Turtles and other reptiles don't always thrive in captivity, especially when they need to breed. But if you love turtles and are up for the challenge, you can try breeding them. Here is a little guide for you.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Preparing your Turtles for Mating
Step 1. First check that you have a boy and a girl
Usually, the male tortoise is more colorful and more sociable than the female. The males have the plastron (the lower part) flat or concave while the females have it flat or convex, to make room for the eggs.
- A good indicator for water turtles is also the size: the males are smaller. They also have longer toe nails.
- As for the land ones, on the other hand, the males usually have a larger tail and the anal sphincter separated from the shell.
Step 2. Check that your turtles are sexually mature
Turtles are unable to mate until they have reached maturity. For those of water, the males should be about three years old and the females about five. Those of earth, on the other hand, both mature around five years.
If you have just bought them, do not plan to mate. It will take at least a year
Step 3. Keep them in hibernation
To increase the chances of a successful mating, the turtles should be sent to hibernation. Since the nesting season is from March to June, the period in which they will be quiet is usually from January to February for the water ones and from December to February for the land ones.
- Let their temperature fluctuate between 10 and 15 degrees for six to eight weeks if your turtles are water; up to 12 for those on land.
- Leave them alone during this time. Provide them with food but they will eat little or nothing.
- If your turtles live in a pond in the garden, you can use the winter cold to put them into hibernation.
- Once the period is over, return the habitat to regular temperature.
Step 4. Feed them well
It is important that turtles eat enough during the mating season. In addition to the normal diet, make sure we have calcium and vitamins D3.
- A balanced diet should contain a combination of: worms, snails, tofu, dog treats, well-washed lettuce, cantaloupe, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, vegetable scraps, peas, tomatoes, cooked sweet potatoes, dandelion flowers, and mulberry leaves.
- The diet of the land turtle is the same but in this case you can also add fish food, crickets, hard-boiled eggs, kale, corn, cooked and chopped broccoli and many leafy vegetables.
- To help with calcium intake, provide the turtle with a cuttlefish bone to munch on or give it a supplement.
- Outdoor turtles do not need additional sources of D3. Indoor ones, on the other hand, need to be exposed to a reptile light or supplements.
Method 2 of 4: Create Optimal Conditions
Step 1. Give your turtles the space they need
There isn't much you can do to make your turtles 'fall in love'. You just have to put them together and wait for nature to do the rest. However, it is important that they have room to move freely. Create a nesting area (see below) where the females can lay their eggs.
If you have several species, separate the larger ones because in the mating season they may become more aggressive and bite the smaller ones
Step 2. Check the male to female ratio
It is better that there are more females. Sexually ready males can 'want a lot' from females so much that their health may be affected. Also they might fight each other for a particular female.
Step 3. Create an area to nest
Provide an area for females to lay eggs that has shelter and a soft texture. It should have about 30 cm of moist, soft soil but also some stones and pieces of wood so that the female feels safe and secure in leaving her eggs.
- If you already have a place outside dedicated to your turtles, create an area inside for it. If you set them up in a larger area just to mate, you can make accessible a box for example, which they will use as a nest.
- Most water turtles lay 2 to 10 eggs several times. The deposition lasts from 24 to 48 hours at a time with an interval of a few weeks.
Method 3 of 4: Caring for Eggs
Step 1. Buy an incubator
A cheap one is fine too. What is important is the temperature control. Make sure there is a thermometer or buy one to keep the degrees in check.
- It is not mandatory to have an incubator. Normal summer temperatures are fine. On particularly hot days, move the eggs to a cool place and make sure they are always moist. Do not place them directly in the sun or you risk overheating them.
- If you don't use the incubator, put the nest in a visible place and don't forget about it.
Step 2. Create the nest
It will go inside the incubator. You can use something you already have at home or buy what you need at a garden store.
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Container. Find something that has a lid and drill some air holes. A deli or microwave container is fine. Be careful that the lid is not too difficult to open. In this case you would end up shaking the eggs too much when you check them.
