Too many hatchlings...

[nightoff]

So I have a male and a female that I used to let forage in the backyard together. I was aware that the female had laid a couple of small clutches of eggs and knew that I might eventually have a few hatchlings. I ended up consolidating three clutches together because one clutch was in her hide and a couple of the eggs got crushed and the other clutch was laid too shallow and the soil was very dry. I put fencing around the consolidated clutch and about five weeks ago, two hatchlings dug their way out. Two days ago, three more hatchlings dug their way out so now I have five hatchlings! I know of one more egg that may hatch but there may be other clutches I don’t know about. After the first two hatchlings arrived, I stopped letting my male and female be together at all and the male seems miserable. Is it realistic to try and sell some of the hatchlings to forum members and if so, at what age do you think they are old enough to sell?

Any thoughts or suggestions are very appreciated.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Cute! Lucky you, congrsts on the babies.

 

[zovick]

So I have a male and a female that I used to let forage in the backyard together. I was aware that the female had laid a couple of small clutches of eggs and knew that I might eventually have a few hatchlings. I ended up consolidating three clutches together because one clutch was in her hide and a couple of the eggs got crushed and the other clutch was laid too shallow and the soil was very dry. I put fencing around the consolidated clutch and about five weeks ago, two hatchlings dug their way out. Two days ago, three more hatchlings dug their way out so now I have five hatchlings! I know of one more egg that may hatch but there may be other clutches I don’t know about. After the first two hatchlings arrived, I stopped letting my male and female be together at all and the male seems miserable. Is it realistic to try and sell some of the hatchlings to forum members and if so, at what age do you think they are old enough to sell?

Any thoughts or suggestions are very appreciated.View attachment 300928

Usually babies are started out by their breeders to get them going on the right path and then sold after reaching a month or so of age. Some breeders keep their babies longer, but usually by a month of age you can tell how well the baby is doing. If it is doing well, there is no need to keep it longer than that.

That being said, whenever I bought babies from other breeders, I wanted to get them when they were as young as possible to be sure they got started MY WAY. I often took them at a couple days of age if the seller would ship them to me when they were that young.

Hence, it is really between the seller and the buyer to decide WHEN they should go to their new homes, but I think a month old is fine for moving them to the new owner.

 

[Mrsbongi]

Where do you live?

 

[Hutsie B]

wow that is so neat about your hatchlings. congratulations.

 

[nightoff]

Usually babies are started out by their breeders to get them going on the right path and then sold after reaching a month or so of age. Some breeders keep their babies longer, but usually by a month of age you can tell how well the baby is doing. If it is doing well, there is no need to keep it longer than that.

That being said, whenever I bought babies from other breeders, I wanted to get them when they were as young as possible to be sure they got started MY WAY. I often took them at a couple days of age if the seller would ship them to me when they were that young.

Hence, it is really between the seller and the buyer to decide WHEN they should go to their new homes, but I think a month old is fine for moving them to the new owner.

That is good to know. Thanks. I acquired my male at only a couple days old but that was from someone I knew. I just wanted to make sure that I was being a responsible owner and not re-homing them way too early given the horror stories on this forum of really young tortoises that arrive at their new owners in really bad shape.

 

[nightoff]

Where do you live?

I’m in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area.

 

[Tom]

I like to give them 30-60 days after hatching before selling them. This allows me to ensure that they are eating a wide variety of foods and growing well.

Here is info on what you should be doing to get them well started:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

Tortoises should never live in pairs. You can put the male and female together periodically for breeding if you want to, but they should live separately most of the time.

 

[nightoff]

I like to give them 30-60 days after hatching before selling them. This allows me to ensure that they are eating a wide variety of foods and growing well.

Here is info on what you should be doing to get them well started:

How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings

I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...

tortoiseforum.org

Tortoises should never live in pairs. You can put the male and female together periodically for breeding if you want to, but they should live separately most of the time.

Thanks so much for the info, Tom. I have been soaking the babies daily and giving them a wide variety of foods. The three recent hatchlings still have a bit of yolk sac to absorb but seem to be tasting most of the foods I put in there.

I have kept the male and female in separate enclosures since the male was about six months to a year old because he liked to turn her over and she could not right herself.

 

[Turtle mom to 36]

So I have a male and a female that I used to let forage in the backyard together. I was aware that the female had laid a couple of small clutches of eggs and knew that I might eventually have a few hatchlings. I ended up consolidating three clutches together because one clutch was in her hide and a couple of the eggs got crushed and the other clutch was laid too shallow and the soil was very dry. I put fencing around the consolidated clutch and about five weeks ago, two hatchlings dug their way out. Two days ago, three more hatchlings dug their way out so now I have five hatchlings! I know of one more egg that may hatch but there may be other clutches I don’t know about. After the first two hatchlings arrived, I stopped letting my male and female be together at all and the male seems miserable. Is it realistic to try and sell some of the hatchlings to forum members and if so, at what age do you think they are old enough to sell?

Any thoughts or suggestions are very appreciated.View attachment 300928

This past fall I had 22 box turtle hatchlings! This past fall I had 22 box turtle hatchlings! But there’s just something about little Sulcata tortoises ♥️

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It's not unusual for a male that has been removed from a female to go crazy pacing and clawing in his new enclosure. No matter how large it is.
Setting down can take weeks or months.
I had serious issues with hatchlings.
I didn't want them to go to bad homes. And I found so few people that I thought would make good new keepers.
It's why I am at least for now, not "doing" babies.

