Successful breeding of Cuora (Pyxidea) mouhotii

Sterant

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Just a thought for you...

I have found that betadine is best used once to try to really kill the infection after you have cleaned out any active rot best as possible. Any subsequent treatments of betadine actually will also damage the good tissue and retards healing. I get best results with an initial treatment of betadine, then keeping a good anti-fungal on after that. I like vet quality silver sulfadiazine cream, but have also had good luck with plain old athlete's foot cream.

Love the turtles and really appreciate your success and dedication to these turtles. Thanks for sharing.
I have found that the trick is to really clean the damaged area very, very well and aggressively. A soft bristle brush doesn't do it. I have used a brass bristle brush to remove the dead material before every treatment. Only after that did i see great results.
 

jonathan gray

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Doesn't that cause more trauma to the initial lesion? Bleeding, etc? How long would you keep the turtle 'bone dry' before returning it to its damp (ish) enclosure?
 

Sterant

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Doesn't that cause more trauma to the initial lesion? Bleeding, etc? How long would you keep the turtle 'bone dry' before returning it to its damp (ish) enclosure?
Well I am referring to shell damage specifically...not skin. The dead layer seems to insulate the injury from the medication so I have always scrubbed it good....but certainly not to the point of bleeding. I keep them dry for the entire treatment term however long that is.....but I’m dealing with radiated tortoises
 

Markw84

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Well I am referring to shell damage specifically...not skin. The dead layer seems to insulate the injury from the medication so I have always scrubbed it good....but certainly not to the point of bleeding. I keep them dry for the entire treatment term however long that is.....but I’m dealing with radiated tortoises
Even with aquatic turtles, I dry dock them for at least a few days, giving them an hour in a shallow soaking pan with food every day, then reapply ointment. This allow the medication to work without washing off, and an environment where I can bump temps to the low 80°s to boost metabolism.

As Dan, I initially work to be sure to get all the infected "rot" out and clean tissue exposed. Depending upon severity, it will on accassion bleed a tiny bit in deeper areas. But you have to get the bad stuff out. Then betadine bath - ONCE, then clean and apply paste.
 

jonathan gray

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Sort of like drilling the decay out of a tooth before filling it; makes perfect sense. I just bought a 'soft' wire bristle brush while I was out today. And Dan, I don't know why I didn't make the connection but I now recall you showing me the places on the radiata's shell, the brush and your description of the process you utilize.
 

Sterant

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Sort of like drilling the decay out of a tooth before filling it; makes perfect sense. I just bought a 'soft' wire bristle brush while I was out today. And Dan, I don't know why I didn't make the connection but I now recall you showing me the places on the radiata's shell, the brush and your description of the process you utilize.
Right - much different than your situation, but likely applicable.
 

jonathan gray

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How do you house your group, @jonathan gray ?
From Late Spring (Late Aprilish) until mid-Autumn (late October, early November), the adults (1.2), are housed outside, together in a pen 3' x 8'. The pen has a wading pool and a hide shelter. It is also heavily planted with ferns, ivy, and any opportunistic weeds that happen to take root and grow. There are also some logs and other things to provide visual barriers and escape areas for the females if the male gets too aggressive. When the temps dip into the 30s I confine them in their shelter at night and provide them with a heat lamp during the day (I have never seen them come anywhere near the heat lamp and have observed them very active and feeding when the temps are in the 40s. In November I bring them inside, separate the male from the females and provide only water and UVB light. Around January I turn on the heat lamps and resume feeding. I also introduce the females to the male in Feb or so for some heavily supervised conjugal visits -the male is EXTREMELY aggressive at these times. The females start to get restless in September so I bring them inside and they nest. They have never, to my knowledge, never nested outside. The enclosure they are in is located in a shaded area of the yard which gets very little direct sunlight.
 

KevinGG

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From Late Spring (Late Aprilish) until mid-Autumn (late October, early November), the adults (1.2), are housed outside, together in a pen 3' x 8'. The pen has a wading pool and a hide shelter. It is also heavily planted with ferns, ivy, and any opportunistic weeds that happen to take root and grow. There are also some logs and other things to provide visual barriers and escape areas for the females if the male gets too aggressive. When the temps dip into the 30s I confine them in their shelter at night and provide them with a heat lamp during the day (I have never seen them come anywhere near the heat lamp and have observed them very active and feeding when the temps are in the 40s. In November I bring them inside, separate the male from the females and provide only water and UVB light. Around January I turn on the heat lamps and resume feeding. I also introduce the females to the male in Feb or so for some heavily supervised conjugal visits -the male is EXTREMELY aggressive at these times. The females start to get restless in September so I bring them inside and they nest. They have never, to my knowledge, never nested outside. The enclosure they are in is located in a shaded area of the yard which gets very little direct sunlight.

Thank you!:)
 

jonathan gray

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A few more pictures to show the babies progress. They are growing like weeds on a diet of earthworms, mealworms and wax worms.I have offered them food I give their parents (the 'meat' items along with fruits and vegetables), but they have been studiously ignored. The baby on the right in the last picture is an interesting story; I noticed some eggshell fragments and thought it was beginning to pip but it didn't look right to me -I didn't see a little nose poking out, only the white inner membrane of the egg. I left it alone for a few hours but when I went back to check there was no change. I very carefully cut an opening in the membrane and really couldn't discern what I was seeing...it certainly wasn't a head. I cut a little more of the membrane away and saw the baby's rear end. I poked it and there was no movement. I chipped a little more of the shell away and not only was the baby in a 'breech' position, it was upside down, the yolk sac was on top. I kept poking hoping for some sign of life but there was none. At that point I figured the baby was DIS so I chipped away until the baby slid out into my hand...and then it moved. I called Dan Sterantino and he suggested I make a little hammock out of cellophane with a bit of moisture for the baby to stay in until the yolk sac was absorbed. It stayed in its hammock for 48 hours until the yolk was gone and then was able to join its clutchmates. Although it is the oldest of the clutch it remains the smallest. The baby next to it is a month and a half younger and has almost caught up to it in size. It is healthy and growing and doing very well but, with all the turtles and tortoises I have hatched I have never, to my knowledge, experienced004.JPG 011.JPG 007.JPG a 'breech birth' before.
 

jonathan gray

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Normally, the parents would be outside by now but our temps have been unseasonably chilly- the trees haven't even begun to bud yet! I hope this weird weather doesn't throw them off their cycle
 

Yvonne G

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This has long been a favorite of mine. Many years ago a three legged male came through my rescue. I treated him just like I do my box turtles, even allowing a brumation during the winter. I eventually adopted him out. He was a beauty.
 

jjaymeza

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Five eggs were deposited here on 8 September 2017 and all five hatched between 22 - 26 December 2017. This is the third clutch in three years from this particular female. Her first clutch of six eggs yielded one successful hatch, the second clutch of five eggs yielded none and the third clutch of five eggs yielded five.View attachment 226187

Wow I’ve never seen that breed before!
 

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