Questions about hatchlings

[Musadi01]

Greetings. I've recently had some success with hatching pancake tortoises and was curious about folks' experiences. I had a pair of eggs laid Jan 17 and another egg laid just over a month later. The newer egg started showing vessel growth before the older ones, and hatched in about 170 days as compared to 220 days for the first clutch (only one of two eggs developed). Both hatchlings seem perfectly healthy and happy but the one that gestated longer is substantially smaller (by maybe 30%). I know there's a wide range of incubation times for pancakes but we're talking same parents, same incubater, etc. The only differences I can think of is that the one that took longer was from a clutch of 2 rather than one, and I started raising the incubator temps when I saw the vessels in the newer (but more precocious!) egg develop. Just curious. Thoughts?

BTW, I've heard that there are arguments about whether letting the humidity drop encourages hatching: My first egg hatched when I was away for a few days and accidently let the humidity drop. So when it seemed like the second egg was never going to hatch I Iet the humidity drop a bit and viola! So maybe there;s something to that

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sure there are others, but the only one I can think of is @Kapidolo Farms Hopefully he'll see this and respond.

 

[Musadi01]

Thanks!

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Sorry for being away so long. Lots going on

I believe without field data to back it up, that pancakes have different incubation strategies among populations. When I worked at the Philly zoo we had several from the most northern part of the range (based on info from our registrar) and they would hatch in about 78 to 90 days, no diapause, single temp, low humidity. Boom very high rate of hatch and survival.

Most pancakes that have come to the US in the past 10-15 years would seem to have come from the more southern part of their range. It seems this is a whole different reproductive strategy. One successful breeder suggested they need a diapause. When I first heard that I doubted it. I implemented a doing that and started getting eggs to hatch.

As fas a babies go. My most successful method is to keep them in the incubator a few days after they hatch on moist paper towel with food, single housed. Then moist paper towel in a small shoebox, but that whole set-up in a larger emclosed chamber enclosure to moderate humidity and temp. I use a small yogurt cup lid for water and place them in it every day, if they drink that fine, if they crawl out that's okay too.

I offer finely chopped variety of greens.