Shipping tortoise eggs?

[Lucille]

There is currently a vendor selling tortoise eggs. I am curious as to whether the transportation process would damage the eggs or render them unhatchable. Does anyone have experience or an opinion? I would think that if a well known vendor sold eggs and none hatched the subject would come up in the BOI, and this vendor has no adverse BOI reports, but I am still curious about the general subject.
There is a completely different issue, the sale of parrot eggs, and that is often a scam because of the low cost of the eggs compared to the very high cost of the birds which may run into many tens of thousands of dollars, plus there are various national export statutes, so I feel the two subjects are not comparable.
But I'm mostly interested in the biological explanations, and whether temperature and positional fluctuations during shipping would have an affect on the eggs.

 

[Beyond GenetiX]

I’ve never owned a tortoise and have absolutely no experience with them. However I have shipped chameleon eggs before, shortly after they were laid. The hatch rate was a lot higher than I expected, if I remember correctly, 9 out of 10 hatched. I believe it was about a week after laying and I shipped them overnight as if a live reptile.

Again, these were not tortoises.

I don’t think it is a scam but I’m sure there are risks involved. Price and risk, versus payoff.

 

[Lucille]

There is nothing preventing buyers from simply buying already hatched animals. I'm just curious about the shipping process and how it affects tortoise eggs.

Of course if I was going to actually send hard earned dollars, I'd do an internet search and see how many vendors sold tortoise eggs and do some research into the success of the process, and for sure I would ask the vendor for references of actual successful sales. If I got references I'd check 'em, if I didn't, I'd pass.

I don't mind spending a dollar on a lottery ticket, but if these eggs are more than a dollar, I'd do fact checking and reference checking.

 

[Beyond GenetiX]

I agree 100% with researching the process and the person. In my case, I was giving them away and no money was involved.

 

[Lucille]

Jason what a nice thing that was for you to do!!

 

[mrawesomeman24]

No personal experience with tortoises here either, but I would imagine it works well with tortoises because of something involving the "chalking" process, where the egg whitens if it is fertile a few days after hatching. Unlike some reptile eggs, where you can tell fertility almost immediately (which I imagine indicates the embryo has begun and is more fragile?), tortoises have that wait period, so they may be more forgiving for the time period before they chalk.

This is all speculation, I'm no expert on the biology of eggs, but that is what would make most sense to me logically looking at the development process.

 

[rbetz-Tortstork]

Email me, I’ll give you references. [email protected]. Just shippped put some eggs yesterday. All are safe and sound in their incubator. I ask customers to do unboxing videos, I post them on my YouTube channel. And I post the link on my website. I will be uploading the unboxing of the ones today, early tomorrow morning. If you want to see the videos now, email me. If you want to chat about the process, email me, I’ll give you my cell so we can chat. I wicked passionate about this venture. It works.

 

[Lucille]

Randy it would be good if your references (egg purchasers with positive outcomes, meaning they not only got there but they hatched into healthy baby turtles) could post on the BOI. And this thread would be a great place for you to go over the process and answer questions as I find the idea interesting and would like to get the particulars.

 

[Helenthereef]

Incubation temperature determines sex, so I'd imagine constant temperature during shipping would be vital, but I don't know at what stage in the egg development.

I've just had a look at the thread that started this discussion ( http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=651238&page=2 ), and without being ANY sort of tortoise expert, but being a basic biologist, I'd hazard a guess that if they are shipped VERY early after laying, (and at a stable temperature, not sure how you'd control that), before there has been much cell division, you might be OK, apart from the gamble as to whether they were fertile or not. If you ship once the embryo develops further and starts to differentiate into specific tissues and organs, the risk of movement affecting the development would be much greater.

However, I restate my ignorance of the specifics - these are just thoughts.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Just do it yourself, it's not crazy expensive and they you will know beyond any further doubt.

 

[bklynsfinest312]

The only problem i see with this is if your buying an egg one would think it would cost significantly less than the price of an already hatched tortoise. But from what I seen from people selling them that is not the case at all.

 

[Lucille]

One problem is (still) that there does not seem to be single positive BOI report of a successful egg sale, ship, and hatch not only from this vendor but from any vendor, unless (and I welcome this) someone can find one that I missed.

That coupled with the post William just made about expense, and it seems to be an expensive gamble that might work, but I myself would not gamble that kind of money without a positive BOI track record.

 

[bklynsfinest312]

One problem is (still) that there does not seem to be single positive BOI report of a successful egg sale, ship, and hatch not only from this vendor but from any vendor, unless (and I welcome this) someone can find one that I missed.

That coupled with the post William just made about expense, and it seems to be an expensive gamble that might work, but I myself would not gamble that kind of money without a positive BOI track record.

Exactly I would take a gamble at 25% cost of the actual tortoise. I wouldnt buy an egg as where I could purchase the actual tortoise for the same price. IMO it doesnt seem right you pay that much with the risk involved and no gurantees.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[Lucille]

Just do it yourself, it's not crazy expensive and they you will know beyond any further doubt.

You seem to be saying that the way to approach a questionable action is instead of researching information just do it. That is not very scientific, because there are variables involved. And as William pointed out it is expensive, often approaching the cost of a hatchling.

