NEWS112
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when they are living outside. The male
approaches the female, moving his head
from side to side (head-wagging).Themale
thenmounts, and if the female is ready to
mate, she raises her hind legs: the
prerequisite for successful copulation. If the
female isn't interestedshewalksaway,feeds,
or looks for aplace to rest.There is noneof
the ramming and biting that occurs in
Europeantortoises,forexample.Red-Footed
Tortoises, even full-grown males, are
completelypeaceful among themselves.
In the natural habitat themain egg-laying
season lies roughly between October and
March, but this natural rhythm generally
undergoes a shift in captivity.My tortoises
layeggsyear-round,butuntil 2001with the
main focusbeingduringthewintermonths,
as in thewild.Asa resultof thegreenhouse
maintenance the incubationperiod started
around eight weeks earlier, and I attribute
this to the changed climatic conditions. In
thecellar room,where Ihadpreviouslykept
myRed-FootedTortoises,the roughly20cm
high heap of bark-mulch/peat/sand mix
was well accepted for egg-laying, but ever
since the beginning of greenhouse
maintenance they have laid eggs either in
theheaporoutside.
Egg- laying is sometimes preceded by test
excavations. A few days beforehand the
female becomes fidgety and looks for a
suitable spot. Nevertheless it can also
happen that a female tortoise proceeds
straight from the fooddish toegg-laying.
As a rule the female excavates a shallow, 5-
15 cm deep, pit for egg-laying. Clutch size
variesbetween3and10eggs,but thereare
usually 5-6 eggs per clutch. The nest is
usually created in the late afternoonor the
evening.Theprocedure takes several hours.
The femaledrinks greedilybefore and after
egg-laying.Once theegg-laying is finished I
dig up the eggs and transfer them to an
incubator.
Incubationandhatching
I initially incubated the eggs in vermiculite
at a constant 29 °C and almost 100%
humidity, but not a single egg developed
under these conditions! Subsequently all
eggs have been buried in a plastic bowl
filled with a slightly damp humus/
peat/sand mixture, which is then covered
with moss. The earth-filled plastic bowl is
then placed in a larger plastic bowl full of
water, which is heated to 28-33 °C using a
heater-stat. The plastic bowl is up to 3⁄4
covered and stands in the tortoises' living
quarters.Fromaround the115thdayon the
substrate iskept somewhatdamper.
Hatching isannouncedbysplits in theeggs,
with the young Red-Footed Tortoises
emergingafter120-145days.Someof them
stillhavequitea largeyolksacandremain in
the egg for a few more days until it is
completelyconsumed.Someyoungstersdie
fornoobviousreasonshortlyafterhatching.
This phenomenon is known to other
breedersaswell and iswidespread,with the
majorityofownersattributing it to incorrect
Incubationmethods.
In my case the hatch-rate didn't improve
until I changed the feeding and addedhay
pellets.Inmyopinion thehatchabilityof the
eggsdepends veryheavilyon thehealthof
theparent tortoises,which in turn isgreatly
influenced by the feeding regime and
maintenance conditions. In my case the
number of dead young decreased
drastically after I changed the feeding
regime. In addition periodic separation of
the sexesduring theegg-laying seasonalso
appears tohaveapositiveeffect,but further
studyof this is required.
Red-Footed Tortoises are generally
productive. In the spaceof somewhatmore
than threeyears I havehad71younghatch
from four females. Bothmales and females
hatchedat thechosen temperature.
In conclusion I would like to say that the
Red-Footed Tortoise is not only a splendid
pet but also readilybreedable.Thedecisive
factor, and one that is often completely
underestimated,isthecorrect feedingofthe
mother tortoise.
If youarenow filledwith thedesire tokeep
Red-Footed Tortoises, your pet dealer can
undoubtedly order some for you from a
reliable
wholesaler
such
as
.
A further varietyof theRed-FootedTortoise (provenanceunknown).
Photo:FrankSchäfer
Literatur
:
Vinke,S.&T. (1996):Köhlerschildkröte–Pflege
undZucht vonChelonoidis carbonaria.
DasAquarium30 (10):44–47.
Vinke,S.&T. (2000):OptimierungderHaltung
undZucht der KöhlerschildkröteGeochelone
carbonaria (Spix,1824) ausderGuayana-
Region.Salamandra36 (4): 233–246.
