New keeper need advice
- Thread starter Ian555
- Start date
For others wanting to see what you are buying and offer advice here is the pets4homes ad
http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/1326257-3-leopard-tortoises-2-male-1-female-coventry.html
http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/1326257-3-leopard-tortoises-2-male-1-female-coventry.html
Just noticed their poor diet on the ad - not good at all and needs changing asap. I think potatoes are bad for them. See the caresheet for diet.
Mine loves dandies and plantains and clovers amongst other weeds, but when they are in short supply I have to use shop bought salad bags like Florette classic crispy or sainsburys mixed leaf or Aldis mild salad and crispy salad (with the iceberg removed)
Not all lettuces are good for them and a cherry tomato is a very rare treat. I use 'Readigrass' ground in a blender then sprinkled on the food and sprayed with water to make it stick to add fibre. I also give Romaine, Pak Choi, kale and spring greens occasionally, I try to vary the diet as much as possible. I use a pinch of calcium supplement a couple of times a week andhe has a cuttlefish bone (as for birds) to nibble on when they feel like it.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is anther good website for tort safe plants
I also soak mine every day as I struggle to keep humidity up indoors.
Mine loves dandies and plantains and clovers amongst other weeds, but when they are in short supply I have to use shop bought salad bags like Florette classic crispy or sainsburys mixed leaf or Aldis mild salad and crispy salad (with the iceberg removed)
Not all lettuces are good for them and a cherry tomato is a very rare treat. I use 'Readigrass' ground in a blender then sprinkled on the food and sprayed with water to make it stick to add fibre. I also give Romaine, Pak Choi, kale and spring greens occasionally, I try to vary the diet as much as possible. I use a pinch of calcium supplement a couple of times a week andhe has a cuttlefish bone (as for birds) to nibble on when they feel like it.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is anther good website for tort safe plants
I also soak mine every day as I struggle to keep humidity up indoors.
Hi Ian:
Your best bet is to set them up in the garden with a heated, insulated shed. My leopard tortoises live that way:
Inside the shed I put a few cinder blocks to give them each a corner to push into, plus there are pig blankets on the floor and heat lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Your best bet is to set them up in the garden with a heated, insulated shed. My leopard tortoises live that way:
Inside the shed I put a few cinder blocks to give them each a corner to push into, plus there are pig blankets on the floor and heat lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Your garden is plenty large enough to keep all the tortoises together. I have my males and females together. It doesn't cause a problem at all. They come and go at will from the heated/insulated shed, even on the coldest days.
having trouble uploading
S/he has a lot of pyramiding so guess they've been kept pretty dry.
Mine has some too, but since I've been soaking everyday I think the new growth is smoother.
Other clues I was told are that males eventually tend to have a concave plastron for mating, and the anal scutes (I think that's what they're called) tend to be more u shaped on the female for eggs and more v shaped on males.....but as I said even my vet got it wrong!
My guess would be that the small male is a female comparing it to Lola's tail but don't take my word for that!
Mine has some too, but since I've been soaking everyday I think the new growth is smoother.
Other clues I was told are that males eventually tend to have a concave plastron for mating, and the anal scutes (I think that's what they're called) tend to be more u shaped on the female for eggs and more v shaped on males.....but as I said even my vet got it wrong!
My guess would be that the small male is a female comparing it to Lola's tail but don't take my word for that!
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Hello Ian.
Remember that this is a tropical species. They need warm temps day and night year round. In a climate like where Yvonne and I live, its easy to make a large outdoor enclosure and put a heated shed in it for the tortoises to sleep in on cold nights or our occasion cool winter days where the highs only reach about 15-16 C. Most of winter is sunny and warm here though, and the tortoises can come out and bask in the sun all winter long. We get weeks in the winter where the daily highs exceed 27 C. Most of winter here we get daily highs between 21 and 27 C. Winter nights will occasionally drop below 0 C, but the next day is usually warm and sunny again, and the tortoises are snug and warm in their overnight boxes.
If you let these tortoises get too cold, day or night, they are likely to get a respiratory infection. The dampness of your climate makes this even more likely. This is difficult and expensive to treat, and sometimes its fatal. The dampness of your climate makes this even more likely. This is especially true when they are suffering through the tremendous stress of a move and finding themselves in totally unfamiliar territory.
If I lived in a climate like yours, I would build a large indoor enclosure for each of these guys, and then use the large outdoor yard for them on warmer summer days. The number of days in your area that will have weather suitably warm for this species are relatively few, so a large indoor enclosure of some sort should be seen as a necessity. The only thing wrong with a typical "viv", is that they are made much too small. You'll have to make your own viv, and make it large enough for the species you've chosen to work with. Might be easier to convert and heat an entire room for them, rather than to try and make a traditional "enclosure".
Read this one for more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Remember that this is a tropical species. They need warm temps day and night year round. In a climate like where Yvonne and I live, its easy to make a large outdoor enclosure and put a heated shed in it for the tortoises to sleep in on cold nights or our occasion cool winter days where the highs only reach about 15-16 C. Most of winter is sunny and warm here though, and the tortoises can come out and bask in the sun all winter long. We get weeks in the winter where the daily highs exceed 27 C. Most of winter here we get daily highs between 21 and 27 C. Winter nights will occasionally drop below 0 C, but the next day is usually warm and sunny again, and the tortoises are snug and warm in their overnight boxes.
If you let these tortoises get too cold, day or night, they are likely to get a respiratory infection. The dampness of your climate makes this even more likely. This is difficult and expensive to treat, and sometimes its fatal. The dampness of your climate makes this even more likely. This is especially true when they are suffering through the tremendous stress of a move and finding themselves in totally unfamiliar territory.
If I lived in a climate like yours, I would build a large indoor enclosure for each of these guys, and then use the large outdoor yard for them on warmer summer days. The number of days in your area that will have weather suitably warm for this species are relatively few, so a large indoor enclosure of some sort should be seen as a necessity. The only thing wrong with a typical "viv", is that they are made much too small. You'll have to make your own viv, and make it large enough for the species you've chosen to work with. Might be easier to convert and heat an entire room for them, rather than to try and make a traditional "enclosure".
Read this one for more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
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