 

[nightoff]

I went ahead and dug up the combined nest to see if any eggs had not yet hatched. There was one egg left and I believe it was laid last October. The other two clutches in the combined nest were laid in January(?) and February. I will keep the cage around it and check it every so often but I think five is it...... unless there's another clutch out there somewhere under the banana trees. All five are doing well, gaining weight and getting more bold. Eeyore, the smallest is slowing gaining weight, eating little and did quite a bit of roaming last night when I had them all out in the yard to forage. I was worried for a few days that Eeyore was underdeveloped and not eating. But so far so good. Now the question is, do I hang on to all five of them until I can tell their sex and pick out a female to keep, or do I rehome some of them and hope one of the ones I keep is a female....

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I went ahead and dug up the combined nest to see if any eggs had not yet hatched. There was one egg left and I believe it was laid last October. The other two clutches in the combined nest were laid in January(?) and February. I will keep the cage around it and check it every so often but I think five is it...... unless there's another clutch out there somewhere under the banana trees. All five are doing well, gaining weight and getting more bold. Eeyore, the smallest is slowing gaining weight, eating little and did quite a bit of roaming last night when I had them all out in the yard to forage. I was worried for a few days that Eeyore was underdeveloped and not eating. But so far so good. Now the question is, do I hang on to all five of them until I can tell their sex and pick out a female to keep, or do I rehome some of them and hope one of the ones I keep is a female....

That might mean keeping all of them for 3 or 4 years JUST to determine the sex.

 

[nightoff]

Sooo... a couple days ago I found a 6th hatchling. This one was in Indy’s enclosure. This means there was at least one nest I don’t know about...there may be more! It looked to be a few days old, given that there was no residual yolk attached but the scutes had not completely closed yet. It was a hungry little bugger. Given the depth of Indy’s water bowl, it’s lucky it didn’t wander in and drown. Now I’m paranoid there will be more hatchlings to come.

I guess it’s time to think about rehoming some of them. Do all of the offspring in a clutch tend to be the same sex (like sea turtles, I think) or is sex determined strictly by genetics?

Anyone on the forum looking for a Redfoot hatchling or know anyone that would be a good parent? Please let me know. ???

 

[saleena.lewis]

Sooo... a couple days ago I found a 6th hatchling. This one was in Indy’s enclosure. This means there was at least one nest I don’t know about...there may be more! It looked to be a few days old, given that there was no residual yolk attached but the scutes had not completely closed yet. It was a hungry little bugger. Given the depth of Indy’s water bowl, it’s lucky it didn’t wander in and drown. Now I’m paranoid there will be more hatchlings to come.

I guess it’s time to think about rehoming some of them. Do all of the offspring in a clutch tend to be the same sex (like sea turtles, I think) or is sex determined strictly by genetics?

Anyone on the forum looking for a Redfoot hatchling or know anyone that would be a good parent? Please let me know. ???

Where are you located? And are you willing to ship any of them? I may be interested!

 

[wsautry]

Sooo... a couple days ago I found a 6th hatchling. This one was in Indy’s enclosure. This means there was at least one nest I don’t know about...there may be more! It looked to be a few days old, given that there was no residual yolk attached but the scutes had not completely closed yet. It was a hungry little bugger. Given the depth of Indy’s water bowl, it’s lucky it didn’t wander in and drown. Now I’m paranoid there will be more hatchlings to come.

I guess it’s time to think about rehoming some of them. Do all of the offspring in a clutch tend to be the same sex (like sea turtles, I think) or is sex determined strictly by genetics?

Anyone on the forum looking for a Redfoot hatchling or know anyone that would be a good parent? Please let me know. ???

If you would be willing to ship to NC, I'm interested!

 

[ComeNT8kIt]

I feel like reading through this thread I witnessed a tortoise enthusiast develop into a full breeder. It was an emotional journey. But the babies are adorable so why not keep em coming and find some good homes on the forum. Who doesn’t love a lil redfoot

 

[Calaveras]

I feel like reading through this thread I witnessed a tortoise enthusiast develop into a full breeder. It was an emotional journey. But the babies are adorable so why not keep em coming and find some good homes on the forum. Who doesn’t love a lil redfoot

It is a supply and demand issue. When I started keeping turtles I got one fertile egg from a female that was pregnant when I got her. I called a friend that had turtles and he came by and took it home. Win-Win. This year I have 10 turtles hatching and no homes for them. I may sell them to a wholesaler. I do not like to do that because who knows the level of care they will receive?
I am not going to criticize someone who wants to breed their turtles, but some years I do not put the eggs in the incubator. It takes me hours and a bunch of hassle to incubate, rear babies, advertise and ship babies. It is usually not worth the effort if they do not sell before the weather starts to cool and I have to move them inside every night.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I feel like reading through this thread I witnessed a tortoise enthusiast develop into a full breeder. It was an emotional journey. But the babies are adorable so why not keep em coming and find some good homes on the forum. Who doesn’t love a lil redfoot

Finding GOOD homes for them can be a real issue.
I had real difficulty finding anyone actually suited to keep one.
Everyone wanted to "keep them in a fish tank"....or as a gift for a 4 year old...
It's why I no longer keep males.
(Except the one I got from @nightoff and he lives alone)
So much responsibility.
And so many people wanting to get a relatively advanced level pet on a whim.

 

[ComeNT8kIt]

Finding GOOD homes for them can be a real issue.
I had real difficulty finding anyone actually suited to keep one.
Everyone wanted to "keep them in a fish tank"....or as a gift for a 4 year old...
It's why I no longer keep males.
(Except the one I got from @nightoff and he lives alone)
So much responsibility.
And so many people wanting to get a relatively advanced level pet on a whim.

I’ve always told my wife that’s the reason I’d never breed. I’d have a really hard time letting them go to people I don’t know.