Hello and welcome to a new episode of Reptil.TV
I have gone through extra exertions, just for you
I wanted to show you the Aldabra giant turtles
ooops, one is biting me from the back
let me show you this quickly
I don't know
perhaps, when you smell a little bit, they like to bite gently
and this can hurt a little bit sometimes as well
let me continue my introduction
I'm on the Seychelles
I would like to film the Aldabra turtles
they are available in stores since the last couple of years
I wanted to check the climate, the breeding
and that's what I want to show you now
we are now with Albert on his property
here you can see a lot of giant turtles
I think he said they are around 80 of them
Albert's father did breed them here already
and he took over from his father
and there are several breeders on the Seychelles
mostly families
but Albert is doing this since a long time, probably has the largest amount of animals
and he can show and tell us the most
he doesn't like to be interviewed
no problem, I did ask him most of the questions already
I will explain everything one by one
and in parallel we can film the animals
back there is a male
he is trying to pair with this female
and here is one doing it already
it is mating time, end of February
the female wants to leave
its end of February, end of mating season
they start to lay their eggs
this is the population of adult animals
there are 80 animals, 40 males and 40 females
the Aldabra males are tolerating each other
they live here together and are pairing everyone
besides lots of matings, the ratio of unfertilized eggs is relatively high
so its important they mate regularly
the animals are very brave and try to gnaw the shoe laces
in this compound we have young animals
about 15 years old
the midsize ones
they can lay eggs ?
ok, they are to young to mate
I will go inside so that you can see the difference in size
here you can see the 15 to 20 year old ones
so you can see the difference in size
their shell, 40 to 50 centimeters in length
another interesting point by the way
as you can see this one is somewhat puckered
the other ones are totally round
here is one with separated shells
in Germany nobody cares about that
the Japanese and Chinese
they don't like it, think this is not perfect
but in Germany nobody cares
Albert likes it, makes it special
I think so too, has a zig zack texture
so everybody ha his own taste
and interesting enough, have a look, these are relatively round
where was she ?
this one has some bumps
people say this depend on the food and the sun and so on
but all these animals get the same food and as much sun as they want
and still one is bumpy and the other one smooth
so it has more to do with their nature
let me show you the big animals, they are also different
this one is biting me again
they can leave quite some scars in my sneakers
and the are destroying them
so I will leave the biting Aldabra turtles
and show you the other animals
about 50 to 50, male to females
Albert recognizes most of them by their stature
nice example for a female
the females are mostly round, like this one
round shell, those are mostly the females
and the ones with a lengthy shell
lets check if we see the tail
those are the males
on the left this nice round female
and you can see the dragging results on their back
is comes from mating, when the males sit on top and you can see the dragging results on their back
is comes from mating, when the males sit on top
and to our right a male
a more lengthy body
not quite the perfect look we expect
and back there a nice female, nicely rounded
big male, you can see it also by their big tale
and this lengthy body
interesting this lengthy body
can point out the gender, not sure at what age
I also wanted to show a rather bumpy animal
but Albert says its a great female
lays lots of eggs each year
the animal doesn't care
but that's what we don't quite want
more this roundish stature
here you can see a male mating now
while we watch some information about breeding
mating is from October to February
and the females are paring a lot
and still the result is only 50% fertilization
as you now can see very well
stimulation is over the rain period
its raring a lot in November and December
interesting about the change of climate
Albert says the animals become disoriented by the change of climate these days
its not like in the earlier days, sometimes its now raining later in the year
so everything seems to shift in timing
so its not by the biological watch any more and the animals have problems with this
also interesting, they can breed up to 3 times a year
but not one in spring and one in autumn
they lay eggs with 10 to 15 days
they lay 10 to 15 eggs, 10 days later they lay eggs again
or even a third time 10 eggs again
they don't lay them all at the same time
so I thing its basically one hedge over the time of 10 to 15 days
this is seen often
interesting is also the weather and the temperatures
the Seychelles have a tropical climate
I can show you the vegetation here
as you can see green woods on this island
here we are in a little laguna
its a tropical climate, not as hot like in Africa
under 30 degrees during day time in the shadow during day time is 27 to 29 degrees Celsius warm
under 30 degrees during day time in the shadow
during day time you have intense sun shine
and the animals go into the sun
but for a short time only and than they go into the shadow
here is a big tree where the animals can have sun or shadow
like they are doing in nature
where the take short sun showers and spend more time in the shadow
at 28 degrees Celsius
this is now in the afternoon at 16:30h
I have chosen the later time, when the animals are more active
and they get food
its not so hot any more, ok its cloudy as well
but the animals are active, run around and mate
this is the interesting time of the day
also an interesting fact
I expected to film animals in nature
Albert says he has never seen any of them in the wild
we are at Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles
and you can find these animals in private families
all animals are second or third generation breeds
on this island there are none in the wild to be found
there are some smaller islands, where they where put back into the wild
and on Aldabra, where they have their name from
estimating by looking at Google-Maps
at least 1000 to 2000 Km far from here
more towards Africa, that's where you find the Aldabra atoll
there are animals in the wild
but on the main island and around, there are no Aldabras in the wilderness
this one is eating
it is so hungry, just wants to eat
I just asked Albert about adding minerals
there are some snails around here
but he doesn't add them, just feeding some leaves
most are some weeds, growing here
don't know its name
that's the main food, we just get it from this tree
but that's not enough
better are these weeds, growing around here
you have lots of this
Albert, do you feed them every day ?
