Great question Wellington ( by the way great to see that you haven't changed a bit!)Nice, but aren't you worried the zebras will hurt the torts? I sure wouldn't think that would be a good idea.
Glad to see you haven't changed either!
Glad they do well together. I know all about horses and horse hooves, had a few over the years and have felt them too. Not Zebras though. Usually the ones I have seen were in a zoo or on tv, of course wild. Usually crazy, running and kicking their heels up.
Yes, I would worry about the accident of kicking at a fly, being spooked and running crazy and stepping on a sleeping torts head, etc. Then again, if I were raising them myself, I would know more about their behavior and surroundings.
Btw, if you dont mind a question. Why do you have zebras? A love for them or do you have a small/large petting zoo? They are beautiful.
Your animals and property are stunning! It looks like heaven on earth and something to really admire. Thank you for sharing all of the pictures. I hope you’ll continue to update this thread in the future.Sure I can answer that question too, however the point of my update on tortoise forum was to share the story of these tortoises growing up over a longer period of time instead of the typical “I have a new tortoise post” but then disappear or “I’m top dog breeder/ dealer” post. The original photo with the zebras was a couple out of a dozen photos in the update, not meaning to make a point about zebras rather a point about their lives over the last 5 years.
The reason I keep zebras probably isn’t too different than why many keep tortoises. I am a veterinarian with an interest in exotics and have a large personal collection of exotics on 80 acres in north central Florida. I keep giant tortoises ( currently 28 from hatchling to subadult) because I find peace in sitting with a quiet uneedy peaceful creature at the end of the day. In equestrian terminology, I feel tortoises can be explained and classified as “pasture ornaments”. Tortoises seem simply happy in captivity provided correct environmental conditions and diet which is very important... stressed captives have stressed keepers... a recipe for mutual suffering. That is why when choosing exotics in my collection, I choose animals that are happy enough with what I can provide- large pastures. Hoof stock such as zebras fit this bill. They are happy to graze and get an occasional treat, but don’t need constant attention or maintenance. Zebras, like tortoises, are my pasture ornaments. Conversely I don’t keep monkeys ( containing a large plot of woods in 3 dimensions isn’t practical), big cats ( same reason as monkeys plus the threat to the general public in private collections), or anything that cannot be provided correct environmental conditions or stimulation to be happy in captivity. Zebras enjoy a scratch behind the ears ( human touch) like my giant tortoises like a neck scratch, then they are left alone to graze on pasture and I get to just watch them do their thing at the end of the day.
Now if you don’t mind a question, as a moderator, why do you think their is such a disparity on the tortoise forum and social media alike, between the sub populations of contributing tortoise keepers and the absence of keepers following their first “I got a tortoise post”? For example, for Aldabra tortoises, the contributing members are either within their first year of owning a juvenile or they are a single long time keeper/ breeder of adults that they acquired as adults? They are fairly hardy species, so it’s hard to believe many of the juveniles don’t make it. Similarly not many juveniles are being regimes second hand on the open market from individual keepers, so loss of interest doesn’t seem to explain the lack of contributions from keepers in the later years of keeping and growing. Could it be that many tortoise keepers grow tired
of the online game of taking the time and effort to make a post only to have it stepped on by keyboard experts or dealer egos that feel threatened? What do you think we could do better, as a tortoise community, to keep the the “middle tortoise keeper class” contributing and involved in the community? I feel like a lot of us “in the middle” have a lot to contribute but find the online community is a place to avoid.
That’s awesome your aldabra are growing up too! 10 acres is a huge amount of land for a few tortoises to take a bite out of. Where are you located? Although you’ll hear from adult giant tortoise keepers that horse fencing isn’t adequate, it is a great option with modifications to fence off pasture for young and subadult tortoises. To avoid getting a head stuck or too much rubbing, I place fence boards along the bottom stacked 2 or 3 high. It is also aesthetically pleasing incorporated into 4 board and wire style horse fencing. The horse fence tension helps to keep the fence erect and standing, as well as unwanted animals out. Also With horse fencing you can round your corners instead making them 90 degree turns where the tortoises like to corner themselves. I attached some pics belowHi TortoiseDVM, have you had any issues with the tortoises eating the Zebra poop? Have you had problems with them trying to walk through the wire horse fencing?
We're on 10 acres and I am still trying to figure out our future plans for housing our 3 young Aldabras and hatchling Galapagos. The Aldabras are 3-4 years old now and weigh between 40 and 50lbs. Currently they are in a 16x16 enclosure but its time to expand again.
Have you ever moved the tortoises between the pastures on your property? I was wondering how they handle a change to the location of their night box. We have upgraded their enclosure on more than one occasion and it really seems to throw them for a loop with returning to their heated box every night.
Thank you Krista! Cheers to tortoise time ?Your animals and property are stunning! It looks like heaven on earth and something to really admire. Thank you for sharing all of the pictures. I hope you’ll continue to update this thread in the future.
We are in the treasure coast area. We don't have horses, only fainting goats, kune kune pigs and lots of poultry. We had water buffalo at one point, they were sweet and gentle but boy did they hate turtles. They would kill any water turtle they found trying to cross from the canal to our pond.That’s awesome your aldabra are growing up too! 10 acres is a huge amount of land for a few tortoises to take a bite out of. Where are you located? Although you’ll hear from adult giant tortoise keepers that horse fencing isn’t adequate, it is a great option with modifications to fence off pasture for young and subadult tortoises. To avoid getting a head stuck or too much rubbing, I place fence boards along the bottom stacked 2 or 3 high. It is also aesthetically pleasing incorporated into 4 board and wire style horse fencing. The horse fence tension helps to keep the fence erect and standing, as well as unwanted animals out. Also With horse fencing you can round your corners instead making them 90 degree turns where the tortoises like to corner themselves. I attached some pics below
My tortoises haven’t shown much interest in horse/ zebra/ cow manure, but I would only be concerned if the animal that left the pile was recently dewormed. This goes for dog and cat poop as well which tortoises do have a for ?Many dewormers and heartworm preventatives contain ivermectin which is deadly to tortoises, so if any ivermectin escaped absorption/ digestion in the mammal it was administered to it could be consumed in the feces theoretically. I’d say a week after deworming horses/ dogs their manure/ poop is safe enough not to worry about but maybe some effort to avoid to letting eat dog/ cat feces if possible.