Mixed Feelings

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Jacqui

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Decided that things have been too quiet in this section for too long, so....

I decided to tell you guys that I am kicking my butt, because I failed to listen to my inner voice. I had been home and was cleaning out all my pens, when Jeff (my husband) stopped by to tempt me with a trip to California. Catch was, I had to leave immediately.

I had just been stirring round in the Bells enclosure looking for eggs and thinking I needed to add even more substrate, so females could nest. I had no reason to be thinking eggs. The females were both eating and acting normal, but still I was thinking eggs. I decided on the truck driving and didn't get to do the Bells' enclosure. :(

Got the call two days later from my son...

Yep you guessed it. My Bells laid eggs on top of the substrate and of the three eggs, two were broken when he found them. So bad news is, I lost two eggs, but hey... I GOT A BELL'S EGG IN THE INCUBATOR...*doing a happy dance*
 

Kristina

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SWEET! I for one am interested in how things go... I am hoping to have Serrated eggs in the not too distant future :)

Kristina
 

Millerlite

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Well its not totally bad news, Sometimes we make choices, but good thing is you can save one, IS it the first time they laid?
 

egyptiandan

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Thats great news Jacqui :D Hopefully it's fertile.

Danny
 

Jacqui

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Millerlite said:
Well its not totally bad news, Sometimes we make choices, but good thing is you can save one, IS it the first time they laid?

The male fathered several clutches with a different female, that we hatched out several years back.

This female was a rescue, who laid three unfertilized eggs shortly after we had gotten her. She laid them also on the surface of the substrate.
 

Yvonne G

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I understand that the "call of the ride" is quite strong. No one can fault you for taking a road trip! Good news about being able to at least save one of the eggs.

Yvonne
 

Jacqui

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egyptiandan said:
Thats great news Jacqui :D Hopefully it's fertile.

Danny

If not, it's not due to the lack of trying by Dong (the male). At least with having found him females, he has given up trying to breed his log hide. ;)

Still need to find females for the other two males I have been lucky enough to get.

kyryah said:
SWEET! I for one am interested in how things go... I am hoping to have Serrated eggs in the not too distant future :)

Kristina

Any luck finding a female yet?
 

Kristina

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No, I am still hoping to find a second female, so I will have to make due :)

I have decide to concentrate my breeding efforts on Hingebacks only, so we will see what the future brings!

Kristina
 

Jacqui

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kyryah said:
No, I am still hoping to find a second female, so I will have to make due :)

I have decide to concentrate my breeding efforts on Hingebacks only, so we will see what the future brings!

Kristina

All the hingebacks or just the erosa?
 

Kristina

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I think all. I want to start with the erosa, and go from there to homeana, because they are so similar. Hopefully I can eventually expand to the belliana ssp. and natalensis IF I can get my hands on some of them :)

Kristina
 

egyptiandan

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Not likely to ever find any K.natalensis Kristina. I haven't heard of any coming in the country. K.spekii is a more likely find. :D

Danny
 

jlyoncc1

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Congrats Jacqui! Glad you got to save one. Keep us posted!
 

Kristina

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egyptiandan said:
Not likely to ever find any K.natalensis Kristina. I haven't heard of any coming in the country. K.spekii is a more likely find. :D

Danny

Yeah, I know, but one can always hope, lol.

I see mainly homeana and spekii offered for sale, and I might even buy a 1.2 group of homeana in the relatively near future, but I want to get everything settled with the erosa first.

Kristina
 

Jacqui

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kyryah said:
egyptiandan said:
Not likely to ever find any K.natalensis Kristina. I haven't heard of any coming in the country. K.spekii is a more likely find. :D

Danny

Yeah, I know, but one can always hope, lol.

I see mainly homeana and spekii offered for sale, and I might even buy a 1.2 group of homeana in the relatively near future, but I want to get everything settled with the erosa first.

Kristina

The others come on every so often from people giving up their long term captive odds and ends. Plus a few youngsters are available at times. Our numbers are small, but there are a few of us trying to get these guys more plentiful. Sad thing is that most adults torts in this country are isolated singles and will never get the chance to reproduce.

...and yes never give up hope on finding one...and keep a stash of cash ready because once you find them, you have to be ready to buy as they get snatched quickly usually.

...but if you do change your mind about keeping hinges, be sure to let me know. I am always interested in more. :cool:
 

Kristina

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That is the reason that I switched my interest from Russians to the Hingebacks... I feel it would actually be a beneficial breeding project, and anything I can do to slow importation and raise awareness, I am up for it.

The K. erosa have to go back where I am getting them from if I ever decide that I know longer want them, but if I do go ahead and get the others, I will keep you in mind ;) I have a lump of cash burning a hole in my pocket, thanks to getting a great tax return this year, and I am not sure if I am going to spend it on torts and supplies, or on supplies only :)

My biggest fear are the risks of buying WC. I am, of course, intelligent enough to implement a LONG quarantine period and have vet check ups done, but still... It will be very hard on me if I lose one. The group I am getting already are LTC and have been cohabitating for about 2 years, so they don't scare me as badly.

I should be picking the K. erosa (reverse trio) up this weekend, and I am about beside myself, lol. I still wish I could find a second female...

Kristina
 

Jacqui

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I know I probably think different about this then most folks (what's new about that right? :D), but I think if you wanted to have a bigger impact on importation that breeding Russians would have a higher impact. More folks want Russians then what is normally looked upon as a harder to keep hingeback. Russians just have the higher supply demand, which is a major factor in importation.

Any tortoise or turtle bred in captivity however helps lower the chance of one needing to be taken from the wild. Of course, being taken from the wild and placed in a good captive home may actually keep the tortoise alive. If not being sold for pets or breeders, the same tort may end up being put into the stew pot or just die due to habitat loss.:cool: That's just my thought and one we have a nice debate thread on. :)

...and no, not trying to talk you out of hingebacks, if that is how this is coming off.:rolleyes: We need folks actively trying to get these guys going.
 

cdmay

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Did you say these are belliana belliana? I love hingebacks but can never find captive hatched ones for sale. At least not at reasonable prices. Well established w/c adults are also pretty rare it seems.
I am hoping that some of these speckii that came in the past couple of years well get bred by somebody.
 

egyptiandan

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I think Jacqui's are K.b.nogueyi (now K.nogueyi) Carl. I haven't seen any K.b.belliana for sale in quite a while. There are a few people breeding K.nogueyi and I've seen hatchlings for under $200 this past year.
Robert & Trish who sell on kingsnake and turtletimes have bred K.spekii. Tim & Robin on the forum here bought 2 of their hatchlings. There are pictures of them on the forum.

Danny
 
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