New baby torts, need some advice

[Bradari]

Hi there. so here is my story. a while ago I had 3 leopard torts which I eventually had to rehome due to them falling in the pool and my dogs not wanting to leave them alone. it was 2 females and 1 male.
last week I found a baby tort roaming around in my back yard, very small, very young, then on Monday I found another baby a bit smaller than the 1st. now the only thing we can think of is that the torts I had could have layed eggs ad these by some miracle hatched from the eggs. cause tortoises are not somin u just find in your yard where I live.

So now my questions are as follows, I have then in a huge wooden reptile tank, with a IR light for heat and I put them outside for sunlight for a couple of hours every day, cool side of tank is approx. max 26 degrees celcius, warm side of tank about 32 degrees, prob is winter hasn't really hit us yet and im worried those temps will drop how do i warm the tank further?
I give them 3 warm water soaks a day, so far only feeding them lettuce and then they eat the grass and weeds outside. i know i need to vary their diet a bit more, and i need to get them a calcium supplement.

so far they seem to be doing very well, eating and very active, just want to know what else i should be doing for them. i cant get much info on south African tortoise care

 

[Yvonne G]

We have a pretty good care sheet at the top of the Leopard tortoise section. You can also read the care sheet for sulcatas - pretty much the same care.

Please look carefully around your yard. There are probably more babies out there

If I'm remembering correctly, you're in South Africa. Is it possible these are wild babies?

Any of the dark, leafy greens that you can buy in the store for you would be ok to offer to your babies. And since you actually live where the tortoises come from, you can feed them any of the wild plants that grow in your area.

The most important thing is to keep them in a humid environment. I notice they're already starting to pyramid. You can stop this by moistening the substrate, covering the tort table and providing a humid hiding place (moistened sphagnum moss for them to hide under).

 

[Bradari]

Thank you for the reply
Yep I am in south Africa Def not possible that they are wild, I live in a very urban area and its def not somewhere that baby torts would just pop up lol

The humidity thing is my biggest worry, I have no clue where to get the moss from is there any other way to provide the humidity they need? I also noticed the slight pyramiding when I found them so that is my biggest concern right now. they are in a huge wooden reptile tank which is already enclosed. do u think the temps I have them at are ok?

 

[CourtneyG]

Hey I am South Afrikan as well. Just want to throw this out there, but the laws are still in place that it is illegal to own native species of tortoises.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

You definitely need to keep them well hydrated and in a proper environment. Is that carpet in their enclosure? If so, I'd toss that out and give them an "earthy" type of substrate. Sink that food dish into the dirt and another one just like it for water. Then get a big tupperware type of container and put it in the enclosure upside down. Cut a hole out of the side to make a doorway and you've got a nice humid hide.
Keep your temps warm. In Fahrenheit, I keep it above 80 at all times and offer a basking area on rock with temps of about 95-100.

Check out those care sheets Yvonne mentioned and let us know if you have any more questions. Reading up on "closed chambers" will be good, too.

Here is a chamber I use for hatchling leopards. Just to give you a visual and possible ideas.

Hey I am South Afrikan as well. Just want to throw this out there, but the laws are still in place that it is illegal to own native species of tortoises.

I'm curious, what would happen if someone keeps a native species? I know here in CA you are required to have a permit to keep the native Desert Tortoise. Is there something similar over there?

 

[CourtneyG]

Not that I am aware of, they are confiscated from people. If they can be released they are, those that cannot, go to places. My mother and her friend worked with the program where in both their back yards they kept a mix of the species there.

 

[Bradari]

Thank you for your replies. I am in the process of getting the humidity up in there, the carpet was just in for the 1st day, I now have orchid bark in for the floor.

Courtney I am aware of this and I got a permit when I had my last 3 (the last 3 were by me as rescues), in the process of finding out about a permit for these lil ones, cause obviously I didn't expect them.

right so my one lil dude squirtle has been a bit sleepy and not really eating so this morning I stuck them both in a warm baby food soak, they were in it for at least 10 mins before I left for work this morning. another prob has come up now, last night our power was out and the heating in the tank was off for a while so temps were down this morning. another thing ill have to fix this weekend.