Hatching of star eggs -reporting

[K Tan]

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Hi everyone,

I last posted on 22 Oct 2009 about 7 star tortoise eggs laid in my garden.

They were dug out and incubated at 31 degree C.

I am very happy to report that 2 eggs had hatched - 1st one on 25 Feb 2010, about 4 months later, and the 2nd one on 1 May 2010, about 2 months after that. 2 other eggs had their shells cracking. One showed a baby tortoise with a well-formed shell swimming and turning in a watery egg sac. Unfortunately both eggs did not survive. The last 3 eggs- no developments todate.

The 1st baby weighed 15 gm at birth and is now 32 gm. The 2nd baby weighs the same at birth but looks smaller but is more active.

Am happy to share the photos here.

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[Angi]

They are beautiful!

[jobeanator]

wow, that is awesome. i always find when tortoises hatch amazing. thanks for sharing!

[egyptiandan]

That's great news Congratulations on the hatchlings

It does though sound like your incubation medium (what the eggs were sitting on) got to wet. The 2 eggs that cracked soaked up to much water and cracked because of it. I'd watch out next time with the amount of water you add the medium. You can get humidity in the incubator by adding a dish of water.

Danny

[terracolson]

Oh man.... Talk about having a new itch... i need to scratch it.. i will tort sit!!!

[BuddysParents]

Wow, they're all beautiful!!

[Tom]

Very cool. Congrats.

Danny, thanks for posting that info. Very helpful and informative, as usual.

[dmmj]

nice pics, thanks for sharing.

[K Tan]

(06-02-2010 06:57 AM)Angi Wrote:  They are beautiful!

Thanks Angi, I must say that I rush home everyday to look at my 2 baby tortoises and play with them. They are so adorable.

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(06-02-2010 07:02 AM)jobeanator Wrote:  wow, that is awesome. i always find when tortoises hatch amazing. thanks for sharing!

Yeah, the first tortoise took 2 days to hatch and he always looked like he was smiling away. He would wave his flippers a bit, then take a rest and snuggle back into the cracked shell, and then after that stick his head out again and struggle some more... very amazing as you say. So instinctive.

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(06-02-2010 07:30 AM)egyptiandan Wrote:  That's great news Congratulations on the hatchlings

It does though sound like your incubation medium (what the eggs were sitting on) got to wet. The 2 eggs that cracked soaked up to much water and cracked because of it. I'd watch out next time with the amount of water you add the medium. You can get humidity in the incubator by adding a dish of water.

Danny

Thanks Danny for this wonderful piece of advice. Am still hopeful about the other 3 eggs and will use your advice.

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(06-02-2010 07:39 AM)terracolson Wrote:  Oh man.... Talk about having a new itch... i need to scratch it.. i will tort sit!!!

Yeah, I am beginning to think I have gotten the itch to have more tortoises. They make such nice pets.

[jobeanator]

i think eventually i will get a breeding pair of stars or possibly leopards ive always wanted to hatch tortoise eggs

[K Tan]

Hi everyone
am attaching 2 more pix : one of the 2nd baby, and one of the cracked egg which didn't survive, showing the formed tortoise in the egg sac. It was pulsating and had red blood vessels on the membrane. The baby turned somersaults inside the sac. It is just a pity it didn't survive.

[seanang168]

Hey K Tan or whoever can breed star eggs successfully,[/align]

could you provide a step by step write up on how you incubate your star eggs. My female star has laid a handful of eggs over last 2 years however the eggs never hatched. I have a male star and they mate occassionally.

Today she just laid another two eggs. I hope I could hatch it. Currently I just put them into a plastic basin with some light garden soil purchased from cold storage. Then I put a water dish to maintain humidity and cover the basin with some newspaper. Hence still got air circulation. I did not make effort to keep soil moist though. The last time when I kept the soil moist, scary minute white insects starts to breed in the soil. Only once a week, I sprayed fine mist of water over it.

Am I doing it right? Can you advise??

[movealongmosey]

Aww I love the babies! I definatley see some of my own hacthlings in the future. Sorry about the other egg that is sad, but i'm glad the two babies made it safe!
Thanks for sharing!
Katie

[sharkstar]

beautiful babies. thanks for sharing the pictures.

[emysemys]

Oh...so tiny! How exciting for you. Congratulations.