Re: “A gentle giant: Manouria emys“ by
ThorstenHoltmann,News101:8-10
DearHerr Schäfer,
In reading thisvery informativearticle Iwas
taken aback by the statement, under the
subheading “Peaceful giants“,
that
“Practicallywithout exception, all tortoises
are solitary and have little idea of how to
get on with conspecifics” and that the
males are very aggressive towards
members of their own sex and terrorize
females.
My experience as a breeder of European
tortoiseshasbeenquiteotherwise:my two
breeding groups (Testudo hermanni
boettgeri andTestudograeca ibera)havea
balance of the sexes and nevertheless
there isnoconflictbetween themales.And
I cannot say there has been any
terrorizationof femalesby themales. In the
event of any individual case of excessive
boisterousness then themale inquestion is
removed toa sparepen for a fewdays.
In thecaseofmyadult IndianStarTortoises
(
Geochelone elegans
) an almost ideal
harmony prevails among the animals: I
havenever yet seenany fightsorbiting.
One final example: every year I have the
opportunity to studyagroupofmore than
100 sexually mature Aldabra Giant
Tortoises (
Dipsochelys dussumieri
) for a
wholedayonan island inthe IndianOcean.
Here too I have remarked no conflict.
Mating takes place without any previous
courtship – there is no spitting and no
bitingat all.
So it really isn’t correct to say that
“practically all” tortoises are socially
intolerant.
Withbestwishes,
HorstKöhler
)
Kaloulapulchra
.
Photo:FrankSchäfer
NEWS102
3
Re “Focus on Kaloula pulchra” by John
Dawes,News101:12-15
DearHerrGlaser,
I like your magazine TERRALOGNews a lot,
and I always particularly enjoy reading the
items about newarrivals in theworldof the
terrariumhobby.
As long ago as 1978 I solved one of the
problems experiencedby your author John
Dawes, seeNo 101 (final paragraph,bottom
right).Perhapsyoucouldgivehimmyworkas
the information may help him with his
research!
Withbestwishes,
AlfredA.Schmidt,FrankfurtamMaine
Editorialnote:
Herr Schmidt encloseda reprint of hiswork,
Erst-Nachzucht des Indischen Ochsen-
froschesKaloulapulchra (Amphibia:Salientia:
Microhylidae). Salamandra 14 (2): 49-57,
whichwewillcertainlypassontoJohn.Many
thanks for this important information!
Here isasummaryofthearticle:
A spawning by the Asian Painted Frog,
Kaloulapulchra
,on21.IV.1978was reported.
Theeggswere round,small (0.7 to1.4mm in
diameter), and with little surrounding
gelatinousmatter.The spawning tookplace
during the night hours, with much loud
callingby themale.Afterspawning,theeggs
covered the surfaceof thewater.No signof
fungussingwasdetected.
At a water temperature of 26°C the
development of the larvae proceeded very
rapidly, as they swam free as soon as 22. IV.
1978.They received finely crushed fish food
(TetraMin,TetraOmin,andTetraPhyll)which
was scattered on the surface of the water
and also consumed there. Metamorphosis
tookplace from5.V.1978onward, that is15
days after spawning.The young frogs hada
head-rump length of 1 cm and ate freshly-
hatchedCrickets(
Gryllusbimaculatus
)aswell
as Enchytrae. There were no noticeable
losses through the entire development
period.
Theveryshorttimespanof15dayssuggests
that in the wild these frogs spawn in
temporary
pools
and
transitory
accumulations of water, and hence rapid
development isessential tospeciessurvival.
Readers’ Letters
