My First Radiated :)

8james8

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Many years ago I was introduced to the species and it became a dream to work with them. I was briefed about the permit requirements and such and due to my military career, I could not guarantee stability to stay in the states. Now that this is no longer an issue I set out to make this dream a reality. With the guidance of Bill Zovickian and Evan Rosenoff, I filled out and submitted my permit application (end of March 2016). It was about mid April 2016 when they assigned a Biologist to process the application. I followed up by phone and email every month or so. Once I was informed of another individual receiving approval when they submitted their application the month before I did I began following up every 2 weeks. I expressed my concern over the delays I received and maintained the bi-weekly contact. Diligence and professionalism paid off and my permit was released for public comment for December and it was approved a few days after Christmas. The hard part as it seemed was done.

That being said, I'd like to introduce my first Astrochelys Radiata. Thank you to @deadheadvet & @coastal.

She (sex verified by scope) has a little yellow cap and a nice split of dark vs yellow on her head. She is slowly settling in (received her Friday and she just took a few bites of Mazuri this morning). Perfectly smooth shell and good size.

More pictures to be added as she gets more comfortable.


My hope is to add 2 to 3 more animals this year :)
 

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8james8

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Congrats James. She looks great. Glad to hear they are approving permits again.

Thanks cmac3 and G-stars :)

I was pleasantly surprised to have it approved.

I have the space and set ups and such to house them. I do lack the hands on with them but I leaned on my experience with other species (I compared the care of star tortoises). I think showing that I could handle a species that is a little more finicky was the deciding factor.
 

deadheadvet

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Great choice in my opinion :)
Glad she has settled in and started to eat. hard work pays off, and she will do well going forward.
Congrats James!
 

8james8

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Great choice in my opinion :)
Glad she has settled in and started to eat. hard work pays off, and she will do well going forward.
Congrats James!

:) I agree. I'm sure she will pigging out in another day or two.
 

zovick

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She looks very nice, Jim. I wish you the best of luck with her.
 

Sterant

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I'm glad your permit finally came through Jim, and good luck with the baby!
 

8james8

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Thanks everyone. She's nibbling more today. Weighed her this evening and she is at 73grams (68grams when she arrived on Friday). So it looks like she's replenished fluids since her trip and the mazuri and marion she snacked on earlier is sitting in her belly.

She doesn't completely hide when I pick her up. She definitely doesn't like to be watched while eating. She also likes a little spray in the AM and PM.

I'll get a few more pictures this weekend. The nice weather should provide nice opportunity to take a few shots with that huge free light source outside :)
 

coastal

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Thanks everyone. She's nibbling more today. Weighed her this evening and she is at 73grams (68grams when she arrived on Friday). So it looks like she's replenished fluids since her trip and the mazuri and marion she snacked on earlier is sitting in her belly.

She doesn't completely hide when I pick her up. She definitely doesn't like to be watched while eating. She also likes a little spray in the AM and PM.

I'll get a few more pictures this weekend. The nice weather should provide nice opportunity to take a few shots with that huge free light source outside :)

James,

All the babies are kept under my companies misting system (climist.com) so they will be use to this type of misting. Which produces a super fine mist you can not reproduce it any other way. I know Evan had her, and some others under the same system. I would recommend getting one to keep the growth super smooth while indoors. It will make a world of difference as she grows out over the years.

The other thing, at this size they tend to respond to feeding better when they have others with them. That might curve the shyness at feeding so get to collecting! The misting will also stimulate them to get up move around and eat.
 

8james8

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I was talking to Evan about the misting system and I'm looking into adding that versus the fogging system I have for the closed chambers.

I agree with the isolation curbing appetite, but she will have company soon if all works out as planned.
 

8james8

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78 grams today. She's falling into the soak and eat routine. Even ate a few bites of cactus to boot.

Misting system ordered.

I catch myself sneaking a lot of peaks at her. Even get a look back at her like she's saying "hey...I'm sleeping over here". :)
 

arifn

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such a very nice tortoise indeed. Hope she will stay healthy and grow big.
Radiated tortoise is indeed my favorite tortoise. Please do update her well being from time to time
 
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