Artifical insemination of tortoises

[RayRay]

Artificial insemination (AI) is doable in many species of animals.

I was wondering what y'all think of it for tortoises? There is this process http://www.nature.com/articles/srep02066

which works on parrots who also have cloaca's.

Do you think it would work on tortoises, and if it does do you think using the same method might make hatchlings "flash" and be less invasive then other forms of young sexing?

Also would it be legal to buy sperm from say an Ethiopian leopard and use AI to impregnate a mutt leopard and then doing AI on the closest looking/size ones of the offspring for another AI from a different father?

The science behind shipping it seems pretty straight forward. They add stuff to it and then freeze it and then ship it and then unfreeze it and use it.

I wouldn't want to do anything inhumane or causes trouble for animals and I wouldn't mix purebred species of two types.

But since they are mutts and we can't get the various purebreds would it matter?

 

[dmmj]

I am honestly unaware of any laws regarding tortoise sperm either purchasing or collecting. I don't see why it wouldn't work but is probably expensive and counterproductive. Just my opinion

 

[RayRay]

What do you mean by counterproductive?

It wouldn't take anything from the wild populations and we could get pseudo breeds of the various clades.

 

[dmmj]

it seems like the cost would be counterproductive to me. What do you mean by S
psuedo breeds?

 

[RayRay]

As in ones that look and act like Ethiopian leopards or Sudanese leopards or any of the various locality specific leopards.

In america we can't buy them but we do have mutts of various ones and we could try to breed in more and more of the bloodline from over there.

I know it would take a while and be expensive.

 

[RayRay]

it seems like the cost would be counterproductive to me. What do you mean by S
psuedo breeds?

Do you think it would make almost pure Ethiopian leopards after several times of using it on the offspring with various fathers?

 

[dmmj]

I may not be grasping the concept but why would it make more pure animals bloodline wise? to quote forest Gump I'm not a smart man. why would you have to go through this to make more pure animals could you not justbreed them in the first place?

 

[RayRay]

I may not be grasping the concept but why would it make more pure animals bloodline wise? to quote forest Gump I'm not a smart man. why would you have to go through this to make more pure animals could you not justbreed them in the first place?

Because we can't import the tortoises anymore so we can't get those locality specific leopards.

 

[teresaf]

I get what you're saying. It would take many years though. What really needs done is for the laws about captive BRED imports to be loosened up. I see no reason a certain quantity of each species couldn't be brought in to US as long as they were quarantined and checked by a vet first. Then we'd have pure blood breeding stock. Just my opinion.

 

[mike taylor]

Why not just be happy with what we have ? We already have to many Tortoises that need homes . Just hit up Yvonne and the 80 + Tortoises she has taken in this year . Kelly is overloaded with rescues. There's not that many people that will keep these animals forever . I could understand if we were trying to save endangered Tortoises . But to do it for self gain it's not right .

 

[teresaf]

Aren't MOST tortoises species endangered in their native country? Protected at least... By breeding them here where they aren't hunted for their meat or shell its helping the species. If they go extinct in the wild there would still be populations of them here.

 

[mike taylor]

Yes but its a double edge sword. They where brought here for profit. That is one reason why they are disappearing in the wild. People taking over their home land . If we just leave them alone and be happy with what we've got I think they would be better off . Look at Aldabra island . They stopped people from going there .Now there's more than a 1000 Tortoises doing what they are they're meant to do . The Galapagos Tortoises are making a come back some what after we fixed what we caused . I'm just saying just because you can keep them doesn't mean we should . If I could I would gladly send my tortoises back to Africa. So they can be wild like they should be . But I can't so they are here with me to I die . Then they go to my boys . We have plenty of captive breed Tortoises here to work with . There's more sulcatas in the USA than the wild already . Rescues around the USA are taking them in by the hundreds when are we going to stop over breeding them . If you are going to do this than do it with Russian Tortoises that are still taken out of their home land in big box loads for peoples greed . Even better how about stopping them from being exported . Just because you have the money to own a loin should you ? Hell no you shouldn't ! I love reptiles I have my whole life . For once I would love for people to see they should be left alone .

 

[mike taylor]

This is just my personal opinion.

 

[dmmj]

now I want a lion. :-(

 

[teresaf]

Yes, I agree somewhat. They shouldnt be brought here for profit. Where I don't agree is the opinion that leaving them alone is somehow going to stop people from taking over their homeland. Our numbers are growing and will continue to grow until we find a better birth control. I was really talking about the countries that are eating them out of existence or taking them for their prerty shells. That doesn't look like its going to stop fast enough to stop already endangered species from going extinct. Un my opinion If we had a few (captive bred)to work with here in the US we could try to stop this from happening.

 

[RayRay]

The whole point of AI would be so there wouldn't be anything taken out of the environment and still gaining tortoise bloodlines that are blocked currently by law.

 

[mike taylor]

now I want a lion. :-(

Me to but its not right . Maybe if we interfere with nature and create a smaller species of Lion we can have them as house cats .

 

[theguy67]

Yes, I agree somewhat. They shouldnt be brought here for profit. Where I don't agree is the opinion that leaving them alone is somehow going to stop people from taking over their homeland. Our numbers are growing and will continue to grow until we find a better birth control. I was really talking about the countries that are eating them out of existence or taking them for their prerty shells. That doesn't look like its going to stop fast enough to stop already endangered species from going extinct. Un my opinion If we had a few (captive bred)to work with here in the US we could try to stop this from happening.

I agree. Limiting those that keep the animals as pets will only lower demand, and wild collecting. Many tortoises are eaten by natives, and humans are still taking their habitat. The only way leaving them alone will do any good is if humans left this planet. Even then, some may not recover on their own. Shrinking the reptile hobby would also diminish interest, which feeds conservation efforts. If I never owned a tortoise, I probably wouldn't care if people made soup out of them. Its a nice idea to "free animals" and return them to the wild,..but that's from a human prospective (since some equate it to prisons), but some animals do well in captivity. I doubt they are thinking about this as much as we are.

The best thing to do is make a list of stores that sell WC animals and boycott them.

 

[teresaf]

Me to but its not right . Maybe if we interfere with nature and create a smaller species of Lion we can have them as house cats .

We did. They're called 'house cats'...

 

[dmmj]

I will gladly take a small lion. a lion is a lion after all. while you are taking request, I'll take a pygmy elephant as well. oh yes and a cyborg monkey Butler