# AFTCRA success! 3rd Clutch of Mary River Turtle hatchlings



## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Hi Just thought I'd mention (for all the turtle freaks out there) that we have bred our 3rd clutch of Mary River turtle hatchlings so far with 2, maybe 3 more to come this season.

The only reason that I mention this is that they are so hard to breed in captivity with even large institutions that have been trying to breed them for years with large number of adults failing to do so! There is a breeding action plan for this endangered species in institutions that keep them and to date there has been no breeding success.

We (AFTCRA Inc) are working on a joint proposal with Dr Colin Limpus of the Qld EPA to be the first private breeders of an endangered species in Australia to be released back into the wild for conservation purposes. Hatchlings will be given a clutch ID. If they are recaptured in following years they will then be given individual ID's as well! 

It would be fantastic to eventually see some of our captive bred hatchlings coming up to breed in 15-20 years time! 

Cheers, Craig

We may be offering a few hatchlings for sale to help raise money for more hatchling ponds and equipment. We also need to raise money for a bore and solar pump.

We are looking for a corporate sponsor to provide funding for this major conservation project which will be a 'first' in Australia! 

If you know of any large corporations that may be interested in doing something conservation minded please let us know by contacting us at [email protected]


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## Chrisreptile (Jan 27, 2007)

Well done.


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## Hickson (Jan 27, 2007)

How much do you need for the bore and solar pump?



Hix


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Hix said:


> How much do you need for the bore and solar pump?
> 
> 
> 
> Hix



Hi Hix,

We need to raise $8,800.00 for the bore and solar pump!

Cheers,

Craig


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Chrisreptile said:


> Well done.



Thanks Chris!


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## Saz (Jan 27, 2007)

Congratulations Craig, that's awesome news!

:0)


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Saz said:


> Congratulations Craig, that's awesome news!
> 
> :0)



Cheers, thanks Saz! Love seeing these little guys hatch out!


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## olivehydra (Jan 27, 2007)

congrats on the bubs  lets hope there is a future for their habitat so as a release option is viable - keep up the good work!


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

olivehydra said:


> congrats on the bubs  lets hope there is a future for their habitat so as a release option is viable - keep up the good work!



Thanks Dorian, I agree! The habitat is the biggest conservation disaster that AFTCRA has had to work on so far. There is no point releasing hatchlings into an environment that cannot support and sustain them!

BTW, below is a closeup of the Azolla in the hatchy pond that Gab just took for you.

Cheers,

Craig


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## ad (Jan 27, 2007)

Well done Craig and Gabe for the effort you put into AFTCRA.
Every herp should support your work,
To hatch these guys would be particularly pleasing I would imagine, congrats!
Cheers
Adam.


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## ex1dic (Jan 27, 2007)

yep, definately awesome project in progress. Keep up the good work


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

ad said:


> Well done Craig and Gabe for the effort you put into AFTCRA.
> Every herp should support your work,
> To hatch these guys would be particularly pleasing I would imagine, congrats!
> Cheers
> Adam.




Hi Adam, and thanks!

Yes we're stoked that the work we put into to AFTCRA and the turtle dam during the off season has paid off.

Cheer
Craig


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## mrdestiny (Jan 27, 2007)

Well done Craig and Gabrielle! How much would the hatchlings be that you might be selling?
Allan


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## brentf (Jan 27, 2007)

well done guys I hope u find a sponsor for your very worthwile project.So when those wee guys grow up they will have a habitat to live in.


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## MrSpike (Jan 27, 2007)

Good stuff Craig! Hopefully they will become more common in captivity and in the wild! If i had the money, i would gladly donate to you guy's! Keep up the good work!

Kane


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## Adandiluvsmyreptiles (Jan 27, 2007)

Thats is just totally awesome! Well done. U must be over the moon!


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

Adandiluvsmyreptiles said:


> Thats is just totally awesome! Well done. U must be over the moon!



Hi Tennille,
Thanks and yes it's great to get quite a few clutches of these guys out!

Cheers,

Craig


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## expansa1 (Jan 27, 2007)

mrdestiny said:


> Well done Craig and Gabrielle! How much would the hatchlings be that you might be selling?
> Allan



Hi Allan,

We'll probably ask $150 each for them. Every cent will be donated to AFTCRA for the Mary River turtle breeding project!

Thanks also to every one else who has commented on the hatchy success!

Regards,

Craig


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## zulu (Jan 27, 2007)

*re AFTCRA*

Is this turtle the same Mary River turtle on my 02 and 04 class 1 species list as Elusor Macrurus Y2776 ,so its endangered in the wild and hard to breed in captivity LOLz,no wonder storrs monitors and womas,broad shelled turtles are on class 2 its a lottery arrangement,something wrong somewhere,probably NPWS or Enviro Cons just dont give a toss about reptiles maybe?????


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## expansa1 (Jan 28, 2007)

zulu said:


> Is this turtle the same Mary River turtle on my 02 and 04 class 1 species list as Elusor Macrurus Y2776 ,so its endangered in the wild and hard to breed in captivity LOLz,no wonder storrs monitors and womas,broad shelled turtles are on class 2 its a lottery arrangement,something wrong somewhere,probably NPWS or Enviro Cons just dont give a toss about reptiles maybe?????



