Look what I caught!

[AWAaviatrix]

Went outside Thur afternoon to bring all the Star's inside and found Orion grunting away on Lyra.
Please excuse the photo angle but they were under the sunscreen in their small outdoor enclosure and I was trying not to disturb them[/align].

Misty

 

[RTfanatic]

Tortoise porn. Cool.

 

[egyptiandan]

Great picture Misty Hopefully you'll be getting eggs in 30 days or so.

Danny

 

[jlyoncc1]

Hope to see some eggs Misty!! I will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Crazy1]

Nice capture Misty, fingers crossed for fertile eggs soon. Keep us posted

 

[AWAaviatrix]

Great picture Misty Hopefully you'll be getting eggs in 30 days or so.

Danny

Thanks for the well wishes everyone! Orion & Lyra are back practicing again today. My family thinks I'm loony for how excited I am about it. LOL

A few questions as I'm new to the breeding aspect of tortoise keeping. Would Lyra not be interested in mating if she wasn't ready to produce eggs? What is the sucess rate of having fertile eggs with a first clutch?

Just in case we get lucky I've ordered a Hova Bator 1583 incubator and have read up on temperature and humidity requirements. Any advice from the experts on how they do things would be much appreciated.

I keep the 4 bigger Star's together in a table in my tort shed during the night on aspen snake bedding. This time of year they get put outside in one of two enclosures during most of the day. If she looks like she is starting to nest is it best to seperate her from the others and should she be put outside so she can dig a hole?

Thanks,

Misty
7 Star's
5 Sulcata's
1 Leopard

 

[purpod]

Congrats, Misty ~ bestest wishes for babies!

And hey, LOL at RTFan!

Enjoy the day everyone ~
Purpod

 

[elegans]

I have not had to move my females when they are laying. My females tend to nest late in the day and into the night when the others are already bedding down or outright asleep. Best wishes and congratulations. Douglas Beard / Flora & Fauna

 

[Yvonne G]

With my Burmese my young male was "practicing" and I thought he was still too young as he was so much smaller than the female. But in my opinion, that "young" stuff is pretty potent! His practicing made the female lay over 50 eggs, 19 of which hatched.

Good luck, Misty...

Yvonne

 

[JustAnja]

Congrats Misty! That is so great, cant wait to see hatchling pics! Fingers crossed!

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Misty,
First you need to cancel your incubator order. What you want is the still air model, not the ones with the fans (circulated air).
I've had females lay all infertile eggs for their first clutches and other females have been 100% fertile, so you never know. I've probably been around 70% with first time females. No she wouldn't be interested in mating unless she was ready.

Danny

 

[AWAaviatrix]

Hi Misty,
First you need to cancel your incubator order. What you want is the still air model, not the ones with the fans (circulated air).
I've had females lay all infertile eggs for their first clutches and other females have been 100% fertile, so you never know. I've probably been around 70% with first time females. No she wouldn't be interested in mating unless she was ready.

Danny

Well crap! Thanks for the big heads up. I should have realized if you need higher humidity that I wouldn't need a fan. (slapping my head!) I saw the "our most popular model" on a reptile supply website and went with that. I then found a brand new 1583 on a craigs list and with shipping it is still way to good of a deal not to get so I guess I'll be ebaying it.

I'll go find the 1582 model instead. Any other words o' wisdom your willing to share?

My understanding is that I do not need to cool the eggs prior to incubation. I want above 60% humidity and a temperature of 85-87 should produce mostly males and 88-90 mostly females. Never go above 90.

Is vermiculite the best incubation medium to use? Do you know if the Hovabator holds a constant temperature or are there any tricks that will help keep the temperature constant and the humidity high?

Thanks for all the much needed help.

Misty

 

[AWAaviatrix]

But in my opinion, that "young" stuff is pretty potent!
Yvonne

LOL

I'll be emailing you off list Yvonne.

Misty

 

[jasso2]

sweet tortoises mclovin!

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Misty,
No you don't need to cool Star tortoise eggs to get them to hatch.
You can use anything as an incubation medium, I use aspen, for grassland/desert species as long as it's dry. What your looking for is something to keep the eggs from rolling around.
Your temperatures and humidity you've researched are just right.
I'm not the person though to ask about Hovabators, as I don't have one. I'll get Kelly to post here as she's using one for her Russian eggs.

Danny

 

[stells]

I have been told to post
The temp in my Hovabator is pretty constant. It was getting the temp right in the first place that needed patience. lol Once they are set up and at the desired temp then they are good and hold the humidity well too. You need a good day to get them right and stable.

 

[elegans]

WOW! Lots of differing opinions here. I use large 2150R incubators that are not still air. Now I also deal with a much greater number of eggs than most people on this site. Still airs work fine as long as you are not going to have a large # of eggs over a long period of time. There is no "perfect" incubator or medium. You will through trial and error find out what works for you. I use vermiculite at a 1 to 1 with water and never need to add moisture again. Average hatch time 110 days. This has worked just fine with Indians and SriLankans, I have not yet produced any Burmese eggs. I do understand that they do indeed require a cool down period or "diapause" I'll let you know in three or so years! LOL Douglas Beard / Flora & Fauna

 

[AWAaviatrix]

Hi All!

Just wanted to post an update that no eggs as of yet.
I have caught several other practice sessions though.

All the tort's are enjoying the NM summer spending their days outside enjoying the sunshine. It's nice to see them grazing and exploring.

Misty


P.S. Thanks for all the advice. I decided to keep the new HovaBator I found on Craigs list as it was less expensive than the model without the fan. My husband said he'll modify it so the fan will have an on/off switch.

 

[IloveTwinkle]

LOL

Ha ha ha lol rotfl thats really funny