Re: 20 questions for M. Chambers, okay I'll try to remember....

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Posted by m chambers on August 04, 2000 at 10:48:07:

In Reply to: 20 questions for M. Chambers posted by ssp. on August 03, 2000 at 21:56:12:

: Can I bug you for a few details on your redfoots?
: Do you house your adult males and females together year round?

Accually my wife is the big breeder of all the torts. Yes we do keep all sexes together. We find out breeder males are quite aggresive apon hitting breeding age. They want to breed with any tort. When we notice this happening we seperate the species so we can get the sexually aggressive males together with the adult females.

When do you first see breeding activity? and egg laying? What size are your adults? And how long after you recieved them did they start laying eggs? Sorry for the 20 questions and thanks in advance.

Breeding activity starts as early as we put them outside. Sometimes April-May. (i must tell you the noise the male redfoots make. They cluck like chickens but louder. Have you heard of this ? We have had people down here on the back deck and ask us if we had chickens. The tort. pens are to the side of the back deck.)
We have had eggs laid on sulcata from june through aug. Redfoots eggs are between july through sept. We have had both species babies for sale at the K.C. expo in Oct. before. I'm thinking sometimes (and I think I have proof of this with a female sulcata that we sold to a buddy) they (females) might do the sperm storage thing from a early or late breeding into the next year.)

Sizes on redfoots> males 14-17in measuring straight across shell and females averaging 16in.
Sizes on sulcatas> males 23-25in. and females 28-30in.

Half of the breeder torts we have raised and are anywhere from 6 to 12 years.

Half of the purchased torts were on thier way or were already breeding age/size. Most of the purchased breeders came frm Southeast Reptile Exchange <(the spurred )

Most of the redoots and leopards came from what used to be Hogtown Herps (Doug Foster).

Remember, we are now working on breeding Leopards and the males are showing a lot of breeding activity but the females are probably not ready. (age ? size?)

The other guy that lives 30 miles away that is keeping some of our breeders plus his, has torts breeding at a somewhat earlier ages than we do.
Explaination could be in the form of him having more room where the torts are kept in the winter and going with my thoughts of because of the extra room, having more UV light availible in the winter months. Something that I plan on doing when we move to Emporia Kan.

Kinda long......sorry

Oh! What"s the earliest I've seen redfoots lay eggs age wise.....Joe Fosey....Florida....females...5 years old...size 12in.

Sulcatas.....Joe Fosey...Florida...females 4 years old...16in.

NOTE: these are the only eggs that I found out (my opinion) a hova system works best with hatching out. I've never used this system with any other herp eggs other than tort. eggs.

Later
Mike Chambers

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Thanks, see you in Oct. ssp. 08/04/00 (0)

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: : Can I bug you for a few details on your redfoots? : : Do you house your adult males and females together year round? : Accually my wife is the big breeder of all the torts. Yes we do keep all sexes together. We find out breeder males are quite aggresive apon hitting breeding age. They want to breed with any tort. When we notice this happening we seperate the species so we can get the sexually aggressive males together with the adult females. : When do you first see breeding activity? and egg laying? What size are your adults? And how long after you recieved them did they start laying eggs? Sorry for the 20 questions and thanks in advance. : : Breeding activity starts as early as we put them outside. Sometimes April-May. (i must tell you the noise the male redfoots make. They cluck like chickens but louder. Have you heard of this ? We have had people down here on the back deck and ask us if we had chickens. The tort. pens are to the side of the back deck.) : We have had eggs laid on sulcata from june through aug. Redfoots eggs are between july through sept. We have had both species babies for sale at the K.C. expo in Oct. before. I'm thinking sometimes (and I think I have proof of this with a female sulcata that we sold to a buddy) they (females) might do the sperm storage thing from a early or late breeding into the next year.) : : Sizes on redfoots> males 14-17in measuring straight across shell and females averaging 16in. : Sizes on sulcatas> males 23-25in. and females 28-30in. : Half of the breeder torts we have raised and are anywhere from 6 to 12 years. : Half of the purchased torts were on thier way or were already breeding age/size. Most of the purchased breeders came frm Southeast Reptile Exchange <(the spurred ) : Most of the redoots and leopards came from what used to be Hogtown Herps (Doug Foster). : Remember, we are now working on breeding Leopards and the males are showing a lot of breeding activity but the females are probably not ready. (age ? size?) : The other guy that lives 30 miles away that is keeping some of our breeders plus his, has torts breeding at a somewhat earlier ages than we do. : Explaination could be in the form of him having more room where the torts are kept in the winter and going with my thoughts of because of the extra room, having more UV light availible in the winter months. Something that I plan on doing when we move to Emporia Kan. : Kinda long......sorry : Oh! What"s the earliest I've seen redfoots lay eggs age wise.....Joe Fosey....Florida....females...5 years old...size 12in. : Sulcatas.....Joe Fosey...Florida...females 4 years old...16in. : : NOTE: these are the only eggs that I found out (my opinion) a hova system works best with hatching out. I've never used this system with any other herp eggs other than tort. eggs. : Later : Mike Chambers

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