 5 years and may have been too young to have been mated at the hoarders house. ..did I miss something?....can't see how those eggs are fertile,but,what a breeder she would make......thank you for he post ,often wondered how pyramiding would present on that type of shell.
Yvonne
I found eggs in the mound, but also elsewhere in the pen...I'm sure it's her first time laying... It's been 6 years since she has been housed with a male. So I'm incubating some eggs just on the off-chance they might be fertile. I thought she might not have laid them all in the nest mound because it wasn't large enough, or was unsuitable in some other way. Plus, it's her first time
The substrate in her indoor winter enclosure is moistened, except what she rakes up tends to dry out. She has a shower stall bottom for a water pan. I also converted a humidifier with PVC so it fills the pen with mist several times a day. She is dry in the pictures because she was out of her pen exercising, and I wipe her off so she doesn't track a mess of peat all over the place.
She came to me deformed, so ever since I got her she eats what I feed my redfoot, elongated, and my boxies. I use rep-cal calcium with D3 in winter, and in summer they also get calcium carbonate in the outdoor enclosure. And lots of dandelion, opuntia fruit and pads, leaf lettuces, and edible leaves, weeds and flowers from the yard.
I have no idea how long they are able to store sperm, nor how old she actually is. She may have been to young as you say, but even if they are not fertile, it's good practice for me to figure out my incubation setup for next year...if i can find a male for her.
suzy
I found eggs in the mound, but also elsewhere in the pen...I'm sure it's her first time laying... It's been 6 years since she has been housed with a male. So I'm incubating some eggs just on the off-chance they might be fertile. I thought she might not have laid them all in the nest mound because it wasn't large enough, or was unsuitable in some other way. Plus, it's her first time
The substrate in her indoor winter enclosure is moistened, except what she rakes up tends to dry out. She has a shower stall bottom for a water pan. I also converted a humidifier with PVC so it fills the pen with mist several times a day. She is dry in the pictures because she was out of her pen exercising, and I wipe her off so she doesn't track a mess of peat all over the place.
She came to me deformed, so ever since I got her she eats what I feed my redfoot, elongated, and my boxies. I use rep-cal calcium with D3 in winter, and in summer they also get calcium carbonate in the outdoor enclosure. And lots of dandelion, opuntia fruit and pads, leaf lettuces, and edible leaves, weeds and flowers from the yard.
edwardbo said:
I have no idea how long they are able to store sperm, nor how old she actually is. She may have been to young as you say, but even if they are not fertile, it's good practice for me to figure out my incubation setup for next year...if i can find a male for her.
suzy
Thank you all for the welcome . This evening I talked to Lady Lumpy's previous owner who initially rescued her, and we worked out that she has been in captivity for 20yrs. She has a tether hole in one of her marginals from being wild-caught.
mrscruffy
She could not have mated with Buttercup because they have all been housed separately since I got them. She laid another egg today. I'm taking her to the vet on monday to make sure she doesn't end up retaining any eggs. I'd like to try to buy or borrow a suitable male. If she's going to lay eggs regardless, they might as well be fertile! Her deformities are not genetic, but rather from poor nutrition, so her future offspring should be normal.
. This evening I talked to Lady Lumpy's previous owner who initially rescued her, and we worked out that she has been in captivity for 20yrs. She has a tether hole in one of her marginals from being wild-caught. mrscruffy
She could not have mated with Buttercup because they have all been housed separately since I got them. She laid another egg today. I'm taking her to the vet on monday to make sure she doesn't end up retaining any eggs. I'd like to try to buy or borrow a suitable male. If she's going to lay eggs regardless, they might as well be fertile! Her deformities are not genetic, but rather from poor nutrition, so her future offspring should be normal.
The vet was very pleased to see her today; I was surprised to learn she weighs 33lbs! He gave her an oxytocin injection and so far she has laid 6 more eggs. She's eating dandelion, prickly pear mushrooms, sweetpeppers, and blackberries this evening with a CaD3 topper
