Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I breed redfoot tortoises. In July '08 I changed males.. removed the "old" and added the "new". How long will the sperm from the "old" male be retained by the females? The Sept./Oct. 'eggs' are hatching "old" babies. There are Nov./Dec./Jan. eggs also.

When will the "new" male genes show up? These are all 10 plus year-old adults.

Thanks,

Terry
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

most references say two to three years
one reference for five
don't think anyone knows for sure
but the best coverage I have seen for this topic is Brian Pursall's TFH book on Mediterranean tortoises from a few years back
by the way, very much enjoyed your September 2006 Reptiles article - keep up the good work

Thanks domalle,

Since the males are distinctly different.. I believe I've seen "new" characteristics in a Sept. hatchling! Is that possible or just my imagination? Anyone?

Terry
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

I have read that you can have different male parentage in
the same clutch but where I read that escapes me, maybe
in the Pursall book. I'll check.

Terry,you will be able to tell the babes from the new sire.If you have been breeding them for years and looking at them closely,you can see new trates,size and weight of the hatchlings,number of eggs and hatch rate of eggs per clutch and in the case of a redfoot compaired to my plane brown rappers,color on skin & scutes.I've got males that influence color in my colection of phayrei.You can even breed them back to their own offspring to bring desirable trates if you got a decade or two to spare!R.Rooker might chime in here as he breeds rf and keeps a keen eye on details between his breeders.Hope they do a good job.By the way,why are you changing your males. Vic Morgan...no HR669 Live free or die...out.

Thanks Vic!

You asked so I'll respond.. at the risk of abuse from the "purest" and "scientist".

Until last spring [ since '04 ] I've kept all "locales" together.. 'Northerns' and Brazilians.. while waiting for my Brazilian male(s) to mature. The Brazilian female [ a little over 11" ] began to produce in '07 with little [ if any ] Brazilian "blood" in her babies.. even tho' the Brazilian male [ less than 8" ] was "squeakin'" around acting like a stud!

Last spring the opportunity/space became available so I was able to put a barrier up to separate the "Northerns" from the Brazilians. So the 'honest' question is " When will the Brazilian hatchlings be "PURE"?

Two months is the 'gestation' term: from breeding to egg laying. The hatchlings so far from Aug./Sept. eggs have the 'dark-seams' on the plastron.. typical of Brazilians [ not Northerns ]! yada yada

There ya have it...

Terry
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

i've read before that redfoots from different locales can differ in size and coloration.

i'm curious -- in general, can you say what the traits are for different populations?