johnscottroe
New Member
First of all, I'm new to the forum as a member but have monitored it for a few years because, well, I like tortoises and have since I grew up roaming the south Alabama woods looking for gopher tortoises (which down there, they are literally just referred to as "gophers" which caused great confusion when I left home and people insisted to me that gophers were mammals).
Anyway, I've had a female Redfoot for seven years now and quite enjoy her. She's a great tortoise and very interactive. I live just outside of Atlanta, so late fall and winter she has her indoor setup in the basement (made out of a kiddie pool rigged up with the needed equipment). The rest of the year she has her 8x8 outdoor enclosure made from landscaping timbers. It has been and continues to be a good experience with Thumper and she's always been happy (at least to the extent a reptile expresses happiness) and healthy.
What I have always wanted since I was a kid is an Aldabra. Well honestly, what I used to want was a Galapagos but that's not really something you can obtain legally very easily. I do think I'm finally about ready to look at acquiring one. As part of that process I've found it's always good learn about the experiences of others. So I thought I would finally join the forum and see what information I could pry out.
Some opening information about my situation:
Yes I know this is a huge and powerful animal and become that in relatively short order.
My property sits on 2 acres of land.
I'm very comfortable with the husbandry of my red foot which covers a lot of the general tortoise keeping information.
Previously I've kept snakes and lizards and continue to keep fish, so I've had a good deal of experience with different flavors of exotics and managing environmental conditions that are different than northwest Georgia.
However, what I don't have is specific Aldabra experience beyond brief interactions at zoos and admiring them from afar. So I have some questions that maybe go beyond some of the care sheets I've found (mostly on here with this being a bit of a noncommon exotic). I'm certainly interested in hearing what people with experience I don't have would say to these.
1. What does your setup look like? Just based off of what I've seen at zoos what I'm thinking about is something like a 50x50 outdoor enclosed area with one of those sheds like you see at Home depot set up and kept warm in the winter or cool in the summer. In the beginning I would probably create a setup like what my redfoot has, but that's not going to last too long with these guys.
2. What do you think are the key components of a good setup?
3. Red foots do not brumate. My understanding is that Aldabras do. I'm interested to know your experience with this process since I would taking it on for the first time. I'm happy to review links on this subject, but I am primarily interested in personal experiences and personal processes. Honestly this is my biggest concern related to the health of the animal at this time.
4. How do you move them when you need to when they get big? One would hope that is a rare occurrence, but assuming a situation where you had to move the animal (say it was sick or injured or needed to be moved into shelter ahead of a big storm) you may have to move them at some point. The best I could come up with would be using food to coax the tortoise onto a pallet (solid top of course) and using a pallet jack to wheel it around. Even a sub adult does not seem like an easy thing to forcibly move.
5. With the big guys do you typically have a vet come to you? I would suspect it's like having cows or horses and you find a vet to make house calls.
6. One would guess they eat more than a redfoot obviously. What's quantities do you typically provide? What do you specifically provide and where do you find to be the best place to acquire it?
7. Going back in time, what would you have done differently in the beginning with yours?
8. What's something someone may not think about going into the project they should address?
9. What's a good checklist to look for in evaluating a potential Aldabra beyond the standard issues you may look for in a new tortoise?
10. Any red flag breeders/importers to steer clear of? Or to avoid slander are there any things that one should expect to see in a good breeder/importer?
11. Any other personal experience advice you have?
Thanks for any advice provided!
John
Anyway, I've had a female Redfoot for seven years now and quite enjoy her. She's a great tortoise and very interactive. I live just outside of Atlanta, so late fall and winter she has her indoor setup in the basement (made out of a kiddie pool rigged up with the needed equipment). The rest of the year she has her 8x8 outdoor enclosure made from landscaping timbers. It has been and continues to be a good experience with Thumper and she's always been happy (at least to the extent a reptile expresses happiness) and healthy.
What I have always wanted since I was a kid is an Aldabra. Well honestly, what I used to want was a Galapagos but that's not really something you can obtain legally very easily. I do think I'm finally about ready to look at acquiring one. As part of that process I've found it's always good learn about the experiences of others. So I thought I would finally join the forum and see what information I could pry out.
Some opening information about my situation:
Yes I know this is a huge and powerful animal and become that in relatively short order.
My property sits on 2 acres of land.
I'm very comfortable with the husbandry of my red foot which covers a lot of the general tortoise keeping information.
Previously I've kept snakes and lizards and continue to keep fish, so I've had a good deal of experience with different flavors of exotics and managing environmental conditions that are different than northwest Georgia.
However, what I don't have is specific Aldabra experience beyond brief interactions at zoos and admiring them from afar. So I have some questions that maybe go beyond some of the care sheets I've found (mostly on here with this being a bit of a noncommon exotic). I'm certainly interested in hearing what people with experience I don't have would say to these.
1. What does your setup look like? Just based off of what I've seen at zoos what I'm thinking about is something like a 50x50 outdoor enclosed area with one of those sheds like you see at Home depot set up and kept warm in the winter or cool in the summer. In the beginning I would probably create a setup like what my redfoot has, but that's not going to last too long with these guys.
2. What do you think are the key components of a good setup?
3. Red foots do not brumate. My understanding is that Aldabras do. I'm interested to know your experience with this process since I would taking it on for the first time. I'm happy to review links on this subject, but I am primarily interested in personal experiences and personal processes. Honestly this is my biggest concern related to the health of the animal at this time.
4. How do you move them when you need to when they get big? One would hope that is a rare occurrence, but assuming a situation where you had to move the animal (say it was sick or injured or needed to be moved into shelter ahead of a big storm) you may have to move them at some point. The best I could come up with would be using food to coax the tortoise onto a pallet (solid top of course) and using a pallet jack to wheel it around. Even a sub adult does not seem like an easy thing to forcibly move.
5. With the big guys do you typically have a vet come to you? I would suspect it's like having cows or horses and you find a vet to make house calls.
6. One would guess they eat more than a redfoot obviously. What's quantities do you typically provide? What do you specifically provide and where do you find to be the best place to acquire it?
7. Going back in time, what would you have done differently in the beginning with yours?
8. What's something someone may not think about going into the project they should address?
9. What's a good checklist to look for in evaluating a potential Aldabra beyond the standard issues you may look for in a new tortoise?
10. Any red flag breeders/importers to steer clear of? Or to avoid slander are there any things that one should expect to see in a good breeder/importer?
11. Any other personal experience advice you have?
Thanks for any advice provided!
John