minimum 3 times a week, he says
Albert is also speaking Germany, he studied in Germany
he studied art
they don't like this ?
they really want the leaves
most of them have whet eyes
you would worry that they have an eye infection
lets ask Albert
there almost no animals with dry eyes
just asked Albert
he says this is ok
Albert is about 50 and has grown up with this
he is living together with these turtles all his live
he knows them every day
he knows everything well
let me show you the surroundings
this is a laguna where the turtles are
the weeds back there is the preferred food
this is Albert's employee, collecting this
he will feed them with this
they are biting into the shoes
interesting, they don't bite into the naked legs
we just talked about gender
he says this one is very flat
as we see the tail
yes, much shorter tail
what weight do you estimate ?
50 to 75 kilograms
here is a male
perhaps a smaller one
now you can see in detail
not as good with the camera
long tail, as we have seen before
and the belly shell, bumped in, known from other turtles as well
let me put in my hand to illustrate
about 10 centimeters deep
15 centimeters, ok
lets turn them back
but it doesn't happen to many times
but it doesn't happen to many times
it doesn't happen to often, that they turn them self's around
back there come sthe food
hope you can see it through the fence
here comes the support ship
Albert says
they know he is coming
today we are disturbing them
but when he comes with food, they run towards him
hectic is something else
now the hectic starts
a little bit delayed, usually it starts when the ship shows comes around
here is the big migration
this male is pushing
this big female is running into the wrong direction
this is a huge female ?
a male, aha !
from the body its more a female, but it is a male
if you want, turn it around
male ?
indeed, a male
young ?
not so typical
for a male it has a round body
here the big feeding
some more information while we watch them eating
20 to 25 years before they are mature
stimulation is during the rain period
during winter, like in our area
mating between November and February
followed by laying their eggs
usually he take the eggs out and breeds them in Vermiculite
but not in a breeding device
he just puts them down here, at around 30 degrees Celsius
and they hedge after 3.5 month
sometimes the females dig down the eggs right here
in this mud
and when the hedge in this mud
it takes about half a month longer
it starts in March
can spread from March to June
due to the climate change this is no longer that precise
in the earlier days this happened all around March to June
but now you can have eggs in August as well
something not happening before, when the weather was more predictable
have a look, this one is climbing over the other one to get to the food
here we see most of the group eating
a few are sitting at the exit
most times there is food as well
but today everything is happening back there
but he can not tell which one is the oldest
but what's your estimate how old they can become ?
we don't know for sure, but around 100 years old
and the breeding is already third generation ?
may be this one is an old one ?
this one is at least 100 years old
this one is amongst the biggest
stay here, he wants to go to the food
I estimate the body length at least 1 meter
the weight I can't estimate
Albert what's your guess ?
100 Kilograms or much more
he thinks 100 kilograms, I think more
can I lift ?
put the microphone between the legs
yes, that's perfect for a slipped disk, that's how you get it
you know what a slipped disc is ? That's how to get it !
they have less weight than what I thought
this is because the Aldabra don't have such a thick shell as the European turtles
its much thinner
if it would be as thick as the European ones in comparison, it would be to heavy for them
it would be 500 Kilograms or more for such a massive shell
that's why they have a relatively thin shell
the young animals feel like leather
that's normal for a young animal
with a European one you would think they are missing minerals
with an Aldabra it feels soft
simply, a big one couldn't carry such a big shell with 10 to 15 centimeters
that's why they have less weight than what you would think about a European one
Albert and I will try to lift it alone
let me estimate
more than 100 kilograms
it has around 150 kilograms
it was a good test
here are some young animals
this is the teenager area
well closed
Albert just told us that this week they stole two animals from another breeder here
two young ones to show you the size
how old are they ?
some ten years
5 to 10 years
here are smaller ones
back there they are around 10 years
and you can tell about their gender ?
difficult
aha, here, like a bra
you think most are females around here ?
to early, they are still to flat
and the shape, the males are longer sometimes ?
so the females round and shorter
this might be a female because it is short and round ?
the long one here may be a male ?
this is not exact
and here the babies
we said they lay their eggs from March to May
hedge 4 month later
so they hedged between September and November
you can see different sizes
he is doing a race
that's the Aldabra kindergarten
one turned around
that can happen, Albert tells us
and back again
and a view from above
a nice sequence for the end
in the middle of these gigantic animals, with some smaller ones around
I will show you the real big ones as well
a nice ending scene, the Aldabra's around me
smacking quite well
like back home, with my three kids at the table
that's what I wanted to show, the beautiful gigantic Aldabras
here on the Seychelles
unfortunately not in the wild
these big turtles
that's it for today, go and see the Seychelles, if you have a chance, very nice
visit these turtles
stay true and check these big balls
I'm on the Seychelles
now we have again the Betty Ford appearance
I couldn't get my hands out
have a look, I'm surrounded by really big turtles
each one nicer than the other one
wait, stop, did we push record?