clover and Goliath

[argus333]

i have had Goliath for 28yrs he was found on the side of a highway in nov. in nj. he had a hole in his shell 3 inches deep that smelled like death. i cleaned it out and fiberglassed over it. left it on for 2 yrs. chipped it off and he had a fully new scute under it. i was 10 at the time. i got clover 4 yrs ago from a guy who cold not keep her. they live outside from may to oct in a 20 X 16 ft pen with heated shed and inside in a 8x10 ft pen. eat 90 %grass weeds 2 times a day. some mazuri and dark veggies 2 times a week.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

They are beautiful and grow nicely.

So what do you mean by fiberglassed it?

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

They both look great! How big are they?

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

That is a great story. They are beautiful too! You've done a GREAT job! Give yourself a pat on the back they look very happy and very well kept. (and loved )

 

[mainey34]

Wow..i was expecting to see some pretty bad looking torts. But they look really healthy. Good job...

 

[coreyc]

They look great wow found him outside in NOV on Jersey lucky little LEO how big was he then ?

 

[Neal]

Great looking leopards! If you have any babies from them, I am interested.

 

[Tom]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[yagyujubei]

You've done a really nice job with them. A couple of beauties.

 

[jtrux]

Wow, great story. I think we all want to hear more and see more pics.

 

[Yvonne G]

Beautiful tortoises. I love Goliath's coloring. His shape looks almost like the shape of a rescue that came to me from Cincinnati, Ohio several years ago.

 

[Baoh]

Very good work.

I like the larger one.

 

[jtrux]

After looking at the pics again, they both appear to be GPP or at least have it in their bloodline.

 

[argus333]

thanks to all.. i fully fiber glassed it. i mixed the resin put in the hardener and a small piece of cloth and stuck it lightly over the hole. nothing else would stay on at the time. vet said he was as good as dead. female has some pymrids but not to bad. weird thing is golith has always been about the same size??? he eats great and lives outside more then half the yr but really doesn't grow, they try to breed all the time but i think hes to small for her as it seems he cant really connect. she digs phantom holes all the time but nothing comes out...id love to get eggs.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

thanks to all.. i fully fiber glassed it. i mixed the resin put in the hardener and a small piece of cloth and stuck it lightly over the hole. nothing else would stay on at the time. vet said he was as good as dead. female has some pymrids but not to bad. weird thing is golith has always been about the same size??? he eats great and lives outside more then half the yr but really doesn't grow, they try to breed all the time but i think hes to small for her as it seems he cant really connect. she digs phantom holes all the time but nothing comes out...id love to get eggs.

Oh I don't know we can treat broken shell that way. But it's good that he's fully recovered. You really do a good job.

 

[argus333]

so much has changed in keeping im amazed? what substrates are u guys using? do u guys keep them real humid now? back in the day that was such a no no, back when i git golith i was told u could not even keep leopards in fla... in the summer i used to worry on humid days. man.

 

[Yvonne G]

No...all that humidity stuff refers to keeping babies.

Another change...now-a-days we don't fiberglass broken shells. The thinking is that you close in harmful bacteria. So you use temp covers or in the case of cracks, wire.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

No...all that humidity stuff refers to keeping babies.

Another change...now-a-days we don't fiberglass broken shells. The thinking is that you close in harmful bacteria. So you use temp covers or in the case of cracks, wire.

Yvonne, one of my forstenii has a recent crack in his shell. So what can I do to fix this? Or should I just do nothing about it because the crack is minor and happen at the corner of the scute near his head. If I use some kind of glue is it okay? And will the crack to re-unite after sometime?

 

[argus333]

ya wouldn't do it again but it did work well. hopefully don't come across a hole like that again ever.

 

[jtrux]

More pics! I'm also interested in measurements.