 

[rbetz-Tortstork]

Email me. Would love to talk to you over the phone and answer any of your questions. This has already been proven. Data has been collected. In fact, There is a short article about tortstork in May/June 2018 issue of reptile magazine. This isn’t for someone that just wants a pet. Those people should spend a little more and buy an actually tortoise. This is for people who want to hatch their own tortoise. Think of it like adopting verse having your own child. Might be a far fetched analogy, but hopefully it makes sense like that. I’m okay with people not being okay with this. That’s what makes the world go round. But please know what you are talking about before you start bashing anything in life. Take the time to email me and learn about what I have been doing for the last three years to make this venture work.

 

[Lucille]

Email me. Would love to talk to you over the phone and answer any of your questions. This has already been proven. Data has been collected. In fact, There is a short article about tortstork in May/June 2018 issue of reptile magazine. This isn’t for someone that just wants a pet. Those people should spend a little more and buy an actually tortoise. This is for people who want to hatch their own tortoise. Think of it like adopting verse having your own child. Might be a far fetched analogy, but hopefully it makes sense like that. I’m okay with people not being okay with this. That’s what makes the world go round. But please know what you are talking about before you start bashing anything in life. Take the time to email me and learn about what I have been doing for the last three years to make this venture work.

I always find it suspicious when people try to take topics private 'email me' 'call me'. If you have interesting info you can post it right here.
I am curious about all sorts of stuff, fortunately my Dad a scientist and researcher encouraged that.
But more than anything else, here, I encourage information and ask questions for the benefit of those people HERE who want to make an informed decision prior to purchase, and not gamble away or lose their hard earned money.

I suggested this once before: talk about the interesting stuff here and get positive references to write up their experience on the BOI. If there is no info here, and no references on the BOI, I call it like I see it, which is an expensive gamble.

 

[rbetz-Tortstork]

I always find it suspicious when people try to take topics private 'email me' 'call me'. If you have interesting info you can post it right here.
I am curious about all sorts of stuff, fortunately my Dad a scientist and researcher encouraged that.
But more than anything else, here, I encourage information and ask questions for the benefit of those people HERE who want to make an informed decision prior to purchase, and not gamble away or lose their hard earned money.

I suggested this once before: talk about the interesting stuff here and get positive references to write up their experience on the BOI. If there is no info here, and no references on the BOI, I call it like I see it, which is an expensive gamble.

I have nothing to hide or be suspicious about. I just don’t like wasting people’s time. A person like yourself, is hard to convince that something new and creative is working. So I have better luck talking live or having a private email conversation with them to answer any questions they might have. For anyone else who is curious, they can visit my website, a lot of information is on my website.
Regarding BOI, I didnt even know what that was, I had to look it up, I’ve never even clicked on that tab ever. Torstork hasn’t been advertised on classifieds a lot. This option of hatching your own tortoise is clearly not for you. You probably hatch hundreds of hatchlings a year of many different species, common and rare. I bet Your successful, your BOI is jam packed full of amazing positive reviews, you’re probably running out of paper daily from all the shipping labels you’re printing. I understand that your skepticle, that’s okay, ask me any question you want and I’ll answer it. You won’t be happy or believe my answers bc I’m getting the sense that you find a problem with ever solution regardless how great the idea is. But I’ll answer your questions.
You’re also the reason why I’ll be locking my ads going forward. I’m too busy to be trying to convince someone that is hard to convince. Follow me on Instagram @tort.stork, I post successful stories there often.

 

[Lucille]

But I’ll answer your questions.

You have agreed to supply references several times. Is there even one person who has successfully received via shipment and hatched an egg from you?
It seems as if the questions I am asking are relevant to the business. You are asking people to send quite a bit of money for an egg, surely someone asking whether it has been done even once is a question you might expect.

And even if it has never been done, where people have either not sent money or the egg shipped out didn't hatch, just be honest and share your plans to improve.

 

[rbetz-Tortstork]

Is this the only social media thing you do? I have a bunch of references. I post it All on my Instagram. I’m not going to put all their names on this thread. I update my website with them as well. Google tortstork. Buy the reptile magazine this month there is an article about tortstork and how it changed someone’s life. Email me, I’ll send you the article. I’ll also connect you with a bunch of people who have done this. I will also send you videos of successful eggs. Stop being so difficult you’re making yourself look ridiculous. I’m not a huge company. I’m a hobbyist that is supplying an option to hatch your own tortoise. If you don’t like it, move on. If you like it, research or just email me like everyone else has done.

 

[NortheastReptiles]

I recieved my first egg from Tortstork earlier this week. It arrived safely and on time. Within 24 hours of being placed in the incubator it has already begun to chalk. Check out my instagram @northeastreptiles for photos and testimony. I could not be happier with the entire experience. Randy, the owner, has answered my every question along the way super quick. This dude has years or experience in tortoise care, including the hatching process. He has PERFECTED the shipping of these eggs. Within 48 hours of being laid my Sulcata egg was safely in my incubator. Chalking started soon after and has spread farther since. There is risk in any pet you buy over the internet. To me watching this little Sulcata break through and take its first gasp of air right in front of me is well worth the price tag.