02-03-2012, 05:31 PM | #1 |
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Advice on Chaco egg incubation
Hi guys. My turtle is about to lay her second batch this year, and I'm looking for some info on how to incubate the eggs.
I have an exo terra heat mat & a thermostat, and I'm planning to use them to make an incubator. I know about the diapause period, but little else. What substrate should I use? How much humidity should I be aiming for? And the incubation temps... as far as I can gather, its about 30c, for all females, and 27 for males. Is that correct? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance |
02-03-2012, 07:38 PM | #2 |
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Hopefully you will be able to get hatchlings
Here is my experience. You need to incubate for a month at 30C, than cool the eggs to 16C for 3 months, than back in the incubator at 30C or lower. It should take about 8 months all together to get hatchling. If (after you put the eggs back in the incubator after the cooling period) you don't see any development after a month, lower your incubation temperature by 1 degree C. I hatched on a dry incubation medium and the humidity was around 75%. Danny
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05-03-2012, 01:31 PM | #3 |
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Thanks! I hope they hatch this time... it's very difficult.
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05-03-2012, 03:08 PM | #4 |
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I do know this When I take temperatures in the incubator I'm using a temperature gun and taking the temperature of the egg itself. I've found that if the egg gets over 30C (egg shell temperature) the egg won't develop. I've tried to keep the egg shell temperatures between 29 and 30C. I lost quite a few eggs before I figured out that they wouldn't develop at the higher temperatures.
Danny
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31-12-2012, 03:19 PM | #5 |
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Well, after 8+ months, all 4 eggs hatched successfully.
3 of them hatched about 2 weeks ago, and the last one came out yesterday. Thanks for the tips Danny! I was thinking in upgrading my home made incubator a bit... but it worked so well that I'll probably leave it as is (aside from installing a raspberry pi with a webcam to record the next batch hatching). One of them, refuses to eat, but drinks a lot of water. She still has a bit of (dry) yolk in her belly, but its been 2 weeks already since. Is this normal? What should I do? |
31-12-2012, 07:11 PM | #6 |
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That's excellent news and glad I could help.
It is normal for some hatchlings to take a while to start eating. Is she in with the other 2 that are eating? Does the bit of dried yolk sack on the belly look like it's healing properly? Danny
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01-01-2013, 11:41 AM | #7 |
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Congratulations! Can we see photos please?
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02-01-2013, 03:25 PM | #8 |
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Nevermind, she's eating now
The others are more active but I suppose she'll get better now. This is the last one to hatch: For the next clutch, I plan to set up a cam to get the exact moment when they break the egg. I've Never seen a video of that. |
03-01-2013, 07:12 PM | #9 |
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What a great result! It clearly requires patience to breed these lovely tortoises.
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Testudo Hermanni Hermanni (Corse) tortoises |
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