1st Platynota Babies!!!

G-stars

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
Messages
1,889
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom do you have any pictures of the whole enclosure. I’ve been seriously considering getting a few enclosures from them myself. I wouldn’t mind the wait for a quality product which they seem to have.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom do you have any pictures of the whole enclosure. I’ve been seriously considering getting a few enclosures from them myself. I wouldn’t mind the wait for a quality product which they seem to have.
Its hard to get it all in one pic because they are 8 feet long.

IMG_4823.JPG

They are stackable and have a couple of little pins to keep them aligned. They are fully customizable and made to order. They come with a standard 3" little dam, but I asked for a 6" to hold in my thick layer of substrate. They come in white or black and I wanted white for the brightness during the day. You can get hinged or sliding doors. They will install incandescent sockets or florescent fixtures if you want them. Locks of the door are an option… I know there is more that I'm not thinking of…

I wholeheartedly, highly recommend them. Excellent cages. Worth the wait.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
They look absolutely ideal. I had seen a post about them not too long ago, so I did little looking into them, and definitely liked what I saw. That's too bad you have to wait so long. I really like the idea of not having to worry about paint flaking off and wood rotting down the road.

@Shaif is the one who first showed them to me.
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
@Tom Everything is really looking great!!

SInce they are not insulated, how are the AP enclosures at holding heat? How do you feel they would do in winter in an unheated garage or outbuilding?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom Everything is really looking great!!

SInce they are not insulated, how are the AP enclosures at holding heat? How do you feel they would do in winter in an unheated garage or outbuilding?
Even with all the venting they hold heat very well. Better than what I need in a heated reptile room. I think they would work very well and be easy to keep warm in a normal house. In a cold garage I would guess the heater would run a lot more, but I don't think additional insulation would be necessary. There might be a need to close off some of the venting in the case of a cold garage.
 

Dan

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
139
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
The AP cages look really nice, and seem to require less modification to be a good humid chamber than the 72”x36”x18” Vision cage I’m working on. May have to get those next. I’m just now trying out the Pro Heat radiant heat panels to see if I can use those instead of or as a complement to ceramic heat emitters.

Very nice tortoises, parents and babies—and incredible fortune on the number of females, to get back to the subject of the post. :)
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
—and incredible fortune on the number of females, to get back to the subject of the post. :)

Funny you should say that... All the ones I bought were incubated for female, but somehow I ended up with 8 males and only 6 females. I'm very glad to have six females, but I was expecting a ratio skewed the other way. Early on I had plans to buy two more that were incubated for male, but I decided to wait and see what I ended up with first. I wonder what the incubated for male ones would have been, given the ratio of males in my all "temp-sexed-for-female" groups.

I will be curious to see the sex ratios on my hatchlings in the coming years and to learn what other breeders are getting. Solving this mystery will be a very fun project.

I incubate at 87-88 with no night drop. Of the 17 babies from 3 clutches that have hatched so far, not one split scute or an aberrant scute of any kind. I hope my buyers will keep and touch and let me know what the sexes are!
 

G-stars

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
Messages
1,889
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom, I may have some insight as far as temp sexing goes. From my original group of 15, I received 5 temp sexed males and 10 temp sexed females. I can tell you that the 5 temp sexed males all started flashing at the 300-400 gram mark, while the temp sexed females didn’t start flashing until they got larger.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom, I may have some insight as far as temp sexing goes. From my original group of 15, I received 5 temp sexed males and 10 temp sexed females. I can tell you that the 5 temp sexed males all started flashing at the 300-400 gram mark, while the temp sexed females didn’t start flashing until they got larger.
That is interesting. It seems you are surmising that warmer incubation temps led to reaching sexual maturity at a larger size, even though both groups turned out all male?

None of my males ever flashed at all while maturing, that I saw. In fact, I just saw my first flash out of one of them two days ago.
 

Dan

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
139
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
I got one in three TSFs that turned out female. I had one TSF that flashed eagerly at around 400g onwards and the other male (also TSF) is a lot less macho and has only done it a handful of times. My newest male has only flashed half-heartedly, if at all, but I’ve only had him a bit over a week. It is unfortunately a common sight with this species from what I’ve witnessed
 

G-stars

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
Messages
1,889
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
That is interesting. It seems you are surmising that warmer incubation temps led to reaching sexual maturity at a larger size, even though both groups turned out all male?

None of my males ever flashed at all while maturing, that I saw. In fact, I just saw my first flash out of one of them two days ago.


That’s exactly what I’m getting at, I can’t prove it obviously because I have no idea what temps they were actually incubated at just what I was told. But going off what I know, yes the “tsm”s were sexually mature at a smaller size and even developed male traits earlier (concaviity under shell, longer tails, flashing, etc.) than the “tsf”s.

I still have one ”tsf” that is a 1000g male, that has all female characteristics. The tail has just started to grow recently.

I saw most of my 15 flash around the 300-500g and approximately around one year old.

I want to experiment with some clutches from my group, incubate then at 82, 84, 86 and 88. Then grow them up for a year or two to see what ratios I get and also if there is a difference in sexual maturity between the males that do turn out to be males and/or females.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I got one in three TSFs that turned out female. I had one TSF that flashed eagerly at around 400g onwards and the other male (also TSF) is a lot less macho and has only done it a handful of times. My newest male has only flashed half-heartedly, if at all, but I’ve only had him a bit over a week. It is unfortunately a common sight with this species from what I’ve witnessed
I'm not following. What is unfortunate? That they flash a lot or that they don't flash a lot?

Personally, I don't care if they flash or not, as long as they get the job done when its time to breed.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I want to experiment with some clutches from my group, incubate then at 82, 84, 86 and 88. Then grow them up for a year or two to see what ratios I get and also if there is a difference in sexual maturity between the males that do turn out to be males and/or females.

That is a worthwhile experiment that I will eagerly follow!
 

Ray--Opo

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 14, 2017
Messages
7,018
Location (City and/or State)
Palm Bay Fl
Congrats Tom,Beautiful torts! Love the look of that species. Makes me want to expand but I am still learning with my yr. old sully.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom

Dan

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
139
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
I'm not following. What is unfortunate? That they flash a lot or that they don't flash a lot?

Personally, I don't care if they flash or not, as long as they get the job done when its time to breed.

I understand that it’s normal healthy behavior and necessary for eventual breeding. It’s simply that some males seem to make a sport of flashing, and it grows a bit gratuitous at times.
 

Cwilder

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2016
Messages
10
Really outstanding, I really like the pics with all the hatchlings.
 

New Posts

Top