Jacqui's Captive Bred Tortoises

My captive bred babies have received tender love and care from day one. My group of Herman’s & Horsfields are provided with a natural habitat, both in door and outdoor, to breed in. They have a sand/soil based substrate which has banks and hills with UV/heat lamps so they can excavate a proper nest site, as they would in the wild. They have the choice of several areas that they can use for nesting and each female has their own preferred area. I have worked with them closely for so long that I know which area they will want and how long they are likely to dig for,or if they are likely to dig several scrapes before settling down to lay.

Once a female is “gravid” and looking to choose her nest site to lay, my set up is such that I can close the areas off and give her total peace from the others in the group, so she can take as long as she likes, undisturbed. I also have 24 hour CCTV so I can watch her without disturbing her. I feel that what she is doing is a real miracle of nature and very precious and as such should be treated with the utmost care and respect.

I am always around when my females are laying, so if there were any problems I could respond quickly. Once they have finished laying and covered the eggs up, and left the nest site, I carefully excavate the eggs and move them to my incubator. They are then incubated at 31.5-31.8 degrees which is the optimum temperature for female babies, as they are sex determined by temperature, as all reptiles are. They are checked daily and once they begin to pip, which is when the baby makes the first tiny hole with their little egg tooth they are supervised and cared for until they manage to leave the egg. Sometimes they have needed a little help, to ensure they are up the right way etc. Once they are out of their egg, they have a soak in a nice luke warm bowl of water to ensure they are hydrated and they often drink at this stage too. If they have any egg sac left they are placed carefully on soft towel in a warm environment until they have adsorbed it all. After this they are moved to the “hatchery” which is a warm temperature controlled enclosure with a heat and UV lamp over which is kept in the house so I can check them night and day. They are bathed daily until they begin to eat, drink and defecate. They stay in this hatchery until they are about 20g in weight, they then move to the nursery enclosure. This is a 2.5 foot enclosure in the main tortoise house and  provides plenty of interest and stimulation. There are only babies kept in this enclosure. i am also able tomove this enclosure outside on warm sunny days to ensure they have optimum levels of natural UV.

All my babies are bathed and weighed regularly and all their weights, as well as their hatch details are carefully documented. At the point of hatch I know who the parents are, what date the eggs were laid, and how many days incubation they had and what they weighed at hatch. All of this information is provided, with the baby to their new home/keeper.

If you compare this to farming of tortoises, they are left to their own devices; as newly hatched fragile babies, if they get into trouble hatching then they die and are discarded as “poor crop”. The farmers have no idea what they weigh at hatch or how many days they are incubated for and have no interest in regular warm water soaks and the tender loving care that mine have received.

You can read some of the comments that some of my new owners have said on the testimonials page. Basically my babies have 100% love and care and interaction from the day they hatch. They leave me as very tame, confident and happy babies and because I work so closely with them, I know the moment there are any problems and can tell each baby apart. They do not leave me until they are a good weight and are strong and able to cope with a move to a new family. I do not care how long that takes as turning around a quick sale is not important to me. all new keepers are provided with thier Article 10, a certificate of hatch detaisl, thier weight chart since hatch and a handbook written by me. they can aslo access this site for further guidance. I also keep in close contact with thier new keeper to advise and assist them.

That is the difference with captive bred. You are buying into the love and care of someone who is genuinely interested in the welfare of tortoises and not someone who is interested only in making money. I am also there to support you from day one and on wards.

Farmers and dealers have no responsibility and no moral interest in supporting you once you buy a baby tortoise. Once you have handed over your money you are on your own!