introductions

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Longbeachskunk, Ben3233 & mrvrsick, welcome to the forum. I too will be at the Pomona show. I have been twice before. Glad to see it is coming back after almost a year absence.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

hello there.. i'm aRym from kuala lumpur, malaysia. i have a pair of star tortoise. before, i thought i had 2 females. it was a great surprise when i realized the elder one is a he this morning. i found this forum while searching for some info on prolapses and decided to be part of u guys.

anyway, mind of my average english?

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Welcome to the forum, aRym!! Usually the first sign we all get that our tortoise is a male is what your little star showed you this morning! Its usually NOT prolapse, just that he has become aware that he has it and likes to put it out and feel what its all about. And your English is just fine!

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

i have 1 hatchling desert tortoise it came from my neighbor who had a breeding pair 3 of the hatchlings were found walking down our street. the owner gave us one. i live in the high desert southern ca.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hi Deserttortoiseluver! Welcome to the forum. Desert tortoises are one of my favorite. They are so easy to handle...especially if you have to medicate them (compared to sulcata, for instance!). May we know your name?

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hi my name is Pat and I am the father of 4 adult sonoran desert tortoises and the two oldest just had 6 baby torts. NOW THERE ARE 10.

The babies are about 4 weeks old and 2 inches long. Do you have any idea how long it takes for their shells to harden?

The babies are Mike, Leo, Donny, Rafael, Sandy and Dee Dee.

They are eating wheat grass and edible indigenous flowers. They are also drinking well. We plan to keep them up this winter even though the big one hibernate.

These are our first babies. We have raised desert torts for over 8 years and these are our first set of hatchlings.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

patrick said:

Hi my name is Pat and I am the father of 4 adult sonoran desert tortoises and the two oldest just had 6 baby torts. NOW THERE ARE 10.

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Hi Pat: Welcome to the forum! Your babies are just adorable. What do you plan for them? Adoption or keep? The babies' plastron will stay slightly pliable for three or four months.

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hello Pat and welcome to TF.. Just to let you in on the AZ laws if you don't already know them... You are allowed one sonoran DT per household member. If they have babies you must fine new homes (at no charge) or surrender them to game and fish within two years. So depending on how many you have currently in comparison to your household size you might want to think about what you are going to do with the babies, or try and apply for a permet to keep all of them.

But anyways welcome and your babies are so cute!! I have two yearlings and a 8yr old male that where all born in captivity and given to me, I think the are the sweetest torts.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

HI THERE MY NAME IS JOCK , I HAVE THREE HORSEFIELD TORTOISE
JUST RECENTLY BOUGHT TWO OF THEM BUT NOW I NEED A BIGGER HOME FOR THEM DO YOU KNOW IF ITS OK TO PUT THEM IN A AQUARIUM TYPE TANK [/size][/font][/u]

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hi Jock: Welcome to the forum.

Its much better to buy a cheap plastic tub instead of using a glass aquarium. You can buy an under-the-bed storage container or Christmas tree storage bin for pretty cheap at Wal-Mart or K-Mart.

In MY OPINION tortoises are wild animals (as opposed to domesticated animals) and need to be outside for their mental and physical well being. Overwintering indoors is ok, but they really need an outdoor habitat.

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

emysemys said:

patrick said:

Hi my name is Pat and I am the father of 4 adult sonoran desert tortoises and the two oldest just had 6 baby torts. NOW THERE ARE 10.

Click to expand...

Hi Pat: Welcome to the forum! Your babies are just adorable. What do you plan for them? Adoption or keep? The babies' plastron will stay slightly pliable for three or four months.

Yvonne

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hi yvonne. thanks for the info.plans are to keep until able to adopt an good pen to keep them in.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

josh said:

Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

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... newbie

Hello everyone!

My name is Callum and i am a 'newbie' to the Tortoise Forum. Although i dont have any tortoises at the moment (i have previously cared for a sulcata and a Med Spur-thighed, unfortunatly i had to give these back to their owners ) ... i am due to get 2 Indian Star hatchlings in Jan 09 VERY EXCITED!!!

The forum is an excellent place for me to continue my research and also a place to communicate with other tortoise lovers!

Well thats it, i just thought i'd introduce myself. I'm sure i'll be posting many questions in the future and picking all those brains out there.

Callum

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hi Callum and welcome to the forum!

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

josh said:

Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

Click to expand...

