for those of you with breeding age Manouria

[Yvonne G]

Do you have trouble with two girls wanting to use the same nest spot? If so, how have you dealt with it?

The spot both my girls want to use is like a dog house with an open front. So there is no room inside for two big tortoises. They scrape and push bedding into this dog house, making a mound that almost reaches the ceiling.

Yesterday the biggest girl broke the top board off the fence separating Mep from Mee and "hopped" over into the other side of the rain forest. So I fixed the fence and left her over there. Now hopefully the other female can get with the nesting program without the bigger girl wanting to use the spot.

Will suggested I make a different spot for them (the yard is pretty big), however, this is the spot they want to use. They just do what they want to do and I really doubt I could make them do something else.

 

[Yvonne G]

Whoo-hooo!!! Doing the happy dance!!! Phae, the younger Mep is grunting and pooping out eggs in her nest.

Funny thing about this nesting...

Last time they nested, they worked on the nest (both girls, only individually, with the biggest one first and when she was finished, the younger one) for days. Scraping and pushing material into the nest spot. I never really knew when the eggs were laid. I just had to wait until they left the nest after guarding it for a couple days.

Well, Phae has only been interested in this nest site for a couple of days and now she's laying. Which leads me to think they lay the eggs and THEN they scrape the material into the nest site for days.

Phae has her nose out towards the opening of the nest house, so I'm not able to reach behind her and take the eggs as she lays them. I'll have to wait until she's finished and away from the spot.

 

[tortadise]

Awesome Yvonne. I dont have but the one mature emys. The others arent quite nest building yet. I was going to suggest the same as Will. But sounds like it worked itself out. How awesome. Now hatch those suckers out how many did she lay?

 

[Yvonne G]

She's still working on getting them out. I have to look through a crack in the back of the nest/shed and I could see about 10 so far.

 

[tortadise]

Fantastic. Its an all day adventure when my female lays. Have you ever tried leaving some in the nest before? Maybe if not you could put a turkey thermometer in the nest after its covered and see if it would work in future years.

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, I'll have to remove these because when I put the older girl back in the pen she'll take her turn at nesting in the same spot. I know that when I have dug eggs out in the past, after they were all covered up, the rotting vegetation caused quite a hot temp in the nest, but I never measured it.

 

[Millerlite]

Yay! Great news! Hopefully we see babies soon!

 

[Yvonne G]

There are 15 good eggs and 6 from the very top of the nest that were broken.

 

[Millerlite]

Those are some big eggs. Good luck on the cooking part.

Your other female expected to lay as well?

 

[Yvonne G]

I certainly hope so. She's the one who started nest building first this year, but when she escaped into the next pen I figured she either wanted a new nest site or she just isn't ready yet. So when Phae (the one who laid the eggs) is finished covering and guarding, I'll remove her to the next door pen and put Medea back to see if she'll continue nest building.

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Those are some big eggs.

Yes, they seem bigger than usual. They're bigger than ping pong balls.

 

[Jacqui]

*fingers crossed*

 

[Millerlite]

What type of incubator do you use? I've read some on these guys seems like a tough egg to hatch

 

[Yvonne G]

I have several Little Giants. I've been trying for the past 15 years to hatch Manouria eggs. They turn black and grow mold. I've read this is a common problem with Manouria eggs.

 

[emysbreeder]

I have several Little Giants. I've been trying for the past 15 years to hatch Manouria eggs. They turn black and grow mold. I've read this is a common problem with Manouria eggs.

.....Well, congrads on your eggs! your problems are almost the same as mine most years. But, when you think that everything is falling apart, just remember it could be worse. ....pics my place last week while the phayrei were building nest.....Vic....All are accounted for and one back to building a nest. More later

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More later...Vic

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, they do like to build in the monsoon season, Vic...however, I'm thinking your monsoon was a bit much!!

Did you just have to wait for it to sink in, or were you able to dig trenches and drain it off?

 

[emysbreeder]

Well, they do like to build in the monsoon season, Vic...however, I'm thinking your monsoon was a bit much!!

Did you just have to wait for it to sink in, or were you able to dig trenches and drain it off?

