Texas Map Turtle Project

[AustinASU]

Well after searching high and low i finally found me an adult female Texas Map Turtle. I'm so excited on this breeding project, my male has already hooked up with her within the first 20 minutes of me putting her in the tank. My plan is to take 1/4 of all the hatchlings each year and raise them up for 1.5 yrs and release them to untouched parts of the Concho River (by untouched i mean polluted and high herping area). The rest will be placed into other breeders hands. The one male I have is a WC out of the colorado drain off and young female hatchling was found in the conch drain-off. As for the adult female I have, i have no clue on where the parents came from, but she was originally purchased in California. Regardless, it feels great to have fresh bloodlines all across the board.


Check out the videos of this gorgeous gal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmizQ0hcc-M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfKlXgquGc8

 

[EricIvins]

You do realize what is wrong with your "plan" right?

 

[AustinASU]

You do realize that there is literally no female Texas Map Turtles in the South Concho River.....ohh wait you wouldn't know because you don't live on it to know this. And yes I know full well what i'm doing by releasing 1.5yrs old. All that are released will be health inspected including blood drawn and sent off to labs. I will not be doing the releasing instead it will be the state.

 

[AustinASU]

Anyone else out there with Texas Maps?

 

[jtrux]

Awesome, good luck with your breeding program.

 

[AustinASU]

Thanks Jtrux!!! If your every interested in a hatchling just pm me.

 

[EricIvins]

This is why...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080922122427.htm

 

[diamondbp]

Eric I think that kind of stuff is going to happen whether someone starts a small breeding group to release babies or not.

Personally I believe it's a great idea and I hope he does well with it.

Austin, I actually have a 2:1 of adult Texas maps that a friend is taking care of for me until I build my new house and new enclosures. Perhaps we can work together in the future on swapping some breeder males for a good mix of genetics..

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Old pictures of my Texas maps, they are bigger now. This was from 3 years ago.

 

[EricIvins]

That "stuff" should not happen either way. Why create that scenario to begin with? There are institutions and groups dedicated to re-introduction programs that have the means and the resources to do this the proper way. Let them handle it. That is what they were formed to do. Have any of those groups been contacted about this?

On top of that, nobody has brought up the genetic contamination that this "unknown" animal may bring....

 

[diamondbp]

Eric I appreciate your approach by all means, I really do. But when I consider the millions upon millions of redears alone that have been released into non native areas over the last few decades I have my serious doubts that a small captive bred Texas map turtle project will have serious negative implications to the wild population.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Austin:

I applaud your dedication and efforts in this endeavor, however, I must caution you to be sure that what you propose is legal in your state. Here in California, it is illegal to release ANY turtle or tortoise into the wild. In fact, without the express permission of our Game and Wildlife department, one could be fined and maybe even charged with an illegal act.

So contact the Fish and Wildlife department in your state and ask them what their rules are about releasing baby native turtles back into your state's waterways.

 

[AustinASU]

I've already done this Yvonne I've got all my Q's and T's down, now it just the waiting game.

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Also Eric, this group I have are all WC minus one from a specific locale of the conch river....in which they no longer live because off the water tables dropping so low. We've been in a 15yr drought so before judging my intuition of whether this is the right thing to do or not, I know it's the right thing to do. If it means me having the only local genetics after the concho river dries up then I did the species a good thing. If we dont get rain in the next three months 3 of the lakes will be completely dry the south concho and north concho will be dry with lake nasworthy sitting at about 20-30% capacity. The colorado drain off is already dead on this end, so dire moments are at hand and i'm doing all that I can to preserve this species. The San Saba river is running low as well, I've never seen it this dry in all my years living here.

 

[diamondbp]

I think it's awesome....

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Head-start and release is frequently controversial. I was involved with one for northern Diamondback Terrapins for 16 years, based out of the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor New Jersey. One aspect was a long term look at all the adults to see what pathogens they carried, and a look at the started hatchlings. DBT are surprisingly parasite free.

I guess Eric and Yvonne may be considering what is called the precautionary principle. Account for what you know that you don't know, not just what you do know.

There have been decade long debates about these kinds of programs and it has been an "hot" issue with several species. If you are doing this as citizen scientists, you might want to rethink getting some established entity on board with you or maybe you with them.

If that is already hooked-up, maybe you could introduce that group to TFO. I know overall this is a tortoise centric group, but there seem to be lots of aquatic folks here too, I would count myself among them. Zoos tend to always have their own hand out, but established nature centers (NGO) with a board that includes local university people would be a good place to touch bases, as one idea. If you need connections let me know. I have name recognition in this realm.

Will