So far, I've found ten baby hermann tortoises in my backyard in the last six months (8 in the last month) due to unintentional breeding (though I figured this might happen between my one adult male and three adult females; one female is supposedly sterile). The adults live in an area of about 10000 sq feet. I'm housing the babies inside to protect them while vulnerable. Is there any danger/special care for my females for hatching so many? I'm considering housing my male in a separate area unless you think the large space is enough for them all but I assume this will keep happening unless I separate them entirely.
Nature hatched babies
- Thread starter sillyglue
- Start date
Also, when will I be able to tell the sex?
It will keep happening and it's GREAT! This is a great species and not too many people are breeding them.
Just make sure your females stay well hydrated, well fed, and either feed them high calcium foods like weeds and mulberry leaves, or supplement their diets with calcium powder a couple of times per week.
Check out this thread for baby tips:
How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings
I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...
tortoiseforum.org
And this one too:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org
Usually by two or three years old. Sometimes a little longer.
How long have you had the adults? 10,000 square feet is a fantastic enclosure size for four hemanni!
Thank you for the tips! They've been living there about 5 years? I was hoping it would be big enough but my male kind of bothers the females a lot (like way more than I personally would like to be bothered). Sometimes I move him to the far end and he marches straight back to them. This is why I kept adding more females to the bunch to give my first girl a break. And then another. And then another... Also I'm worried I'm going to run out of people to give the babies to (I vet them first) and don't want my numbers to get out of hand.
You can always section off an area to keep the male contained and away from the females.
There are lots of people seeking babies here on the forum and a situation like yours is the perfect place to get one. You have one species and you've kept them isolated from other tortoises, and other tortoise diseases..., for years. That is best case scenario. I've been contemplating getting this species for years, and just haven't done it because I have enough animals to take care of and because I have not found a suitable safe source from a compound that doesn't have many species coming and going all the time. I haven't found that until now...
If I were to get into this species, it would be from someone just like you.If you put them up for sale here on the forum, you will find lots of suitable homes for them, and since the people are already here on TFO, they will be getting the correct care info. We can help send people your way if you like?
Last edited:
Hmm that's definitely a thought but I'm certainly not a professional by any means. When would the babies would be okay to ship? I've only ever handed them off to people I know.
Different people have different guidelines. I'd say the minimum amount of time if you are selling to someone who is experienced with raising babies is one month after hatching. This will allow you to make sure the baby is eating and growing. Many breeders wait for the baby to either double or triple its hatch weight. The amount of time for that will vary tremendously based on many factors including humidity, hydration, food and temperatures.
Shipping is very safe and reliable if you follow a few simple guidelines. I'd be happy to help you with this. I'm up in SCV, but I'm out your way for work a couple of times a month usually. I could explain it on the phone and tell you where to get the supplies. The shipping hub I use is in North Hills. I'll bet there is one closer to you though. I ship baby stars all over the country all the time.
Frankly, I think what you've got going on here is super cool and I would just love to see it. It just sounds so perfect. Idyllic. One species, huge well planted yard, superb mild climate, correct sex ratio... My measure of how good a tortoise set up is this: If I were a tortoise would I want to live there? I would love to be your tortoise!
Ok
Ok great. That's super encouraging. I'll reach out again when I've run out of solid people to give them to locally. I'm not in a super rush since the babies are so easy to care for (once I set them up the way you told me to). I just don't necessarily want the babies to keep multiplying themselves! Lol. Thanks again for all the support and advice!
I have not stopped thinking about your tortoises since you made this thread. I've always wanted to get into hermanni, but didn't want to buy from a large scale breeder with lots of species and animals coming and going all the time. I've literally been waiting for a "backyard breeder" with just one species and a group that has been stable for years... and here you are. I already have a perfect little divided double pen with a night box for when the babies get older... I've been trying to talk myself out of asking to buy some of your babies... I'm not very good at talking myself out of doing things that I really want to do...
And I'm working in Pasadena right now with Limu the Emu. I'm typing this from the RoseBowl parking lot.
Oh gosh! So sorry I didn't see this till now. I would totally just give you one if I had any left! (TBO, I'm holding onto two babies for myself for now; they're just so stinking cute). Apparently there's a demand! Will definitely keep you posted if I find more (or change my mind about the two babes left). My male is living the dream these days and even if I separate him I hear tortoise sperm can be viable and retained for years? Egads!
This varies with species. I've seen two examples of leopard tortoises producing fertile eggs after 5 years with no male contact. Sulcatas, on the other hand, don't seem to retain any fertility for longer than about 6 months. I don't know what the time frame is for hermanni.
sadarexpress
New Member
great to see this platform, we have a beach relate to turtles in Karachi, but somehow a mis management and people are not focusing on their lives and safety.