Breed Turtles Step 9Bullet1 - Place the lid on the container until the eggs begin to hatch. When the time comes, close it a little more so that the little ones don't come out.
- It is important to use lids that do not melt in the heat of the incubator.
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Nesting material. Make a mixture of vermiculite, sphagnum moss, and peat in equal parts. Moisten it and remove excess water.
Breed Turtles Step 9Bullet2 - Vermiculite, sphagnum moss and peat are readily found in garden stores and some hardware stores. If you can't find all of them, you can mix them with water and just one or two materials.
Step 3. Let the eggs incubate
Once the female has laid them, take them very carefully and check their status. Don't turn them inside out or you will kill the embryo. Make small depressions in the vermiculite and lay the eggs. Keep the container covered and at a temperature between 20 and 35 °.
- Use a marker or charcoal to mark the top of the egg.
- If there are more eggs attached as you lift them, try to separate them gently. If you can't, leave them like this.
Step 4. Find out what determines the sex of your turtles
According to many, sex is determined by temperature and is not genetic. In this case, the higher temperature (max 35 °) will favor the females. The eggs hatched slowly at temperatures around 20 °, on the other hand, will mainly produce males. On 30 ° the result should be equally divided between the two sexes.
Never let it reach 40 °, the eggs would deteriorate and die. Better a slow incubation than the risk of a death
Step 5. Check the eggs
For the first month and a half, check the eggs once a week. They must remain moist but not too much and not moldy. After 45 days, check them more frequently to see if they hatch. Don't rush things. A baby turtle has what is called an "egg tusk" which it uses to break the shell until it is fully able to come out.
- If the egg is moldy, clean it with cotton. Never collect the eggs to clean them, they are particularly fragile.
- Depending on the incubator temperature, the turtles will be born between 50 and 120 days.
Step 6. Discard the bad eggs
Once the first is born, the other baby turtles should follow her. Give the eggs plenty of time to hatch but be aware that you will need to throw away some that have probably ruined and will never hatch.
- An egg may have cracks but be perfectly healthy. Or looking perfect while actually leaking from the bottom and therefore, not being good. If an egg deflates, then it is to be thrown away.
- After 4 to 6 months of being there, examine the remaining eggs to decide what to do.
Method 4 of 4: Managing the Hatching
Step 1. Remove the shells
Once your turtles have hatched, remove the empty bits of shells so they don't contaminate the space where the others have yet to be born.
Step 2. Move the babies
A turtle can stay in the shell for many days before breaking it completely. During this time, it absorbs what remains of the egg white it has attached to the belly. Place the hatched turtles on a damp sheet of paper in a new container outside the incubator. Keep them for a few days until they have absorbed all the egg white. Once done, move them to a terrarium or basin with water.
Step 3. Feed them
Feed your turtles at least once a day. Babies are predominantly carnivores but also provide them with vegetables and fruit. There are people who have raised baby turtles by exclusively giving them food such as Reptomin.
Too much protein in the infant's diet causes carapace deformities. If you make this mistake, correct it as soon as you know it and your baby turtle will be fine. Unfortunately, once the deformity grows, it will be permanent and cause a lot of problems
Step 4. Be prepared to fail
Even if they receive the best care, many turtles born in captivity do not survive their first year of life. In the wild, many babies die and the same is true for baby turtles born in captivity. Enjoy the process and if you've done your best, don't blame yourself.
Advice
- Check the female regularly. It usually takes around 90 days for the babies to be born.
- Wash your hands after touching the turtles, they can carry salmonella.
- When you have more than one turtle, make sure they all get the same amount of food to stay healthy.
- Use bottled water to make them drink and chlorine-free water to make them swim. In fact, chlorine can damage them.
- Make sure the little ones eat. They are extremely delicate and need to be constantly supervised by you. It is vital that they receive their food ration.
Warnings
- Do not breed inbreeding or too weak species. It could cause deformities in infants.
- Do not move the eggs once they have been laid. The shell is very fragile and could break.
- Do not use the refrigerator to simulate conditions for hibernation. The temperature is too unstable and in the event of a power failure, there could be problems.