Hi Zulu,

Yes it's the same species. Heaps were presumed to still be around from the days when a fellow from Maryborough almost devastated this species and over a 10 year period took between 100,000 and 150,000 eggs from the Mary River with most being the Mary River turtle, formerly known as the Pet shop turtle. These were sold to Pet shops in Qld, Nsw, Vic and S.A. NSW N.P.W.S presume that there are still heaps around and don't really care that much about them as they are not native to NSW. That is why they are on a class 1 licence down there!

Cheers,

Craig


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## zulu (Jan 28, 2007)

*re AFTCRA*

Thanks for your reply Craig,yeh what the hell put them on class 1,the little guy has to have a few goodies on his license,nice folks at the DEC but their a bit dopey when it comes to wildlife,they do have really nice hand writing and banking skills.


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## Zeus_the_beardie (Jan 29, 2007)

Thats GREAT news, good job !

How is the dam going Craig ? Hope all turns out well with these great hatchies !


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## hornet (Jan 29, 2007)

congrats craig, you must be over the moon


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## hornet (Jan 29, 2007)

they are on the specialist permit in qld i would guess?


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## Zeus_the_beardie (Feb 1, 2007)

Thats GREAT news, good job !

How is the dam going Craig ? Hope all turns out well with these great hatchies !


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

hornet said:


> they are on the specialist permit in qld i would guess?



I'm not too sure. We have a recreational licence with endorsements for specialist species. On a standard recreational licence you can keep 2 class 1 species.

Regards,

Craig


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

Zeus_the_beardie said:


> Thats GREAT news, good job !
> 
> How is the dam going Craig ? Hope all turns out well with these great hatchies !



Premier'Pig-headed' Beattie still wants to go ahead even though W.A has a desalination plant that has cost $387 million as against the estimated $3 billion for the Mary River mega-dam. The desalination plant is also cheap to run as they are using wind turbines to generate the electricity to power it. 

It doesn't make sense, this method will guarantee water and will consistently produce about 8 times more water than the mega-dam can ever provide as the dam may never fill and has to rely on good rainfall.

Regards,

Craig


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## Kyro (Feb 5, 2007)

Thats great news Craig, congrats on a job well done Have you tryed contacting LandCare to ask for their help to raise $, they are absolutely fantastic at fundraising as they will hit up all the big corporations for $ on your behalf.Good luck & if you need a number for someone to talk to at Landcare then PM me & I will see what I can do 

Kyro


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

Kyro said:


> Thats great news Craig, congrats on a job well done Have you tryed contacting LandCare to ask for their help to raise $, they are absolutely fantastic at fundraising as they will hit up all the big corporations for $ on your behalf.Good luck & if you need a number for someone to talk to at Landcare then PM me & I will see what I can do
> 
> Kyro



Thanks Kyro, pm sent!


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

I forgot to mention that our 5th clutch of Mary river turtles started hatching this morning!

Craig


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## cris (Feb 5, 2007)

Good news craig 
What sort of pond setup and size would be required to keep these guys, would a standard pond pump be good enough for water flow?


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## Aslan (Feb 5, 2007)

5? you guys are out of control! 

Your place will be lousy with Mary River Turtles!!

What are you guys doing differently to the other agencies who are failing to breed them successfully?


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

cris said:


> Good news craig
> What sort of pond setup and size would be required to keep these guys, would a standard pond pump be good enough for water flow?



Hi Cris, a minimum 8-10,000 litre pond or rainwater tank would be able to house a few adults and some juvies.

Yes a 90 watt pond pump / 6,000 litres and hour would be sufficient


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## expansa1 (Feb 5, 2007)

Aslan said:


> 5? you guys are out of control!
> 
> Your place will be lousy with Mary River Turtles!!
> 
> What are you guys doing differently to the other agencies who are failing to breed them successfully?



Placement of nesting banks, with sand all the way to the water as well as an increased flow rate at a certain time of the year! The same triggers they get in the wild!


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## Aslan (Feb 5, 2007)

I presume they're all harassing you for details now..?? 

Prolly hurts to be showed up by private herpers...have the other agencies all been supportive? It would be nice to think that they would appreciate some success and help each other out, but you never know with some organisations...


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## Adam (Feb 5, 2007)

You truely are to be congratulated!!!!! Good on you and thanx for helping our herps for the future!!!!


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## dazza_wilto (Feb 5, 2007)

Well done Craig and Gabrielle and hopefully you can raise the money needed


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## Macca (Feb 6, 2007)

Well done guys, that's great success. You may be able to get some good life-history data as a result of these breedings which would also help towards the species conservation.

"I presume they're all harassing you for details now..?? "

To my knowledge, there is only one wildlife park in Queensland that have been attempting to breed this species.

In terms of reintroductions, should it be endorsed and go ahead, that would be a great demonstration of how a private keeper can assist in the conservation of a threatened species. The only other incidence I know of where an endangered herp is being reintroduced into the wild by a private breeder is a Green and Golden Bell Frog re-introduction program, with the site located on NSW south coast. In fact, the only conservation-based reptile introduction I am aware of in Australia is of a small Ctenotus by Perth Zoo. 

Hence, if this introduction goes ahead, even if only as a trial in initial years, it would be a great success and could provide some great data on survival of the young ones and the use of reintroductions as a conservation tool for the species should things go further downhill in the wild.

Keep up the good work,

Cheers,

Macca


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## horsenz (Feb 6, 2007)

aawww..... they're little darlings!!!!
it's fantastis that you guy's are giving back to the wild... congratulations and well done!


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