I haven't seen too many hatching tortoises here...

[tortoiseman777]

nice torts and turtles! are you using the SIM for incubation?

 

[kbaker]

nice torts and turtles! are you using the SIM for incubation?

I bought a SIM to try while waiting for the last clutch of eggs. I found out that Sulcata eggs are just too big and round to use with a SIM. I do use it for a nursery.

They are suppose to come out with a larger SIM and I might try it.

 

[kbaker]

If you are interested, I posted some pics of my hatchling under this post:
RE: Leopard X Sulcata hybrid torts will be at Pomona Show! what a sight to see!!

I did not want to post the pictures twice and I am not sure how to link, yet.

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Here are some clearer pictures from today of Happy...enjoy!!

 

[Yvonne G]

They're so clean-looking when they're new like that!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

So what do you do with your hatchlings if you are not a breeder?

 

[kbaker]

So what do you do with your hatchlings if you are not a breeder?

That sounds like a loaded question "if you are not a breeder".

I kept the first one I hatched and found homes for the rest. Whether you consider me a breeder or not, I can't possibly keep every one I hatch. I wish I could.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You are breeding tortoises, so that obviously makes you a breeder...and I simply wanted to know what you were doing with the animals you hatched out. No loaded question, but that really sounds defensive. What part of the country do you live in? I know that most rescues on the West Coast are having problems finding homes for Sulcata, so I am just wondering how you were getting rid of them...No hidden agenda, just asking.

 

[kbaker]

You are breeding tortoises, so that obviously makes you a breeder...and I simply wanted to know what you were doing with the animals you hatched out. No loaded question, but that really sounds defensive. What part of the country do you live in? I know that most rescues on the West Coast are having problems finding homes for Sulcata, so I am just wondering how you were getting rid of them...No hidden agenda, just asking.

Yes, I was being defensive. I apologize.

I am in MI. Hatchlings sell for $125 to $250 in pet stores here. I sell mine for $40 - $60 (I have given a couple away). So far they have been to local people. I don't think I hatch enough to sell outside the state and to get health certificates for.

"You are breeding tortoises,..."
What I do is take care of my pet tortoises. When I bought my first hatchling, my intent was not to 'raise it up, get eggs and make money'. Back then (9 years ago), they did not temp sex them or scope them like they do now. I had a cute hatchling named "Dudley" and she turned out to be a girl.

I guess to make this short...whether I get eggs or not, they are my tortoises until I die. If something were to happen to one of my (2.1) adults, I would not just buy another adult so I would continue to get eggs.

 

[Yvonne G]

Please don't let's turn this into another thread about not breeding sulcatas. The OP just said that he hasn't seen any pictures of babies hatching out of eggs. And he showed us some of his babies. What he does or doesn't do with the babies is his own business. And its not up to us to condone or condemn. Let's all just accept this member as a new part of our forum family and learn from him what he has to teach us. Be kind.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

OK, I am going to be helpful here. I had to use my thesaurus as a cheat sheet though.

Charming, enchanting, bewitching, entrancing, captivating, cute, fascinating, delightful, lovable, sweet, winning, irresistible, appealing...and the list goes on, but that is all I am willing to share because I need to keep some to myself for later use to describe these infatuating little hatchlings!

As I've said before, I'd be scared to handle them as they are so tiny and fragile-looking!

Question: how long does it take one of these munchkins from pip to pet? Do you ever have to "help" them shed their shells?

 

[kbaker]

Question: how long does it take one of these munchkins from pip to pet? Do you ever have to "help" them shed their shells?

It varies from hatchling to hatchling, but in general:

First day they pip.


By the end of the second day, they stick an arm out and spin around in the shell. This basically breaks the egg shell in half.



I then transfer them to the nursery which is a container I keep inside the incubator.

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They stay in the nursery until their yolk sac is absorbed. This usually can take 2 -3 days, but if it is large, a few days longer.



It will take another 2-3 days (sometimes longer) for them to start nibling on greens. By day 15, they should be eating, pooping and growing. At this point is when they can be considered for a home.


To answer your other question:
No, I don't have to help them with the egg shell. They do a pretty good job all by themselves.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Wow, what a great photo essay! You must be amazed by the miracle of life every time you see it.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Holy crap! I asked what he was doing with his hatchlings, because I was interested in what part of the country he was in and how he was getting rid of what he was hatching. Are we not allowed to ask questions? I even explained to him why I was asking. I told him I had no hidden agenda, I told him about rescues on the West Coast and I just wanted to know. That's all. I was interested. But I guess there's a rule against asking questions because the word Sulcata was in there. Maybe it's not fair to jump on a newbie who's breeding Sulcata (even before anyone has jumped on him), but it is also not fair to jump on me before I said anymore. You assumed I was going to jump on him, you assumed even tho I had just said I had no hidden agenda I just wanted to know. The LEAST you could have done was waited to see if I was going to say anymore...but instead you jumped on me. Thanks a whole lot.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yipes!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I have spent years believing that Sulcata were like feral cats, over bred and filling up the rescues, but by asking questions and talking to people like this I have found that they are not over bred every where and some regions of the country are wanting Sulcata. But if I never asked anyone or talked to anyone about it, I would never know that...
One can only learn by asking...

 

[miss_kristyn]

KBAKER... WOW that is very impressive!!! I have no idea how much it takes to hatch eggs... I am glad for your diary of what you did!!! And what happens in the process of an egg hatching! You make me very confident you are great keeper of your tortoise eggs! They are amazing!!!! WONDERFUL JOB!!! And I love your quote... so now may all "your" hatchlings find GREAT homes

 

[kbaker]

Here is an Update...

Happy is no longer Happy. His new name is Charles. His new keeper came by Sunday to meet him and should be taking him home next Sunday.

The hatchling with the irregular/split scutes has a name now. It's Liberty (as in the Liberty Bell).

I had another tortoise start hatching on Saturday. See the pictures.

Here is a question to anyone who might have a clue...
Liberty came out with bad scutes and a ding in his shell. Also, on his left hand two fingers are fused together. He seems to be eating and growing fine. I assumed my incubator was set too high or was getting warmer than I thought, so I turned it down a couple of degrees.

The new hatchling was from the same clutch and incubated in the same container. Why is his scutes fine?? He is perfect except for a flat spot on the side of his shell. I assumed that if I did incubate too high that I would have some degree of scute issues. Why such extremes between the two hatchlings?

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more...

 

[Meg90]

Can you post more pics of Liberty? The "dent" I thought, was just from being folded up in her egg--hasn't she smoothed out at all?

 

[kbaker]

Can you post more pics of Liberty? The "dent" I thought, was just from being folded up in her egg--hasn't she smoothed out at all?

I will either have to delete some pictures or find a hosted site because I am at my limit for pictures on the forum.

From my experience, once they hatch they are what they are and they don't fill out. And remember, they are folded with their bottom folded in.