Pancake Tortoise

[camerojj]

Here is my Pancake Tortoise, Havent thought of a name yet but i will soon. Everything is going well with him and he has been exploring his cage since i put him in, loving all the caves.

Ill get some more pictures of just him in the next couple of days.

Josh

 

[Tim/Robin]

He looks awesome!! I am sure he was worth the wait. I know you waited a while. It looks like you have one very spoiled Pancake baby. I love the picture of him on the rock, such a Pancake. Also he loves to eat, look at him go. Hatchlings bounce back from shipping so fast. Hard to tell he was in a box for nearly 24 hrs and flew across the country. Congrats on the new guy!! Thanks for sharing the photos. It is never easy to see them go, but pictures like this make it all worth while.

Something cool to do is look at this babe newly hatched at the end of July.

Now look at him.

 

[shelber10]

Great panckake tortoise it is very nice where did you get it was it at a expo?

 

[Meg90]

No---he got it from our awesome members, Tim/Robin Kudos you two! Best looking pancakes that I have ever seen available! I'm sure hey go like hotcakes! LOL

Beautiful baby!

 

[Yvonne G]

Tim/Robin: Are you saying that the July picture you posted up above is the current baby in the OP's pictures?

Beautiful. They surely do change fast.

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

I love the Pancake Tortoises they are so cute. I love the last picture the best of him/her. If you got it from Tim/Robyn then you're lucky they really do love their torts.

 

[Tim/Robin]

Tim/Robin: Are you saying that the July picture you posted up above is the current baby in the OP's pictures?

Beautiful. They surely do change fast.

Yvonne

Yes Yvonne. That is the same tortoise. The photo I posted was taken July 28. The pictures by camerojj were taken today. He just got the tort today!! Pancakes grow amazingly fast in beginning.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Looks great!

 

[camerojj]

Yes Tim and Robin did a great job raising this little guy, hopefully i will be able to do the same. Right now he is in one of his caves dug into the substrate waiting till morning where he will get his soak and food. One thing i forgot to ask was how much Repti-Cal do you usually sprinkle onto the morning food?

Josh

 

[Tim/Robin]

Yes Tim and Robin did a great job raising this little guy, hopefully i will be able to do the same. Right now he is in one of his caves dug into the substrate waiting till morning where he will get his soak and food. One thing i forgot to ask was how much Repti-Cal do you usually sprinkle onto the morning food?

Josh

Just sprinkle enough to where you can see a dusting on the leaves. You will do just fine. You have done the homework and prepared yourself well. Now you get to enjoy the little guy for many years to come.

 

[Isa]

Awwww what an amazing little baby Congratulations!
Tim & Robin, you did an amazing job !

 

[ChiKat]

Wow I think that's the first picture I've ever seen of a pancake tortoise!! They're very cool looking. I love his set-up!!

 

[tortoisenerd]

You can even use a salt shaker for the calcium.

 

[camerojj]

He weighs in at 26 grams as of today. I brought him outside for a while to let him enjoy the outdoors and nibble on some fresh weeds.

I never did mention, my cage is a 40 gallon breeder. Right under the light its at 108F then goes down to the cold side of 74 F (Room Temp). Early morning he basks up on the rock right under the light (after his morning soaking and feeding) then he moves down to the front left cave where the temp is at 85F where he seems to sleep for a while. Then he will go and eat some more and go into the hot cave where the temp is around 90F to digest his food. From here he will head back to the front left cave and sleep till his nightly feeding. I havent seen him in his log on the cold side to much, im going to try lowering it into the substrate a little more to see if he wants it to be more of a tight spot.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Are pancakes supposed to have a basking temperature that high? I've never heard of over 100 recommended for any desert tort. That said, torts will thermoregulate when receiving heat from above, so shouldn't be a problem.

For a tort with a high shell you'd worry about that because the substrate temperature is quite different from the top of the shell, but that's not an issue for your little one! Hatchlings do tend to like it warm. Mine stays in the areas of 80s and 90s, and rarely in the 70s. I think that is typical. If you don't see your tort over on that side, then just give it time and maybe when he's older he'll like it. Likely a temperature thing not a problem with the set up, but once you see him in that temperature area you can tweak it.

How is the air circulation in that tank? Care to share why you chose that and not a tort table? I personally don't think acquariums are the bets option for desert torts. Are you planning to add some plants (fake is great) and such to break up the line of sight, hiding in, and add to the cage furnishings? How long do you plan to keep him in this size enclosure? Probably too late for this, but I would have blocked off part of it for now so you have room for expansion as the enclosure needs to grow with the tort.

So cute! Best wishes.

 

[Tim/Robin]

That basking temp works very well for Pancakes. It is a rather small area that has a temp that high. We have been very successful keeping our tortoises in a "less than traditional" method (ie the infamous tort table). I (Tim) have worked with Josh on creating the perfect environment for this new little Pancake. Pancakes are very different from other species. They primarily live in rock outcropings (kopjes). The caves and rocks Josh has set up are just perfect for this little guy.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Cool! Just wanted to check. Never heard that before.

 

[camerojj]

Ya the high temp basking spot is only in a 1inch by 1 inch spot and then it decreases alot as it goes out, being about 3 inch from it the basking spot is high 90's. As for the size, this cage should work fine up till a year or 2 maybe more, ill switch the cage around every couple months or so just to add some change to it. I also have potted plants that i will be putting in soon once he settles into his new home, they are clover and grasses. The seeds i have grow quickly, about a week and its a good size plant so ill be able to change them out easly enough if they get eaten.

Tim, the tortoise really enjoyed his outside visit today. Im glad we will have some nice weather for a while so that ill be able to bring him out for a little each day, untill fall comes then he will be inside till the spring when it gets hot again.

Josh

 

[Candy]

While I was at the expo today I picked up a Pancake Tortoise (because I think they are so cute). I didn't know that you can feel them breathing it was weird.

 

[Yvonne G]

Candy: Do you mean that you "bought" a pancake tortoise or just that you hefted it to see what it felt like?

Yvonne