Recent content by Cmv

So my job opened back up and I’ve been crazy busy so I apologize for being absent, but as of today I have 13 fertile eggs sitting in the incubator. All of my girls have laid 2 clutches now. I’m soooo happy with the success I’ve had this breeding season. I’ve also added a breeding pair of ornates...

Absolutely! My hatchlings from last year are sold now, but the first eggs of this season are due to hatch towards the end of this month or early July. I like to head start my babies for 2 or 3 months before I’m comfortable shipping them so by this fall I’ll have some available.

Good news, all nests have been located and now one of my girls are preparing to lay again! With the eggs that have been laid, I had 7 total and only one was infertile. The rest have developing blood vessels and visible embryos when I candle them.

I take weights weekly and when I see a sudden spike in weight, I start feeling behind the legs for eggs. I don’t like eggs incubating naturally here because we have tons of ants and the spots where they like to lay are also spots they like to dig around during the hot summer days.

Fortunately two out of my three girls have laid now, but one of them laid without me knowing where the nest is. I’ll need to keep an eye out for babies here in a couple months or so. One was gravid for less than a week and the other was holding eggs for 3 weeks. The last one that still hasn’t...

You’ll be fine in SF. Box turtles are native to areas that get much colder. I live near Sacramento and mine are outdoors year round as well.

I’ve been keeping box turtles for over a decade but just started breeding since last year. Last year one of my girls was gravid for a week before she laid her eggs. This year she’s gravid along with 2 of my other girls, but they’ve been holding eggs for over two weeks now. They still act normal...

I’ve never heard of a solarium, but does your tortoise have direct access to sunshine or is it exactly like a greenhouse where light and heat is let in, but no direct sun rays?

I’ve had the same experience with several incubators. I prefer the ones that allow you to calibrate the thermostat thermometer, but I eventually made my own that can stay within 1 degree F for temp sexing.

So there’s a few things you should know. Box turtles can lay eggs with or without a male, but without a male they will not be fertile, meaning they’re duds. But on the other hand, box turtles can retain sperm for up to four years so even if they haven’t been with a male while they have been in...

Not a tort keeper but I have a small group of box turtles. I hatched some babies last August and took a family pic with them and the mom today.

Sounds good, I’ll pick some up today. Thank you!

I took this lovely lady in recently and unfortunately she didn’t have the best life in the past. She was extremely underweight and had a vitamin A deficiency. Fortunately I got the vitamin deficiency fixed up and she’s gaining weight (about 5-10g every couple weeks). However, she has these...

I feed cucumbers, squash, strawberries, leafy greens (mustard, collard, etc) dandelion flower heads, roses (just the bloomed flower, no leaves or stems) cilantro, carrots, superworms, hornworms, dubias (I have to tong feed the dubias to the turtles since they run everywhere), and earthworms. I...

I have tomatoes, a grave vine, strawberries, cucumbers, and soon I’ll have summer squash planted. It goes to the turtles but of course I might end up eating some of what I harvest ?