New tortoise owner questions

Meganolvt

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I have owned a tortoise for 6 days, this is my first one ever. I have a lot of questions, but i'll try to be brief. I got him from a rescue guy who had only had him for a few days. He is a yellow foot and maybe 7 years old. I dont have any history on him except he has been passed around a few times and his last owner didn't have a great set up for him. He has a misshapen shell (it is shaped like a saddle). I adore him but have questions about his behavior. I know about enclosure requirements and diet, but I don't know anything about behavior. He seems pretty social and walks around my house like he owns the place. I can touch his shell and have kind of petted his head a bunch. He doesn't "strike" like I have seen some turtles do, but he has started opening his mouth a lot. Not breathing, but like in a I want to fight you way. He was biting at my husbands foot and actually humped it. I assume the biting and humping was a mating thing. I'm trying to decide if the opening his mouth goes along with that or if it is a defense mechanism. He is a great eater and I have indoor and outdoor enclosures for him, although both could really be a bit bigger. He had diarrhea today but he has been eating a lot of fruit and I dont know if he's ever even had it before. I am checking his poop tomorrow at work (I work for a vet) and am going to deworm him. I have dogs that bark at him sometimes. I'm sure the dogs stress him out and he will chase them with his mouth open. I'm looking for confirmation that this is an aggressive behavior (which I realize would be normal). I want to try to minimize his stress, and am wondering if this behavior is somewhat normal in this situation.

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wellington

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Hello and Welcome and congrats on rescuing this one. I don't know much about YF, but no tortoise should be fed a lot of fruit, too much sugar, bad for gut. Also, they should not roam around a house, many things they could pick,up,and cause problems. They should also never be left unsupervised, 1000% around dogs. Eventually the dogs will think it's a chew toy and this one has had a bad enough life. Tortoise will open their mouths to yawn and when mating, but usually there is a sound when mating.
Others will be along to help with other things.
 

Meganolvt

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I know about the roaming, he never gets to run around unsupervised (or be around the dogs unsupervised). Basically he is either outside or in his enclosure, but I do let him walk around for a little while if he hasn't gone outside (I live in Michigan and in the 6 days i've had him the temps have been all the way from 89 to 69 degrees during the day.) There is so much conflicting info about how much fruit is ok, so he has been getting kale + a combination of tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, apples,or carrots. Also he did eat a little bit of low fat cat food the first day. Oh he also ate clover one day. I guess I just don't know what signs of stress are in a tortoise, or in him anyway.
 

ascott

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I know about the roaming, he never gets to run around unsupervised (or be around the dogs unsupervised). Basically he is either outside or in his enclosure, but I do let him walk around for a little while if he hasn't gone outside (I live in Michigan and in the 6 days i've had him the temps have been all the way from 89 to 69 degrees during the day.) There is so much conflicting info about how much fruit is ok, so he has been getting kale + a combination of tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, apples,or carrots. Also he did eat a little bit of low fat cat food the first day. Oh he also ate clover one day. I guess I just don't know what signs of stress are in a tortoise, or in him anyway.


Sure looks loke this tort has had it rough..likely the sway back/ damaged shell is a result of a pretty significant injury...not much to be concerned with at this stage...I would be sure to set the tort up in a place where the dog can not stress him out with the barking , which they can feel, and the quick motion of an excited dog...the tort has not been with yiu long enough to begin feeling calm and secure...also, you don't know its life before you....I would be patient and also understand to not be afraid of being pinched/bitten as you will be fine...now a child's delicate skin can be harmed by an assertive tort...
 

Angel Carrion

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I know about the roaming, he never gets to run around unsupervised (or be around the dogs unsupervised). Basically he is either outside or in his enclosure, but I do let him walk around for a little while if he hasn't gone outside (I live in Michigan and in the 6 days i've had him the temps have been all the way from 89 to 69 degrees during the day.) There is so much conflicting info about how much fruit is ok, so he has been getting kale + a combination of tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, apples,or carrots. Also he did eat a little bit of low fat cat food the first day. Oh he also ate clover one day. I guess I just don't know what signs of stress are in a tortoise, or in him anyway.
Side note away from what everyone else has said; law fat cat food is okay if he is refusing to eat for an extended period of time, but please do not offer him any type of cat food often at all. Honestly low fat moist dog food would be better to use if he is refusing to eat and nothing else is working. Cat food will make a tort and turtle pee out the free-floating calcium in their blood stream and cause a calcium deficiency, which their bodies will try to correct by sapping calcium from their bones and shells which will cause Metabolic Bone Disease. Once is fine, and very infrequently to stimulate appetite if refusing to eat is okay, but too often and this will be an issue. I just wanted to give you a heads up so that you know not to offer it often.
 

Meganolvt

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ascott said:
Sure looks loke this tort has had it rough..likely the sway back/ damaged shell is a result of a pretty significant injury...not much to be concerned with at this stage...I would be sure to set the tort up in a place where the dog can not stress him out with the barking , which they can feel, and the quick motion of an excited dog...the tort has not been with yiu long enough to begin feeling calm and secure...also, you don't know its life before you....I would be patient and also understand to not be afraid of being pinched/bitten as you will be fine...now a child's delicate skin can be harmed by an assertive tort...

Thank you for the reassurance, it helps to have someone remind me to be patient. I have had cats and dogs so long it is an adjustment to have a pet who doesn't climb up in bed with me, you know what I mean? I'm glad I found this forum, it's really going to help me.
 

Meganolvt

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Michigan
Side note away from what everyone else has said; law fat cat food is okay if he is refusing to eat for an extended period of time, but please do not offer him any type of cat food often at all. Honestly low fat moist dog food would be better to use if he is refusing to eat and nothing else is working. Cat food will make a tort and turtle pee out the free-floating calcium in their blood stream and cause a calcium deficiency, which their bodies will try to correct by sapping calcium from their bones and shells which will cause Metabolic Bone Disease. Once is fine, and very infrequently to stimulate appetite if refusing to eat is okay, but too often and this will be an issue. I just wanted to give you a heads up so that you know not to offer it often.

Thanks, luckily he's a good eater. I have read to use both dog and cat food once in a while, so again, conflicting info. I know all about MBD, and I know it's awful. I have info from both veterinary resources (I am a veterinary technician) and from actual owners (like on here), and i'm trying to take both into consideration (because they are often different)!
 

ascott

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Thanks, luckily he's a good eater. I have read to use both dog and cat food once in a while, so again, conflicting info. I know all about MBD, and I know it's awful. I have info from both veterinary resources (I am a veterinary technician) and from actual owners (like on here), and i'm trying to take both into consideration (because they are often different)!

You can also use Mazuri tortoise food...the redfoots tortoise and red ear slider turtles loose their mind over it..also, if you look up member TerryO you can likely find the venison recipe she would oull together..sounded as though it would have a smell that would encourage appetite and would likely be a touch better than cat or dog food...also, I will offer up freeze dried red shrimp to the redfoots here..and they also go crazy for the stinky things...the aquatic turtle bugs are a handy item in that they are smelly and are good protein shots...some of the aquatic turtle stuff will have red river shrimp..meal worms...crickets and are freeze dried so you will not have to play in the mess so much..you can seve up a plate of bugs alone or you can season a pile of greens...you can even introduce some pill bugs and nightcrawler worms into the enclosure and let the tort hunt em down...
 
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