Shock of my life

MPRC

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Your time will come.:D

We are at EIGHT tortoises all together right now, but so far incubated eggs have been duds (about 30 eggs so far). I have 2 females who lay, one who is too small still and 1 who is new to us and has avoided the boys so far. I have been trading the eggs to a friend who has a pet store, she gives me feeders for the bearded dragon and if something hatches I just want to be able to play with it and love and squeeze it until it's time to sell it off.
 

Yvonne G

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So at the moment I have 17 babies in a 3ft viv. Not good. My 3x6ft viv should be here within next couple of days.
How interesting that they're all hatching at the same time. I don't s'pose you have any idea if the girls laid the eggs at the same time too?
 

Anyfoot

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How interesting that they're all hatching at the same time. I don't s'pose you have any idea if the girls laid the eggs at the same time too?
Obviously there’s a chance I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure there was 4 clutches from 3 females including the 7 eggs I dug up whilst retrieving some babies. (4 of those are hatching now, 2 others will hatch and there’s that 1 you know about that pipped then stopped). So up to now 22 babies from 4 clutches all hatched within 5 weeks of each other.
Everyday I dread going in for fear of more babies. It’s crazy. I’ve dug 3 next up within the last wk that I saw being laid.
Its like that scene from the film ‘The Mummy’ where all those beetles come crawling out from everywhere. But it’s redfoots:eek:

In all seriousness though, I’ve got to keep a closer eye on them laying so I can retrieve the nests to stop them developing. I’m not comfortable with selling them to most homes, because of fear they won’t be cared for correctly. I’ve turned quite a few potential homes down already. So other than for my own curiosity, no point breeding.
 

T Smart

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Obviously there’s a chance I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure there was 4 clutches from 3 females including the 7 eggs I dug up whilst retrieving some babies. (4 of those are hatching now, 2 others will hatch and there’s that 1 you know about that pipped then stopped). So up to now 22 babies from 4 clutches all hatched within 5 weeks of each other.
Everyday I dread going in for fear of more babies. It’s crazy. I’ve dug 3 next up within the last wk that I saw being laid.
Its like that scene from the film ‘The Mummy’ where all those beetles come crawling out from everywhere. But it’s redfoots:eek:

In all seriousness though, I’ve got to keep a closer eye on them laying so I can retrieve the nests to stop them developing. I’m not comfortable with selling them to most homes, because of fear they won’t be cared for correctly. I’ve turned quite a few potential homes down already. So other than for my own curiosity, no point breeding.

Or...... just build another Redfoot "Mansion" [emoji5]
 

Anyfoot

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Well, it’s been 8 weeks since the first one was found. I’ve only just realised one of them only has 11 scutes (doh). It’s perfectly symmetrical. Always thought the back end of the carapace was a different shape but just didn’t notice the lack of scute. :oops:

F9CDC38E-ECDA-42D6-93D3-C113C77F20F7.jpeg 6BEC0E87-E0AD-40B2-B331-9EF07E87B785.jpeg
 

Anyfoot

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The first 5 babies I found were found dry and around 35g. Where I found them there was no access too food. They could have eaten adult poop or topsoil I suppose. I’m making the assumption they grew to that size(normal size is around 21grams when hatched) just from absorbing the eggsack.
Take a look at this photo of the first 5 with 1 of the other 19 babies. It’s obvious which are the first 5 I found dry that had no food intake.
F50324B3-71AE-4118-ABD2-C981E7C6446F.jpeg
 

Anyfoot

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The first 5 babies I found were found dry and around 35g. Where I found them there was no access too food. They could have eaten adult poop or topsoil I suppose. I’m making the assumption they grew to that size(normal size is around 21grams when hatched) just from absorbing the eggsack.
Take a look at this photo of the first 5 with 1 of the other 19 babies. It’s obvious which are the first 5 I found dry that had no food intake.
View attachment 256591
Is it this @Yvonne G ?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Here the ground gets VERY hard packed outside due to the heavy rain and the generally fine, sandy soil.
What is your substrate like?
How deep are the eggs usually?
I imagine that for mine it must be like trying to tunnel out of cement.
I find them no deeper than 4" down.
If I ever start having eggs again I might need to turn up the first foot or two of earth and add in more mulch or something.
 

Lyn W

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I've only just seen this thread, it's amazing!
Belated congratulations Craig!!
I hope all the new arrivals are doing still well.
 

Anyfoot

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Here the ground gets VERY hard packed outside due to the heavy rain and the generally fine, sandy soil.
What is your substrate like?
How deep are the eggs usually?
I imagine that for mine it must be like trying to tunnel out of cement.
I find them no deeper than 4" down.
If I ever start having eggs again I might need to turn up the first foot or two of earth and add in more mulch or something.
It’s top soil and also gets pact down with the adults walking over it constantly. The nests are about 6” deep. Must be hard work for the babies to rise to the surface.
 

Anyfoot

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I've only just seen this thread, it's amazing!
Belated congratulations Craig!!
I hope all the new arrivals are doing still well.
Hi Lyn.
I’ve had an absolute nightmare with these babies.
I’ve lost 10 of them now. I have some sort of virus going around. Had 1 euthanised for a post mortam which came back inconclusive.
I have 2 of them separated from the other 12 at the moment because they were showing sign of abnormality. Fingers crossed I’ve seen the back of it now but not holding my breath.
 
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Lyn W

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Hi Lyn.
I’ve had an absolute nightmare with these babies.
I’ve lost 10 of them now. I have some sort of virus going around. Had 1 euthanized for a post mortam which came back inconclusive.
I have 2 of them separated from the other 12 at the moment because they were showing sign of abnormality. Fingers crossed I’ve seen the back of it now but not holding my breath.
Aw - Sorry to hear that Craig, you've certainly had your hands full.
It's a very steep and often harsh learning curve.
Hope the others do better.
 
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