Successful breeding of Cuora (Pyxidea) mouhotii

[jonathan gray]

Wow I’ve never seen that breed before!

They are a wonderful turtle to work with; tons of personality and, once acclimated, very hardy.

 

[coloto]

Greetings from Spain,

I recently bought 3 P.Mouhotii and this thread was very useful for me. I breed other species but I've never breed Asian box turtles.

Congratulations

 

[jonathan gray]

Greetings from New York Coloto and congratulations on your three P. mouhotii! If I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[coloto]

Thank you so much Jonathan for your kind words.

 

[jonathan gray]

Absolutely! If there's one thing I enjoy as much as keeping mouhotii it's talking about them!
N.B. I have two female ready to nest any day now. Fingers crossed

 

[jonathan gray]

The smaller of my two breeding female obstis gifted me with six eggs last night! I am trying out my homemade 'SIMS' incubation container for the first time. Theoretically, it should work great: maintaining almost 100% humidity in the incubation chamber while allowing air circulation completely around the eggs, thereby eliminating the possibility of waterlogging them. I put perlite in the bottom of the container to retain moisture but the eggs won't be in contact with it.

 

[Moozillion]

The smaller of my two breeding female obstis gifted me with six eggs last night! I am trying out my homemade 'SIMS' incubation container for the first time. Theoretically, it should work great: maintaining almost 100% humidity in the incubation chamber while allowing air circulation completely around the eggs, thereby eliminating the possibility of waterlogging them. I put perlite in the bottom of the container to retain moisture but the eggs won't be in contact with it.View attachment 252849 View attachment 252850 View attachment 252851 View attachment 252852 View attachment 252853

WOW!!!!! [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

 

[PJay]

Good luck with the new clutch and the SIMS!

 

[jonathan gray]

Good luck with the new clutch and the SIMS!

Thanks PJay! I just checked them: six eggs laid, six eggs banded. Fingers crossed for a smooth ride to hatchville! BTW, Big Mama never nested :/

 

[PJay]

Thanks PJay! I just checked them: six eggs laid, six eggs banded. Fingers crossed for a smooth ride to hatchville! BTW, Big Mama never nested :/

Great news on the banding. Any theories on why Big Mama didn't lay this year?

 

[jonathan gray]

Well, she may still yet. Last year was her first time nesting and it was about a month after 'Old Reliable' (the smaller female), nested. We had a very weird spring and summer here -actually, we kind of skipped spring and slid right from winter into summer: EVERYTHING was thrown off schedule...here we are in October and my Morning Glorys have only just started to bloom. Very odd weather in the great northeast this year.

 

[jonathan gray]

So I was dismantling the nesting pen to get it ready to bring the adult Cmo inside for the winter and look what I found: Big Mama wasn't holding out on me, she just hid them real good! Ten CMO eggs in the incubator now. Fingers crossed!

 

[PJay]

Nice!

 

[jonathan gray]

This is the 'Patriarch' of the bunch: a very aggressive and libidinous male who has sired seven young here.I frequently find him perched on top of his hide box, surveying his domain. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with this fascinating and engaging species. Several friends have suggested that I write and article detailing husbandry tips on keeping these turtles and I may just do that. Not a scholarly, definitive The 100% Fool-Proof Way to Keep and Breed Cmos, but rather an account of my experiences -good, bad and disastrous, of getting them through acclimation (disastrous), inducing them to feed (frustrating), indoor and outdoor maintenance (trial and error), and finally, nesting, incubation of eggs and rearing of young.

 

[jonathan gray]

Nice!

Definitely nice! Like an unexpected 'Christmas-in-October' nice!

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Several friends have suggested that I write and article detailing husbandry tips on keeping these turtles and I may just do that. Not a scholarly, definitive The 100% Fool-Proof Way to Keep and Breed Cmos, but rather an account of my experiences -good, bad and disastrous, of getting them through acclimation (disastrous), inducing them to feed (frustrating), indoor and outdoor maintenance (trial and error), and finally, nesting, incubation of eggs and rearing of young.

I think that's a great idea. I believe it's important to discuss what didn't work, as well as what did.

 

[jonathan gray]

An update: All ten Cmo eggs have banded

 

[coloto]

This is the 'Patriarch' of the bunch: a very aggressive and libidinous male who has sired seven young here.I frequently find him perched on top of his hide box, surveying his domain. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with this fascinating and engaging species. Several friends have suggested that I write and article detailing husbandry tips on keeping these turtles and I may just do that. Not a scholarly, definitive The 100% Fool-Proof Way to Keep and Breed Cmos, but rather an account of my experiences -good, bad and disastrous, of getting them through acclimation (disastrous), inducing them to feed (frustrating), indoor and outdoor maintenance (trial and error), and finally, nesting, incubation of eggs and rearing of young.View attachment 254157

Congratulations Jonathan, If you have the chance, your expertise could help about how to deal with this incredible specie.
Sorry for my english, but what does it means "eggs have banded"?

 

[jonathan gray]

The first hatchling of 2018. Frankly, I think it may be the only hatchling of 2018; the remaining nine eggs do not look promising

 

[jonathan gray]

Two new Cuora (Pyxidea) mouhotii obsi to join the herd. Still waiting on the rest :/