Hello,
I recently joined the forum. I figured it was a good time, because I plan to achieve my goal of owning a redfoot - a desire I’ve had for years - very soon. I’ve got a terrarium setup that I bought before I knew about tortoise tables, and it’s looking quite cozy so far (for a starter habitat). I am blocking his/her view of the outside world with cardboard to ensure that no unnecessary stress is experienced by my new tort...
Anyway, that was all just an introduction to my actual question for this community...
So I’ve been finding mixed info online, and I am wondering what you all will say about this:
What are the benefits to incubating a tort at home opposed to buying one that is already alive? Sure there will be extra work during the hatchling stage, but I am feeling up to the challenge. I am a wildlife biologist who has worked with turtles and tortoises for years now, and I have assisted with gopher tortoise and diamondback terrapin incubation studies in the past...
All that being said, I am also having a hard time finding redfoot eggs online. Russian, Sulcata and Hermann eggs are easily attainable, but I can’t find RF or YF eggs at all. Is there a reason for this? Is their sale restricted by IUCN, or anything? Is hatching my own redfoot a pipe dream that I should give up on, or is there still hope for me to be the first living thing that my baby ever lays eyes on? Also, does it make much of a difference in the tort’s behavior? I know that owls and alligators show strong fidelity to their “Ma-Ma,” but Chelonians (turtles and torts) do not typically care for their young. Maybe torts just see us all as similar beings, or do they show fidelity towards their animal husbands who incubated them?
Sorry for the first post being so long! I’ll try to keep them down to a minimum of 40,000 words in the future
Thanks in advance to all you beautiful tortoise lovers!
I recently joined the forum. I figured it was a good time, because I plan to achieve my goal of owning a redfoot - a desire I’ve had for years - very soon. I’ve got a terrarium setup that I bought before I knew about tortoise tables, and it’s looking quite cozy so far (for a starter habitat). I am blocking his/her view of the outside world with cardboard to ensure that no unnecessary stress is experienced by my new tort...
Anyway, that was all just an introduction to my actual question for this community...
So I’ve been finding mixed info online, and I am wondering what you all will say about this:
What are the benefits to incubating a tort at home opposed to buying one that is already alive? Sure there will be extra work during the hatchling stage, but I am feeling up to the challenge. I am a wildlife biologist who has worked with turtles and tortoises for years now, and I have assisted with gopher tortoise and diamondback terrapin incubation studies in the past...
All that being said, I am also having a hard time finding redfoot eggs online. Russian, Sulcata and Hermann eggs are easily attainable, but I can’t find RF or YF eggs at all. Is there a reason for this? Is their sale restricted by IUCN, or anything? Is hatching my own redfoot a pipe dream that I should give up on, or is there still hope for me to be the first living thing that my baby ever lays eyes on? Also, does it make much of a difference in the tort’s behavior? I know that owls and alligators show strong fidelity to their “Ma-Ma,” but Chelonians (turtles and torts) do not typically care for their young. Maybe torts just see us all as similar beings, or do they show fidelity towards their animal husbands who incubated them?
Sorry for the first post being so long! I’ll try to keep them down to a minimum of 40,000 words in the future
Thanks in advance to all you beautiful tortoise lovers!
