Have Tortoise Getting German Shepherd

[TortieGal]

There was a couple that had a dog and a tortoise that shared a back yard for many years, they trusted the dog and thought they were friends untill on day they came home to a chewed tortoise missing a leg. Please do not ever trust the dog its not worth the life of your very cool old friend.
Maybe your turtle gets agressive when you feed him meat because he's lacking it in his diet.
Welcome to the forum glad you found us!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Your tortoise is a box turtle and because it's a small box turtle you can put him in a habitat to live with lights and substrate like he should be living. I am prone to tell you it is not good for him to be living on the floor, his beak is badly overgrown and his toenails are too long. If you care for him you need to set him up like we have set up our turtles and tortoises and not only will he be more healthy but safer from the dog. I cannot stress enough to you how dangerous it is to leave the dog and turtle together. So why don't you think of making a nice safe habitat for the turtle and feeding him more correctly and making him more healthy all around. Like Yvonne told you, you can buy a cheap book case and lay it on it's back, take out the shelves and add some substrate and you have a nice safe home for your turtle. You could also keep him in a large aquarium, but they are more expensive...

 

[Angi]

A Christmas tree storage box could make a nice home for him too. Try giving him some worms and snails. I have a Rat Terrier and he is afaid of reptiles...., but I still don't trust him with my tortoises or turtle. I just can't take a chance of anyone getting hurt. It would kill me. I worry about them getting bad germs from each other also, so they arn't even allowed on the same surface. I was really bad when my kids were little, yeah I know I am a bit if a nut

 

[Snapper]

Many people have dogs and tortoises/turtles, and it works out fine. I have a dog, and while I know he wouldn't dare do anything while I'm watching, I can never be sure what he would do if I left them alone. I think think the best senario is to aquire an enclosure, and supervise all interactions between turtle and dog.

 

[Floof]

Back when I had two tortoises and a box turtle, I had 4 dogs in the house. The only dog that ever showed interest in the reptiles was banned from the room they were kept in. The other three didn't give a rat's patootie about the scaly things. The two I still have now especially don't care about them; the older one takes off running when a reptile gets close because she knows she's not supposed to bother them, and the younger one will just as soon lay down and take a nap with a bearded dragon on his back. The latter even sat a foot away from an escaped snake for a good 5 minutes once, not caring that the potential prey item was so close, and he still didn't care to move when I finally saw and apprehended the snake. He could be mauled by one of my bearded dragons and I could almost guarantee that he'd sooner turn tail and run than defend himself.

Despite how mellow, laid back, and utterly lacking in prey drive my two dogs are, there is NO WAY I would leave either with any of my smaller pets without strict supervision. Even the most reliable dog can turn around and go completely against all his previous training and behavior and one day decide the scaly creature next to him is food or a chew toy. There's just no guarantee when it comes to dogs and small animals. And with a BIG, powerful, high prey drive dog like a GSD, I wouldn't even have them together supervised!

And all of that is beside the fact that it's in your turtle's BEST interest to give it its own habitat away from the rest of the household. Even if it seems like the turtle enjoys having free reign, for all you know, he could be suffering and struggling down there. His "activity" could be him trying to find a warm enough place, or panicking because there's nowhere to hide in the big space. He certainly doesn't look to be in the best health, with that extremely overgrown beak and overgrown nails. I also have to wonder if he's even splay-legged--but one can't tell that from a picture since it could just as well be him just laying stretched out. I would have to guess that part of the only reason he's still eating and defecating regularly is because of the soaks you give him every day--probably warm water, right? It's probably the only time he actually gets warm enough all day to digest his food.

Of course, I could also be wrong about all of the above. Whether you choose to leave your turtle's living arrangements as-is or take the forum's advice and give it an appropriate habitat is your own decision. Those of us who have talked about this issue are just trying to tell you, using experience and knowledge, what is the better choice for the health of your turtle.

Anyway, welcome to the forum! I hope to see you stick around a while and learn more about your Eastern Box Turtle.

 

[FigueroaFamily]

RE: UPDATE Have Tortoise Getting German Shepherd

I really appreciate everyone's advice. We will not be getting Zeus anymore because he is a restricted breed in our apartment complex. Your advice was very valuable if we decide to get a dog in the future. All of the advice regarding the care of Tita is good too. I have relayed all of it to my husband who makes all final decisions about Tita. We are very glad to know he is an Eastern Box Turtle - I have been researching them since yesterday and so many things fit! I will definitely be sticking around the forum. Thanks again!

Hi Everyone! New member to the forum. We have a 32 year old male tortoise named Tita (in my profile picture). We don't know what type of tortoise he is or even how to go about finding out what kind. My husband had his father but we don't know about the mother or anything. We don't take him to a vet because we are under the impression that tortoises are endangered and are afraid he will be taken away. Those are probably questions for another time. My question is this:

How do I introduce and acclimate a tortoise to a 10 year old male German Shepherd (Zeus)?

Now you should know that we don't have any other pets but Tita and he has the run of the apartment. We put him in the tub every other day (so he can drink and use the bathroom) but he basically thinks he owns the place. He can be viscious sometimes and his idea of play is toe biting! My husband is concerned that Tita will bite Zeus and draw blood.

Any ideas for us?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Floof]

I'm so sorry you're unable to get Zeus. It always breaks my heart to hear about another county, city, or even just property owner "ban" whole breeds from their premises.

I'm glad you're looking further into Tita's care. Hopefully your husband will agree that her own, cozy habitat is the best thing.