Manouria emys Incubation

[Tom]

I called a friend who is a successful Manouria breeder to ask about incubating them. He said they need very high humidity, but also enough oxygen. Years ago, when he got his first clutch he talked to a keeper at the Honolulu Zoo (he thinks) who had already successfully bred them. The trick is to keep them very humid. They got it super humid by closing off all the vent openings and keeping it very wet. Regular spraying and damp media helped. Most of the eggs were developing well and all was going great, then far into term, most of the well developed embryos died when almost fully formed. They figured that as the embryos got larger their oxygen needs increased, they must have suffocated due to the closed off vent holes. Here are his suggestions:
1. Use a shoe box with a few vent holes.
2. 1.5 : 1, by weight, water to vermiculite. I use 1 : 1 for my sulcatas.
3. Open up the boxes and spray as needed.
4. Spread out the eggs. Fewer eggs per container. More containers. This will help with their oxygen needs.
5. Bury the eggs a bit deeper in the media. About 3/4.
6. Incubate them at 84-86.

 

[wildak]

The winters in Alaska are very very dry when it gets cold outside. A 75 gallon fish tank needs at least 5-10 gallons of water added a week if you have a wood stove in the house as well.

You would'nt think a glass door fridge would allow the moisture to escape since I only open it twice a week to change the air but it's so dry it must just suck the moisture through the seal.

I was going to hook up a Zoo Med fogger with a good humidistat up to my refriderator incubator. I would have to cover the eggs with moss and maybe a lid with holes so water does'nt drip on the eggs. I think an added benifit to a fogger on the outside with the hose running in would be oxygen being pumped in like crazy. Plus if you clean and disifect your incubater and use distilled water in the fogger you would have less issues with mold I would think.
I was also thinking of adding a small exhaust fan (like those 3" ones that sit above aquariums) on a timer to exchange the air for 10 seconds a day. Cut a hole in one side of the fridge to mount the fan to blow out and put a flap over the outside to keep the heat in when the fan is off. On the other side cut a small hole, put a flap on the inside and an air filter on the outside.

I have a second fridge for a back up I can experiment with. I don't know if the fogger with the humidistat will just keep cycling since it's a small space or if I can find a humidistat that has a run timer after it kicks on. I think Spyder Electronics makes a good one.

I will start a thread with pics when I start it.

 

[Tom]

That all sounds like a reasonable plan to me.

 

[harris]

You are successfully breeding Manouria emys in Alaska?? Outstanding! Oh you better believe I'll be looking out for your posts!

 

[Tom]

Yeah I wanna see pics of his enclosures and tortoises and stuff too...

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Great post Tom!

 

[Jacqui]

Yeah I wanna see pics of his enclosures and tortoises and stuff too...

Me too! Me too!!

 

[harris]

I love this thread! Tom, thanks for starting it. Wildak, thanks for expanding. And hopefully updating! Where the heck is Yvonne? My group is 5 to 7 yrs old, which is far too young yet. I want to be prepared for every little thing when we get there. Most fascinating, unique species I've ever had the humbling pleasure to work with.

 

[Tom]

Yeah, where is Yvonne? She's the reason for the whole thread...

 

[wildak]

I actually have 3.4 Manouria Impressa and no eggs yet hopefully next year.

I have redfoots, Sri Lankan Stars and aquatics that I use the incubator for so far.

I just bought a new house so everyone is in large waterland tubs right now until I finish the basement. Large out-building reptile house next year.

I will get some new pics soon.

 

[tortoises101]

Extremely helpful thread. I'm also looking forward to wildak's pics!

 

[Jacqui]

I actually have 3.4 Manouria Impressa and no eggs yet hopefully next year.

I have redfoots, Sri Lankan Stars and aquatics that I use the incubator for so far.

I just bought a new house so everyone is in large waterland tubs right now until I finish the basement. Large out-building reptile house next year.

I will get some new pics soon.

Have any pictures from the old place?

 

[tortadise]

The winters in Alaska are very very dry when it gets cold outside. A 75 gallon fish tank needs at least 5-10 gallons of water added a week if you have a wood stove in the house as well.

You would'nt think a glass door fridge would allow the moisture to escape since I only open it twice a week to change the air but it's so dry it must just suck the moisture through the seal.

I was going to hook up a Zoo Med fogger with a good humidistat up to my refriderator incubator. I would have to cover the eggs with moss and maybe a lid with holes so water does'nt drip on the eggs. I think an added benifit to a fogger on the outside with the hose running in would be oxygen being pumped in like crazy. Plus if you clean and disifect your incubater and use distilled water in the fogger you would have less issues with mold I would think.
I was also thinking of adding a small exhaust fan (like those 3" ones that sit above aquariums) on a timer to exchange the air for 10 seconds a day. Cut a hole in one side of the fridge to mount the fan to blow out and put a flap over the outside to keep the heat in when the fan is off. On the other side cut a small hole, put a flap on the inside and an air filter on the outside.

I have a second fridge for a back up I can experiment with. I don't know if the fogger with the humidistat will just keep cycling since it's a small space or if I can find a humidistat that has a run timer after it kicks on. I think Spyder Electronics makes a good one.

I will start a thread with pics when I start it.

I am curious if you tried this method yet? I utilized a fogger for some manouria emys emys eggs this year. It did indeed keep it very humid. Its what I was trying to achieve. I had to manipulate the fogging sessions a little though. However it was a little too humid, and the condensation overwhelmed some of the eggs. Luckily those eggs that received the condensation drip were not fertile and disposed of. I am learning more and more about these guys with incubation methods. I have tried 6 different methods so far over the past 2 years of getting eggs. I used egg cartons this year for some of the eggs. That didn't work well because the humidity was so high it pooled water below the egg in the carton and the egg absorbed it.

I think with the next years method A complete bury of the egg is order. I have been talking with some crocodilian breeders(since manouria eggs are very soft shelled and similar to crococillians) and received some decent information that should hopefully achieve a higher hatch rate.

But I am curious if you have tried this method yet and gotten any good results.