Sri Lank stars

[Tom C]

Nothing like old Grigus line Sri Lanks

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

@Tom C Could you fill us in on "Grigus Line" star tortoises? These have that you have shown an image of are really great looking stars. They are mosty all beautiful, but these are more so.

 

[wellington]

I'd like to know too please.

 

[G-stars]

They look awesome. Any more info? How large are they?

 

[Tom C]

John Grigus brought in 28 Sri Lanks from the national zoo of Sri Lanka ~1982 (if I remember right). These were two of the F1's I had. Some Sri Lankans have trickled in since but of all the ones I've reared up the descendants of the Grigus animals were always more stunning. The best news is that I recently talked to John and he's back into torts again

 

[kingsley]

HI all , John is a good friend of mine , and only 2 animals were imported from the national zoo in colombo. I have some of his animals ,including a F1 female, Here she is !!! They are very high yellow. Bill Zovikian also had some very high yellow animals. Here are some of mine., I am on my 4th generation now. This is basically selective breeding, and I have been at it for almost 40 years. The hatchling is an exception , I get only a few a year!!

 

[kingsley]

I like to correctly state that the two star tortoises were exported from the colombo zoo March of 1994 to Mr Greigus. Prior to which stars were regularly imported to the US from Sri Lanka,for the pet trade on many occasions dating back to the 70s.

 

[Tom C]

that's interesting cuz' I recently talked to john and he said he pulled in 28 animals in the original shipment and kept 14. another group of 14 was sent down to a friend in florida. I have this photo dated way back when from another source which seems to concur with this story. some people whom you mentioned has lines directly descended back to the grigus animals.

 

[Gillian M]

HI all , John is a good friend of mine , and only 2 animals were imported from the national zoo in colombo. I have some of his animals ,including a F1 female, Here she is !!! View attachment 198624View attachment 198626 View attachment 198625 They are very high yellow. Bill Zovikian also had some very high yellow animals. Here are some of mine., I am on my 4th generation now. This is basically selective breeding, and I have been at it for almost 40 years. The hatchling is an exception , I get only a few a year!!View attachment 198626

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Gillian M]

Very cute torts. GOD bless.

 

[Tom C]

here are some recent descendants (F2-F3) of this line from the past year. bottom two on the left will likely have very wide yellow rays as they grow.

 

[Gillian M]

here are some recent descendants (F2-F3) of this line from the past year. bottom two on the left will likely have very wide yellow rays as they grow.

They're simply adorable!

 

[kingsley]

Nice looking babies Tom,

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

This is an interesting difference in first hand recall of what the importer "Grigus" is thought to have said.

Just a general gripe, not specifically to this thread, these animals, or these people.

"WTF, doesn't anyone keep F'en records"

They are all good looking animals BTW.

 

[Yvonne G]

I just LOVE the look of that adult female. She almost looks leopardy. Not meant as an insult. She's very beautiful.

 

[Tom C]

totally agree about record keeping. last I talked to grigus he said the larger ones found in the southern part of the country is all but extirpated by deforestation and don't think any more will be imported any time soon since there are very few left in the wild. since indians and sri lankans are all but indistinguishable from each other besides some "typical" phenotypic traits, it is imperative that lineage book keeping has to be done. when I restarted on these guys in southern cal, I didn't want to take short cuts so I basically started from scratch from the adult stock I left on the east coast which is traceable back to the picture of 14 I posted above. I did have other pure sri lankan stock back then but they were not as impressive as the descendants of the grigus animals.

 

[kingsley]

I have spent the last 5 years studying the habitats and field data and also collecting DNA along with Dr Anslem De Silva (renowned herp)in Sri Lanka. there is a startling Difference of the animals based on what location they are from. The animals that John Greigus is refering to found on the south western coast are much larger than the NW coast. In 2016 I expanded my field study to the base of the Cloud forest , in the middle of the Island. Dr Desilva mentioned about an very large specimen that was collected by a villager 15 years ago. No photographs !!! I visited the area and the village and talked to the locals and the man who found this specimen, spent two days in the field along with officials from the Sri Lankan Department of wild life, and donated a few pints of blood to the damn Mosquitos!!! Found soms stars , but no giant!!! here are some pics of the trip.

1/ Spectacular Cloud Forest ( six mile hike to the top)
2/ Lush green grass land at the base of the cloud forest and Star habitat
3/ Sri Lankan wild life officers ( law enforcement) documenting a specimen road kill.
4/Dr Anslem De Silva , weight and measures.
5/ SL wild life officer looking for specimens
6/ nest raided by Mongoose , or monitor lizard
7/ Villager questioned about his upcoming hearing for consuming Star Tortoise , and other wild life.
8/ Meeting with the villager (farmer) who found the very large specimen, Claims it was huge!!
9/ exact location where the large specimen was found.

Here I sit at 4.30 am thinking of my next trip !!! 2017 !! Heck yeah Ill leave in june when the Arizona heat gets unbearable, it takes a few months to obtain the permits any ways. I was born in Sri Lanka, and I gravitate towards this enchanting island and its wilds every year. Cheers !!!

 

[kingsley]

Yvonne, that female is a very old boot!! and very special , she is one of two animals that I traded with john Greigus in 1998, I lost the other along with three other females in 2011 to a devastating electrical fire that I hate talking about.

 

[Tom C]

thanks for the field pics! much appreciated. here are some recent F3s that hatched traced back to the original 14 posted above. the two on the top should develop wider yellow rays as they grow. its also sad that sri lanka in itself isn't what it was back in the 90's. alot more commercialized these days and geared towards tourism/foreigners.

 

[kingsley]

Very nice Tom