Hi,I am Lisa and I was just given a African Spur Thigh tortoise.I am calling him Tanker ,he is 22 inches from front to back ,haven,t been able to wiegh him yet.He was given to me because his carpace was not perfect.I was told that he had probobly been kept with to much humidity as a juvenile and 1 top piece has lost a layer.Today I noticed that one piece on his side is separting from him and he is kind of ragged around the edges. Is there anything I can use on his shell to condition it. I have him outside (I livein St. Petersburg Florida) and he has a exlarge dogloo and I have a shop light fixture in it with a red heat lamp in it and the door has a cover almost to the ground so it can retain the heat. I am feeding him romain and babyspring mix with carrots,sweet potatoes,yellow squash ,zuchinni and winter squash.I just got some plantain and apples for him also. Can you let me know if I am off to a good start ??Oh, I gorgot I also put a hay mixture of alfalfa and timothy in his house and with his food. thanks Lisa I will get a picture soon.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

Hi Lisa: Welcome to the forum. It might be better if you ask your sulcata question in the Sulcata Central portion of the forum...that way more folks who are interested in sulcatas might see it.

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

I just joined this site and I'm super excited! I have a sulcata that is around 10 months old. We got him (?) from a pet store that didn't know how old he was, so we start his b-day from when we got him. I'm hoping to learn more about how to better care for him!

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Lisa Sirois said:

josh said:

Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

Click to expand...

Hi,I am Lisa and I was just given a African Spur Thigh tortoise.I am calling him Tanker ,he is 22 inches from front to back ,haven,t been able to wiegh him yet.He was given to me because his carpace was not perfect.I was told that he had probobly been kept with to much humidity as a juvenile and 1 top piece has lost a layer.Today I noticed that one piece on his side is separting from him and he is kind of ragged around the edges. Is there anything I can use on his shell to condition it. I have him outside (I livein St. Petersburg Florida) and he has a exlarge dogloo and I have a shop light fixture in it with a red heat lamp in it and the door has a cover almost to the ground so it can retain the heat. I am feeding him romain and babyspring mix with carrots,sweet potatoes,yellow squash ,zuchinni and winter squash.I just got some plantain and apples for him also. Can you let me know if I am off to a good start ??Oh, I gorgot I also put a hay mixture of alfalfa and timothy in his house and with his food. thanks Lisa I will get a picture soon.

Click to expand...

From what I hae found on the internet about sulcatas, the fruit and carrots should only be given as treats occasionally. Grass and other grazing greens are best. Even lettuce should be given less frequently than daily due to its water content. Hay is good, but grass is better. Check out anapsid.org for a good overall info site.

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

diemarmstrong said:

I just joined this site and I'm super excited! I have a sulcata that is around 10 months old. We got him (?) from a pet store that didn't know how old he was, so we start his b-day from when we got him. I'm hoping to learn more about how to better care for him!

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Welcome to the forum, diemarmstrong! May we know your name? When you got your sulcata, was it a very small animal? There are quite a few folks here who keep sulcatas, so we have a wealth of knowledge available for you. I'd love to see a picture of your little guy.

Yvonne

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

emysemys said:

diemarmstrong said:

I just joined this site and I'm super excited! I have a sulcata that is around 10 months old. We got him (?) from a pet store that didn't know how old he was, so we start his b-day from when we got him. I'm hoping to learn more about how to better care for him!

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Click to expand...

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Welcome to the forum, diemarmstrong! May we know your name? When you got your sulcata, was it a very small animal? There are quite a few folks here who keep sulcatas, so we have a wealth of knowledge available for you. I'd love to see a picture of your little guy.

Yvonne

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I'm Melissa and my tort's name is Paco. He is still very little! I'll try to figure out how to download a picture of him. I read that the best substrate is coconut bark. Is that true? To be sure, I have the bark, hay and calci-sand in his home. I also bought a cuttlebone. I'm super nervous about giving too much calcium. How much vitamins should I put on his food? Is there a measurable amount so I can know what I'm doing? His shell is a little soft, so I know I need to give more... Help! Oh, I just figured out the pics, I think. Here goes!

RE: Welcome to TortoiseForum.org !

diemarmstrong said:

I'm Melissa and my tort's name is Paco. He is still very little! I'll try to figure out how to download a picture of him. I read that the best substrate is coconut bark. Is that true? To be sure, I have the bark, hay and calci-sand in his home. I also bought a cuttlebone. I'm super nervous about giving too much calcium. How much vitamins should I put on his food? Is there a measurable amount so I can know what I'm doing? His shell is a little soft, so I know I need to give more... Help! Oh, I just figured out the pics, I think. Here goes!

Click to expand...

Hi Melissa: Quite a few keepers use the coconut coir and playsand mixture. You mix it at a 50/50 ratio. Its not a good idea to include the calci sand in the habitat. It is said to NOT cause impaction, but in reality, it might. The particles are so very tiny. Playsand has been sterilized and the particles are a bit bigger. Once you have the substrate mixed and in the habitat, then you sprinkle it with water every so often to keep it moist underneath. The lights quickly dry out the top layer, but it stays moist underneath. This is necessary for your little guy in order to help him grow without pyramiding. While your baby is in his first year, you can provide a "pinch" of calcium over the food every day. Hatchlings have a soft shell for about three or four months, especially the plastron. But remember, the calcium doesn't work unless it has the vitamin d from the sun. Without vit. d the calcium just passes right through the tortoise.

Yvonne