Friday Surprise! (and an introduction)

[ben awes]

Hey all. My name is Ben Awes and I am a small breeder of P. Pardalis Leopards up here in icy Minnesota! I call myself Chubs Leopards. I am relatively new to TF and I though I would introduce myself. I have been raising my leopards for 10 years and am just into my fourth year of hatching babies from my breeding pair. My female is 10 years old, 30 pounds, my male 7 and 23 pounds. My female lays all her eggs indoors. I got my female from Jeff Price back in '03, and my male from Richard Fife. I only hatch 7-13 eggs a year at this point, but I love each and every one!

Just for fun I thought I would share what happened this morning. I finally decided to go and dispose of most of the unhatched eggs from last year. I am very reluctant to throw eggs away, but they do go bad! My last hatch was nearly 3 months ago and so I was pretty convinced that I was done for the year. Typically I check the incubator every day, but I've been a little slack since I have had no activity in the past 3 months. I opened the incubator this morning and KABAM - one last little guy sitting there in the middle. I have no idea when he hatched! His yoke sac was pretty fully absorbed, so he could have been there for a couple/few days! (hopefully not longer!) Anyway, he/she seems healthy, active - all good. BUT - check her out! Really unique pattern, very small dots, very pale color. Never had one like her before. I'm pretty excited about her. Would love to hear from you.

Thanks All,
Ben

 

[wellington]

Wow, she is pretty. Hope she is okay seeing she has gone u noticed for some time. Just incase you haven't heard about it already, please check out the hot and humid way to raise healthy, smooth leopards. It's good reading and is below in my post. Toms threads and the Sullie threads also apply to leopards.
BTW, are you going to keep this little one and see how she colors out with age?

 

[oknursedana]

Super cute!

 

[ben awes]

Wow, she is pretty. Hope she is okay seeing she has gone u noticed for some time. Just incase you haven't heard about it already, please check out the hot and humid way to raise healthy, smooth leopards. It's good reading and is below in my post. Toms threads and the Sullie threads also apply to leopards.
BTW, are you going to keep this little one and see how she colors out with age?

Hi ? (wellington). Thanks for your comments. She is pretty ain't she! I do raise my hatchlings with humidity. My adults were raised before humidity was so popular, but they are healthy and happy. I will not keep her, though I would be excited to see how she colors out. I was thinking of offering her on a pre-sale if someone is interested, but I have never seen that done. I would not be able to ship her for a couple months.

Ben

 

[Jacqui]

She is a beauty! That's my kind of Friday surprise!

 

[VladimirPDX]

Wow!!!! Beautiful!!!

 

[Irwin4530]

Lovely!

 

[nate.mann]

isnt that something..he/she deserves a special name for that. i would LOVE to take this beauty in if i could, but my remaining room for a tortoise is being filled today or tomorrow with a rescue leopard. i wouldnt worry too much about what people say to you, youve been keeping them for 10 years and obviously have been successful, so keep at it. haha.


Chive On!

 

[mikeh]

Hi Ben,
Nice to see you here. She is a beauty...hm...tempting.

Remember this guy (split scutes)? He is doing great, his shell is still getting rounder, been outside most of the time since I got him from you. Hasn't grown all that much as mostly he gets is what he finds in his pen, weeds, clover, readily grazes on grass at 4months. But new growth is very even with nice shell to body proportions.

I highly recommend Ben to anyone who is looking to get one of these beauties.

Mike




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[yagyujubei]

Very nice. If I wanted to raise more babies, I'd want this one.

 

[Neal]

Keep us updated as she grows!

 

[ShellyTurtlesCats]

Wow. Love her/him.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Wow. Very pretty.

Sent from my TFOapp

 

[ben awes]

Hi Ben,
Nice to see you here. She is a beauty...hm...tempting.

Remember this guy (split scutes)? He is doing great, his shell is still getting rounder, been outside most of the time since I got him from you. Hasn't grown all that much as mostly he gets is what he finds in his pen, weeds, clover, readily grazes on grass at 4months. But new growth is very even with nice shell to body proportions.

I highly recommend Ben to anyone who is looking to get one of these beauties.

Mike

Mike!, great photos. I think you guy looks fantastic. I personally LOVE the all the black on the shell. Keep up the good work and keep in touch. I looks to me like he has grown quite a bit.

Ben




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[GeoGpp1012]

Gorgeous Ben I just pmed you def interested

 

[skottip]

I actually remember when you got your first "surprise" egg way back when.
I am glad you are having great success with them!.
I just hatched my last Platynota of the year. Same thing. Over 2 months after the last one hatched. I don't throw out my eggs unto they stink or sometimes even blow up. lol
You never know.

 

[Sh3wulf]

Absolutely beautiful. Hope that whomever is lucky enough to end up with him/her, they keep us posted on growth and looks.
Thanks for sharing and very interesting to hear that just cause the clutch is laid in a day doesn't mean they hatch at the same time.

 

[james1974]

That's a beautiful baby tortoise.Congrats!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Carol S]

What a nice suprise you had. He/she sure is a pretty one with unusual markings.

 

[DevilsLettuce]

She's gorgeous