New Baby Rads

BlakeATX

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5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2013
Messages
113
Location (City and/or State)
Austin Texas
I have this update on a new thread called “Ground hatched radiated” but figured I’d add to this baby rad thread as well since it’s another new addition to the babies, but with a special story behind behind how it hatched!

Yesterday, by LUCK, I discovered a newly hatched radiated wandering around my empty winter adult indoor enclosure. This baby naturally hatched out from a nest my adult female laid in the mulch in her indoor enclosure (in my garage)! A miracle as far as I’m concerned because the egg didn’t go through a diapause (my garage stays over 80 all year). Once I found this little one, I started to excavate my entire winter enclosure to find the nest. Sure enough I found a nest of 7 eggs: 6 unhatched (now in my incubator) and 1 hatched egg shell left from the little one I discovered!

Below are pics of the nest and eggs I found in the garage and the little miracle hatchling.
 

mrnewberry

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5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location (City and/or State)
N.W. Arkansas
I have this update on a new thread called “Ground hatched radiated” but figured I’d add to this baby rad thread as well since it’s another new addition to the babies, but with a special story behind behind how it hatched!

Yesterday, by LUCK, I discovered a newly hatched radiated wandering around my empty winter adult indoor enclosure. This baby naturally hatched out from a nest my adult female laid in the mulch in her indoor enclosure (in my garage)! A miracle as far as I’m concerned because the egg didn’t go through a diapause (my garage stays over 80 all year). Once I found this little one, I started to excavate my entire winter enclosure to find the nest. Sure enough I found a nest of 7 eggs: 6 unhatched (now in my incubator) and 1 hatched egg shell left from the little one I discovered!

Below are pics of the nest and eggs I found in the garage and the little miracle hatchling.

That is pretty wild!
 

Markw84

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10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
Blake

That is a great and wonderful find. This may be way more than your interested in, but I find this discovery of yours very insightful. A few thoughts about the "is situ" incubation...

In studying weather data vs ground temps at various depths, I also looked at sample data from Beloha, Madagascar because of my interest in both radiata and Pyxis. My belief currently is that the diapause method that has been developed that "works" basically shortens the diapause period by using cooler than natural temperatures to start, then break diapause. This seems true for all species I have looked at that require diapause.

In Madagascar, the gound temps are very much affected by the proximity to the ocean and the very warm currents that surround Madagascar. The average daily temperature in Beloha only gets as low as 73° in teh coldest part of the year. The coldest average daily low is 65° in mid July. Test nest data shows a nest at radiata nest depth will be fairly stable if in a mostly shaded area and will swing up to 10° if in direct sunlight. The average daily nest temp will stay just above the average daily temperature (not low temperature) in the cold part of the year. That means a radiata nest in the wild would be expected to be partially protected from the sun and swing daily from about 70° to 76° every day for the diapause period. I would think near your garage floor in winter, that would be pretty close to what you would get in a area heated above. The diapause would break as nest temps start to reach 80° upper limit of the daily swing, which in the wild we would expect in late September in Madagascar. That could easily also happen in your garage as your temps rise and your garage heats in spring and the ground temps throughout the Austin area climb above 70°

I think your garage gave you a pretty nice, but a bit cooler, simulation of a wild nest!
 

BlakeATX

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2013
Messages
113
Location (City and/or State)
Austin Texas
Blake

That is a great and wonderful find. This may be way more than your interested in, but I find this discovery of yours very insightful. A few thoughts about the "is situ" incubation...

In studying weather data vs ground temps at various depths, I also looked at sample data from Beloha, Madagascar because of my interest in both radiata and Pyxis. My belief currently is that the diapause method that has been developed that "works" basically shortens the diapause period by using cooler than natural temperatures to start, then break diapause. This seems true for all species I have looked at that require diapause.

In Madagascar, the gound temps are very much affected by the proximity to the ocean and the very warm currents that surround Madagascar. The average daily temperature in Beloha only gets as low as 73° in teh coldest part of the year. The coldest average daily low is 65° in mid July. Test nest data shows a nest at radiata nest depth will be fairly stable if in a mostly shaded area and will swing up to 10° if in direct sunlight. The average daily nest temp will stay just above the average daily temperature (not low temperature) in the cold part of the year. That means a radiata nest in the wild would be expected to be partially protected from the sun and swing daily from about 70° to 76° every day for the diapause period. I would think near your garage floor in winter, that would be pretty close to what you would get in a area heated above. The diapause would break as nest temps start to reach 80° upper limit of the daily swing, which in the wild we would expect in late September in Madagascar. That could easily also happen in your garage as your temps rise and your garage heats in spring and the ground temps throughout the Austin area climb above 70°

I think your garage gave you a pretty nice, but a bit cooler, simulation of a wild nest!
I agree! I was thinking this same exact thing. I was suspecting that possibly the garage floor (concrete) kept the lower layer of mulch cooler through the winter and naturally broke diapause as we are getting into very hot summer here in Texas. Never would have imagined of all species I’d hatch a radiated in the garage outside of careful cooling and incubation! They are always surprising me. I am always interested in the science behind why things happen and figuring out how hatching this way would be possible so I love your input!
 

Relic

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Joined
Sep 8, 2018
Messages
538
Location (City and/or State)
Here
I agree! I was thinking this same exact thing. I was suspecting that possibly the garage floor (concrete) kept the lower layer of mulch cooler through the winter and naturally broke diapause as we are getting into very hot summer here in Texas. Never would have imagined of all species I’d hatch a radiated in the garage outside of careful cooling and incubation! They are always surprising me. I am always interested in the science behind why things happen and figuring out how hatching this way would be possible so I love your input!
If you get the chance (and perhaps you already have somewhere) could you post pictures of your garage set-up. I have always wondered about that location for myself, as it is the only place larger torts could stay over the winter at my house. I just hate to give up my parking privileges - I'm pretty sure my wife's car won't budge.
 

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