Burmese star tortoise for sale

The Burmese star tortoise for sale (Geochelone platynota) is a critically endangered tortoise species, native to the dry, deciduous forests of Myanmar (Burma).

The Burmese star tortoise has radiating star-shaped patterns on its strongly domed carapace. It has bumps on its shell that look like stars. This tortoise can easily be distinguished from the more common Indian star tortoise by comparing the plastrons of the two species.

The breeding of the Burmese star tortoise is difficult, and its first successful breeding in captivity was in Taipei Zoo, Taiwan, where a few Burmese star tortoises were hatched in 2003.

Yadanabon Zoological Gardens is also currently engaged in a captive-breeding program to attempt to increase the population of this tortoise.

Starting with 200 tortoises in 2004, by October 2017, there were 14,000 tortoises in breeding programs and 1000 have been reintroduced into the wild. On 31 July 2021, Richard Branson announced two baby Burmese star tortoises were born on his private island, Necker Island, as part of his ongoing conservation work for the species.

The carapace of G. elegans is very convex, with dorsal shields often forming humps; the lateral margins are nearly vertical; the posterior margin is somewhat expanded and strongly serrated. It has no nuchal scute, and the supracaudal is undivided, and curved inward in the male; the shields are strongly striated concentrically.

The first vertebral scute is longer than broad, and the others are broader than long, with the third at least as broad as the corresponding costal. The plastron is large, truncated or openly notched in front, and deeply notched and bifid behind; the suture between the humerals is much longer than that between the femorals; the suture between the pectorals is very short; the axillary and inguinal sutures are rather small.

Burmese star tortoise for sale head is moderate in size, with the forehead swollen, convex, and covered with rather small and irregular shields; the beak is feebly hooked, bi- or tricuspid; the edges of the jaws are denticulated; the alveolar ridge of the upper jaw is strong.

The outer-anterior face of the fore limbs have numerous unequal-sized, large, imbricate, bony, pointed tubercles; the heel has large, more or less spur-like tubercles; a group of large conical or subconical tubercles is found on the hinder side of the thigh. The carapace is black, with yellow areolae from which yellow streaks radiate; these streaks are usually narrow and very numerous. The plastron likewise has black and yellow, radiating streaks. The Indian star tortoise can grow to 10 inches long.

Females typically reach sexual maturity around 8–12 years old, while males reach sexual maturity around 6–8 years old. Males will compete for mates and assert dominance by ramming into other males and trying to flip them onto their backs.

Around 60–90 days after the female mates, she will search and try to find an area to dig a nest where she will then lay her eggs. Female star tortoises can lay anywhere from one to nine clutches annually, with each clutch containing one to ten eggs.After she lays her eggs, she will cover them back up with the sand and the eggs have to be incubated for 50–180 days.

 The egg of a star tortoise is a hard but also brittle shell that usually weighs 12-21 grams each. When the eggs are first laid they are a pinkish translucent color, then after 2–3 weeks, the eggs become white. The determination of the sex of the tortoises is temperature-dependent.

With temperatures between 28-30 degrees Celsius, mostly males will hatch. Temperatures between 31-32 degrees Celsius will result in mostly females hatching. Instead of having a distinctive star, the hatchlings’ carapace is a black or brown color with yellow rectangular blotches.