....Well in their natural environment it goes like this when everything in their world goes right. 1 Long hot rainy summer. Then a short slightly dry (by Asian standards) cool season. 2 They search for place with some ellavation BEFORE the Moonsoon season to build the above ground nest. (only tortoise that does) They also look for natural cover like fallin trees and things that make a roof so to speak. The flood here was mostly water rushing like a river streem from somewere else that overflowed. It just didnt all happen by rain but rushing water busting through the border fences with a lot of force. It was much higher than in the pics as for the first few days I was working on stablelising everything and not taking pics. It was 4' high on one side but drained off after about five days. Getting back to your girls I too have had problems with one nest being used by two girls. You have to take them apart but any handling only upsets them even more. It is quite normal for them to adjust the nest after laing the eggs. If one layes the other could/will uncover them while digging to lay theirs. "We are on the thin line bewteen stability and chaos"*vm. I've been able to catch them in the act quite often in the last several years and am starting to think that picking up the eggs as they lay or when still wet can mess them up later. The goo on the eggs as they come out is like a sealer. Its like touching a table top you just put a sealer on to soon. Now you have finger prints on it and you cant un-do the damage. Watch the eggs you touch they will have bad spots on them (black/brown mould) right were you touch them and they will go bad most of the time. I wait untill they dry now but you might see me fanning them with a palm leaf to hurry it up. Once you see the back legs in motion to cover them up you can move the female to the side. At this point they are in a trance and dont know what is going on. this way you retrive some nice clean eggs and none git damaged with the cover up part. In the end its just a "roll of the dice" weather you get babies or not. I love this world I'm in, and i can see you are too! Keep up the gambling, if you just get one to hatch your doing better than Nature. vic

 

[Millerlite]

Man Vic that's a lot of water, it's crazy how the tortoises are just swimming,

But keep us updated on the eggs, interested to see the results.

Isn't there special like cool down and warm up periods in incubation for these tortoises?

 

[emysbreeder]

Man Vic that's a lot of water, it's crazy how the tortoises are just swimming,

But keep us updated on the eggs, interested to see the results.

Isn't there special like cool down and warm up periods in incubation for these tortoises?

.......Yep, every enclosure except one was 100% water covered. One had a big hill and they stayed on it. Most had to go in troffs and dog carriers. Moving Mt.tortoises is a big to them in the best situwations but this was pure emergency mode. I'm pleased to say that one (BIG MAMA) my first and most prolific breeder I got as an adult 25 years ago is back in her normal place and back to nesting in the same place. We added fresh dry leaves and she is backing sweeping them in. Any time now on her. Another very interesting thing I noticed was, even though their sent had been washed away, all three females that were interupted by the flood went back to the same place they were before.....meaning that a "cognative vishional reconazation" occured in their choise for re-building. A "Deja Vu" all over again* y.barra 1952. Part two of your question. No up and down temps.manipulation is needed 84F +/- 2F. 64 days to first pip. Vic

 

[Millerlite]

How are they looking? They all chock up and look good?

 

[emysbreeder]

How are they looking? They all chock up and look good?

.......UP DATE on flooded phayrei nest. YEA ! BIG MAMA has built a new nest in the same spot and layed 55 eggs 65-68 gram eggs. Now normally 55-60 gram eggs come from a clutch of 60+ eggs. When the egg number is lower the eggs will weigh more. A lot more. I call them SUPERCHAMPS when they are over 65 grams. The last time she did this the babies were much bigger than her normal and the babies from the last SUPERCHAMP clutch grew much faster and weighed much more at the one year point. i'm happy with 250 grams at one year but the last ones from big eggs weighed 350 to 475 grams at one year. She was an adult from the wild 25 years ago but is just now in the prime of her breeding life. But then again I shouldnt be talking about babies until the little faces are stairing back at me. Another huge phayrei has started back to nesting (the one in the pic flooting in a cornner over her nest). I'll let you know as she is a big egg count kind of gal with high hatch rates. I cant believe I'm making it through this whole flood thing so far. A few more girls are still quite stressed as there was nothing left of their nest. Just another day in mudville see ya Vic...emysbreeder.