ALDABRA OWNERS

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ALDABRAMAN

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To all aldabra owners/keepers I would like to ask a general question regarding low temperatures. We have always been very strict regarding the low temperatures, anything below 55f we heard ours in to heated small barnes. I know that some zoos have a low of 50f. Can everyone that keeps this species, or anyone with good knowledge of this species please provide an opinion for what they feel or have experienced is a safe low teperature. We have always never had an issue at 55f, keep in mind ours are way mature and aclimated adults. Of course the young aldabra holdbacks are at a much higher temperature. All hatchlings are kept at least 70f and yearlings+ are kept at 65f. This has always worked for us, never having any medical issues. Thank you all. Greg.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Greg:

I'm nowhere near an Aldabran expert. I got my two as hatchlings in 2000. They now weigh a little over 130lbs each. They have always lived outside. But they have a heated shed. Here in the Central Valley of Calif. the winter day time temps are in the '50's and '60's and the nights almost always dip down into the lower '30's. In the shed each tortoise has a pig blanket and there are two hanging lights, one with a black bulb that's on at night and one with a regular incandescent bulb that's on during the day. I don't have a thermometer in the shed so I don't know what the ambient temperature is, but they both sit on their pig blankets and those are warm to the touch. The tortoises come out around 9am and sit in the sun. Doesn't matter if its only 40 degrees outside, that's what they do. Then they go around grazing, sit in the sun some more, then back inside. They don't come out again until the next day. They come out rain, fog or shine. Its only 8a right now and foggy, and they're not outside yet:

aldabran-1-1.jpg


Aldabran-2-1.jpg


Aldabran-4.jpg


That's Bo on the left and So on the right. I know I didn't do a very good job in raising them smooth. I didn't add any moisture to their shed. Didn't know about it at that time. Bo developed a foamy mouth last year and has stopped growing. So is now quite a bit bigger than Bo. The vet thought it might be a respiratory infection, but after a regimen of Baytril, the foam is still there. He eats and poops and wanders. I have no idea what's up and neither does the vet.
 

REDFOOTMATT

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I would love to keep Aldabras. I need more yard though. :(
 

Jemo

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Hi
our 20 kg aldabra had some foam and wet mouth since many weeks.
Also also no weight ingrease since some time.
x-ray prooved a very serious lung infection (pneumonia) with many infected liquid in the lung. The animal was very week finally.

We first treated her with baytril, no success and another experieced vet told this was the wrong treatment.
So we gave Doxycyclin intramuscular since 2 weeks and it is getting better.

We keep minimum temperatures of 22 degree celcius and 25 degrees at daytime.
Spot lamps at daytime provide heat untin 39 degrees celsius carpax temperature.

best gegards
Jemo
from freezing good old Germany
 

ALDABRAMAN

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Yes, I have seen the foam and wet mouth thing and it was pneumonia. The case we had was several years back from dirty water asperation with one of our adult females aldabras. We kept her constantley warm and seperated from the others in the colony. She would not drink, however she would eat foods with a high volume of water content for hydration. She took several months with this course of treatment and recovered fine. She stopped laying eggs for two years after her infection. She is now back on track and continues to be one of my best producers.
 

Jemo

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Hallo alltogether
after 3 weeks at the vet clinic our aldabra is back at home.
The foam at the mouth is getting lesser.
We treat the animal now since 7 days with a "inhalation therapy", that meaens we have an electrical "fog machine" you usually use for astmathic persons, and give nacl and ambroxol solution every day for 30 minutes. It is like a miracle: after 3 days the animal feel well, start feeding, walking around etc.....
and now, after one week, it seem to be very good now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy and healthy new year

Aldabra ( and Jemo)
 

zesty_17

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In central Florida, we have always given access to the heated barn at 65 F and herded them in if the temp dropped below 50 F. We have been pushing to get heated floors for a while, but for now, it is just an industrial heater hanging from the ceiling. Temps tend to have a 10 degree difference from the floor to the ceiling though, which I monitor throughout the year, along with humidity, breeding activity, food consumption, etc...
 
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