november rain
New Member
Hello everyone
I need advice on what to do with two batches of baby torts. I am looking for both short-term and long-term solutions.
In August 2022, my husband and I moved into a house where four adult tortoises lived in the backyard. We decided to just let them be and didn’t interfere in their lives. About a month later, in the beginning of September, I was driving into the garage and almost ran over a tiny baby tort sitting in the middle of the driveway. Later that week, we found six more babies in the flowerbed by the driveway. There was nothing to eat on that flowerbed, so I tried to feed them, but they were not interested in eating or drinking. As it got colder in late October, I started feeling bad for them because it was cold and it was raining almost every day, and they would just sit there, tiny little things. We are not big pet people, but I felt responsible for these babies and decided to take them in for the winter. I felt that they wouldn’t survive winter if left outdoors. I found six of the babies but couldn’t find the seventh.
We have a large, finished basement and that is where we created a habitat for them about 3 feet wide and 15 feet long plus two large boxes on either side of one end of it. I wasn’t able to maintain room cold enough for them to get into hibernation, so they ended up being active all winter. I got them proper substrate, lamps, humidifiers, and food. They were fun to watch, if a handful at times, and seemed to be normal and happy. However, people from another tortoise forum told me that I shouldn’t have taken the torts in and should have just let them do what they do in nature. Ever since then, I felt very bad about my decision to take the torts in especially since I didn’t intend to keep them as indoor pets and wanted to put them back in the yard when the weather would get warmer. Additionally, my husband and I are in this house only for a couple of years, and I have no idea what to do about the torts when we have to move.
Last April, as we were preparing to build an outdoor enclosure in the backyard for the six torts we had, we found five more baby torts. They must have hatched about the same time as the first batch, and we just had no idea. It was still cold outside and the torts looked frail, so I took these ones in too, but within a few days, sadly, one of them died. Then, a week or two later, I found the seventh tort from the first batch. He looked even smaller and frailer than the torts from the second batch, and I thought he’d die too. He couldn’t even eat and I had to help him eat, but he survived.
In May, I put all 11 babies in the outdoor enclosure that is bigger than their indoor home. They freaked out at first but got used to living outdoors and did well in the summer months. Some of them were less active because it was very hot, but others enjoyed the heat and were very active. I fed them every day and most days, the active ones wanted to eat twice a day.
It got cold here in the last several days and it was raining hard for the last two days. The torts started showing up for shorter periods of time and now spend about 20 hours a day in their little houses. Yesterday, I saw them looking miserable again, in this cold and rain, and felt bad for them. One of them was covered in dirt from head to claws, and I thought that his house could be full of mud. So, I started thinking again about what to do about them.
Should I leave them be or should I take them in for another winter? If I take them in, should I keep their room cold and let them hibernate or warm and let them be active?
We will be moving out in either 10 or 20 months; this is under consideration at this time. The next tenant is likely to have dogs cats or both, and I am not sure they will want to take care of the torts even if they live in an outdoor enclosure. We cannot take the torts with us, plus, 11 torts are a lot of pets especially when they become adults. We are not likely to live in a place with a backyard large enough to house 4-7 groups of torts. My husband took the four adult torts that made all these babies to an abandoned field by the river in the countryside and says that once these babies grow bigger, we can take them to that field too. But it was rather painful for me to see the adult torts being removed from the backyard, and I cannot imagine what it will be like to have to take these babies somewhere and leave them there. There is no animal shelter that would be willing to take tortoises, and trying to give them out for adoption is not likely to work either. The locals are not that interested in having torts as pets, and the few Americans that I know here have dogs and cats and, just like us, they are here only temporarily.
I need advice on what to do with two batches of baby torts. I am looking for both short-term and long-term solutions.
In August 2022, my husband and I moved into a house where four adult tortoises lived in the backyard. We decided to just let them be and didn’t interfere in their lives. About a month later, in the beginning of September, I was driving into the garage and almost ran over a tiny baby tort sitting in the middle of the driveway. Later that week, we found six more babies in the flowerbed by the driveway. There was nothing to eat on that flowerbed, so I tried to feed them, but they were not interested in eating or drinking. As it got colder in late October, I started feeling bad for them because it was cold and it was raining almost every day, and they would just sit there, tiny little things. We are not big pet people, but I felt responsible for these babies and decided to take them in for the winter. I felt that they wouldn’t survive winter if left outdoors. I found six of the babies but couldn’t find the seventh.
We have a large, finished basement and that is where we created a habitat for them about 3 feet wide and 15 feet long plus two large boxes on either side of one end of it. I wasn’t able to maintain room cold enough for them to get into hibernation, so they ended up being active all winter. I got them proper substrate, lamps, humidifiers, and food. They were fun to watch, if a handful at times, and seemed to be normal and happy. However, people from another tortoise forum told me that I shouldn’t have taken the torts in and should have just let them do what they do in nature. Ever since then, I felt very bad about my decision to take the torts in especially since I didn’t intend to keep them as indoor pets and wanted to put them back in the yard when the weather would get warmer. Additionally, my husband and I are in this house only for a couple of years, and I have no idea what to do about the torts when we have to move.
Last April, as we were preparing to build an outdoor enclosure in the backyard for the six torts we had, we found five more baby torts. They must have hatched about the same time as the first batch, and we just had no idea. It was still cold outside and the torts looked frail, so I took these ones in too, but within a few days, sadly, one of them died. Then, a week or two later, I found the seventh tort from the first batch. He looked even smaller and frailer than the torts from the second batch, and I thought he’d die too. He couldn’t even eat and I had to help him eat, but he survived.
In May, I put all 11 babies in the outdoor enclosure that is bigger than their indoor home. They freaked out at first but got used to living outdoors and did well in the summer months. Some of them were less active because it was very hot, but others enjoyed the heat and were very active. I fed them every day and most days, the active ones wanted to eat twice a day.
It got cold here in the last several days and it was raining hard for the last two days. The torts started showing up for shorter periods of time and now spend about 20 hours a day in their little houses. Yesterday, I saw them looking miserable again, in this cold and rain, and felt bad for them. One of them was covered in dirt from head to claws, and I thought that his house could be full of mud. So, I started thinking again about what to do about them.
Should I leave them be or should I take them in for another winter? If I take them in, should I keep their room cold and let them hibernate or warm and let them be active?
We will be moving out in either 10 or 20 months; this is under consideration at this time. The next tenant is likely to have dogs cats or both, and I am not sure they will want to take care of the torts even if they live in an outdoor enclosure. We cannot take the torts with us, plus, 11 torts are a lot of pets especially when they become adults. We are not likely to live in a place with a backyard large enough to house 4-7 groups of torts. My husband took the four adult torts that made all these babies to an abandoned field by the river in the countryside and says that once these babies grow bigger, we can take them to that field too. But it was rather painful for me to see the adult torts being removed from the backyard, and I cannot imagine what it will be like to have to take these babies somewhere and leave them there. There is no animal shelter that would be willing to take tortoises, and trying to give them out for adoption is not likely to work either. The locals are not that interested in having torts as pets, and the few Americans that I know here have dogs and cats and, just like us, they are here only temporarily.
