mrs_chillers
New Member
Hi Everyone!
My husband and I have been given 3 Horsfield tortoises by a friend who is moving house and wanted them rehomed.
We have had them for a week now, we have 2 males and 1 female.
They are 5 years old and have always lived together in a wooden terrarium.
After doing research and joining this forum we know that they need to be split up, ASAP. We also are not convinced that the terrarium is ideal for them as it has glass sliding doors which are difficult to open and close and the tortoises sometimes press themselves up against the glass wanting to get out I suppose! So my husband has made a great table for Bernadette but the 2 males are still living together until my husband can make the new table for Sir Hiss. Fred is going to live with my sister in a couple of weeks and she is organising a suitable house for him.
The lamps in the current terrarium where the boys are living for the short term (basking and UV fluorescent tube) did not seem to work so we have a new basking lamp in there but the new uv tube doesn't work for some reason so we have a new 2 in 1 clip on lamp on its way from eBay. So no uv for a while. We have been putting them outside every day in a rabbit run with a lid on, what ever the weather as apparently they like rain and it's a good way to hydrate them(?) but we are in England so we are worried it may be getting too cold outside for them.
This week we have noticed that Fred (the smallest of the 3) has been blowing bubbles from his nose, we are worrying that this is a sign for RI but are not sure what to do. Any help and advice are most welcome.
They are all eating, drinking and pooing regularly. We feed them mostly dandelion leaves and rose petals sprinkled with calcium substrate powder.
Bernadette is always trying to escape (what can we do about this?!)
They have never hibernated either as my friend was told by the pet shop not to let them hibernate until they were 5, we are scared about hibernation as again, it's completely new to us!
We love all 3 tortoises very much and want to do what is best.
I have read quite a lot of fact sheets and so has my sister as we are all researching how to care for them properly, it's just so much to take in!
Any help welcome. Sorry for the long post. Thank you all!
My husband and I have been given 3 Horsfield tortoises by a friend who is moving house and wanted them rehomed.
We have had them for a week now, we have 2 males and 1 female.
They are 5 years old and have always lived together in a wooden terrarium.
After doing research and joining this forum we know that they need to be split up, ASAP. We also are not convinced that the terrarium is ideal for them as it has glass sliding doors which are difficult to open and close and the tortoises sometimes press themselves up against the glass wanting to get out I suppose! So my husband has made a great table for Bernadette but the 2 males are still living together until my husband can make the new table for Sir Hiss. Fred is going to live with my sister in a couple of weeks and she is organising a suitable house for him.
The lamps in the current terrarium where the boys are living for the short term (basking and UV fluorescent tube) did not seem to work so we have a new basking lamp in there but the new uv tube doesn't work for some reason so we have a new 2 in 1 clip on lamp on its way from eBay. So no uv for a while. We have been putting them outside every day in a rabbit run with a lid on, what ever the weather as apparently they like rain and it's a good way to hydrate them(?) but we are in England so we are worried it may be getting too cold outside for them.
This week we have noticed that Fred (the smallest of the 3) has been blowing bubbles from his nose, we are worrying that this is a sign for RI but are not sure what to do. Any help and advice are most welcome.
They are all eating, drinking and pooing regularly. We feed them mostly dandelion leaves and rose petals sprinkled with calcium substrate powder.
Bernadette is always trying to escape (what can we do about this?!)
They have never hibernated either as my friend was told by the pet shop not to let them hibernate until they were 5, we are scared about hibernation as again, it's completely new to us!
We love all 3 tortoises very much and want to do what is best.
I have read quite a lot of fact sheets and so has my sister as we are all researching how to care for them properly, it's just so much to take in!
Any help welcome. Sorry for the long post. Thank you all!
