I am too colorblind to see any differences in color. The areas you mentioned look a bit different but I don't see anything I would be worried about.
Do you visit the store often? i wonder if they would tell you if it was an import or if they are being bred in Malaysia now.
Have you built an enclosure like this before? How long did the wood last? If you let pallet wood touch the ground here in Florida it will have termites in a matter of weeks. Days even if its particularly rainy.
If you want to keep your existing styrofoam incubator you might be able to retrofit an incukit mini into it. That will give you a fan to circulate the air and PID temperature control. They work awesome.
Our night house use situation has gotten worse since we started having a problem a few months ago. They rarely ever go back to it at night anymore. It is very frustrating.
The imported animals are captive bred too. An imported captive bred animal is really no different from the ones produced in Florida. You could make the argument that supporting a farm in the tortoises native land is better than some rich dude in Florida that breeds them.
I am confused. What exactly are you asking for help with? You have the medication that your vet suggested and they didn't tell you how to use it? Are you asking if you should use something else?
Our Aldabras and Galapagos are addicted to LS. They can smell it from a considerable distance and pace frantically until you set the trays down.
Our Radiateds are very resistant to switching to LS and they still get more of the original type than I care to admit.
If a tortoise will eat the LS formula I see no reason to feed the original style. If a tortoise will eat the original style but not the LS it would be worth the time and effort to get them to switch. If someone came to this forum and asked if they should feed their tortoise soybeans and corn...
I don't know how unpalatable that medication will be but maybe you can get him to eat it on his own.
Do you have access to spineless cactus pads there, if yes does he enjoy eating them?
I am curious about your vet's decision to use tetracycline/doxycycline. Forgive my barrage of questions, I am interested in learning more.
Does your vet treat a lot of tortoises for mycoplasma in South Africa?
Has the vet determined the species of Mycoplasma your tortoise has and/or done...
The OP didn't specifically say it was a pet, hopefully it wasn't and it was just one living on the property or one that comes to visit from an adjacent property. No judgement, just try to get it help from FWC. Please keep us updated, I would like to know what FWC says.
You need to contact FWC first thing in the morning and give them the tortoise. You cannot keep them as pets, you can't do anything at all with them, even take them to the vet without permits.
https://myfwc.com/license/wildlife/gopher-tortoise-permits/contacts/
False negatives are a significant issue with TINC and Crypto. It is very possible to miss them both via PCR. That is why years worth of serial testing data would be a necessity. You may miss it sometimes, you may miss it most of the time but I can't imagine you will miss it every time if every...
I don't know the answer to that question. I only use one mini radiant heater and it is 700 watts max. I would guess that the settings for the two switch models aren't the same across all brands. A quick google search pulled up a few that are 600 watts on one switch and 900 watts on the other...