PenskeFIle
New Member
Hi Everyone, I am the proud father of a 13-year old boy who has kept two tortoises for about the past three years.
One is a Russian named "Edward" and the other is (supposed to be) a Greek named Apollo. In the photos below, you can see each. Edward is the darker tort and Apollo is slightly lighter and slightly smaller.
We have kept the two living together during that time, which I see from many comments here is not the recommended approach. I've never seen any bad behaviors from either however, but I guess I need to trust the judgement of others who have more experience.
The two have lived together in a large glass terrarium with a reptile bark substrate and UV lighting for most of that time. We have had a couple outdoor pens also however and they've gotten a lot of outdoor time, mostly day-only. This year however, they have spent most of their time outdoors since the spring. We live in Central Texas, so the weather is pretty amenable to year round outdoor living for them. It's been a very unseasonably wet time recently (literally all-time record recorded rainfall) so they've come back inside when its been very wet.
My goal is to build them a new and improved outdoor habitat incorporating all of the best practices I see on this site and other resources. A second goal is to grow ourselves as much of their food as we can. I know they are getting too much lettuce in their diet and I'm trying to get my son to mix it up more with carrots, cucumber, greens and the occasional bit of fruit. We have not done a good job of keeping a calcium bone or sprinkling their food with calcium, but have started up again recently
My other goal is to take on an adopted Sulcata. While the Wiki article on Sulcata's claims that rescue facilities are full and unable to accept more, I've not been successful in finding any that are ready for adoption.
Below are pictures on the two. I'm interested in any observations or feedback on their appearance.
One is a Russian named "Edward" and the other is (supposed to be) a Greek named Apollo. In the photos below, you can see each. Edward is the darker tort and Apollo is slightly lighter and slightly smaller.
We have kept the two living together during that time, which I see from many comments here is not the recommended approach. I've never seen any bad behaviors from either however, but I guess I need to trust the judgement of others who have more experience.
The two have lived together in a large glass terrarium with a reptile bark substrate and UV lighting for most of that time. We have had a couple outdoor pens also however and they've gotten a lot of outdoor time, mostly day-only. This year however, they have spent most of their time outdoors since the spring. We live in Central Texas, so the weather is pretty amenable to year round outdoor living for them. It's been a very unseasonably wet time recently (literally all-time record recorded rainfall) so they've come back inside when its been very wet.
My goal is to build them a new and improved outdoor habitat incorporating all of the best practices I see on this site and other resources. A second goal is to grow ourselves as much of their food as we can. I know they are getting too much lettuce in their diet and I'm trying to get my son to mix it up more with carrots, cucumber, greens and the occasional bit of fruit. We have not done a good job of keeping a calcium bone or sprinkling their food with calcium, but have started up again recently
My other goal is to take on an adopted Sulcata. While the Wiki article on Sulcata's claims that rescue facilities are full and unable to accept more, I've not been successful in finding any that are ready for adoption.
Below are pictures on the two. I'm interested in any observations or feedback on their appearance.
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