Dessert Tortoise Dad, new to forum :)

[Keith D.]

Good Afternoon all, I am new to this forum as of today and have been adopting and tending to tortoises of many species since I was a child. My name is Keith and I live in SW Arizona. At the moment I have 1 desert tortoise, 1 red eared slider and 1 mystery tortoise that was dropped at my door a few days ago. I am thinking he is either a desert or a sulcata not sure though, will post pics soon on him, once I get him in decent shape hopefully. The main reason I decided to join this forum is to figure out if sprouted seeds are a good food decision or not, especially for my young dessert tortoise which we have named Leo. Also other quality high protein foods I could feed him due to all the pages I go to conflict with each other when it comes to what is good to feed and what isn't. Hope to hear from y'all soon and I'm glad to be hear. Here are some pics of Leo. The picture with him on the white feeding lid and the one with him soaking are from when I first received him. The one with him with the terracotta crock is from today.

 

[Yvonne G]

Aw - he's just an itty bitty baby! How cute!! Welcome to the Forum, Keith. You probably already know, but I would be remiss if I didn't say it anyway - desert tortoises and sulcatas need separate habitats. Don't ever allow them to be together. The sulcata will make the desert tortoise sick. I speak from experience.

 

[Yvonne G]

I notice a slight bit of pyramiding in the pictures. Your baby would benefit from having a moist substrate instead of newspaper.

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum. Your Desert Tortoise is so adorable. I love Desert Tortoises; they are so personable.

 

[tortdad]

Welcome to TFO. Are you in Yuma? I grew up in SE Arizona

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Keith welcome to the TFO from Phx. AZ . I to have desert torts and many others I've always Hurd sprouts are too high in protein .

 

[Keith D.]

Welcome to TFO. Are you in Yuma? I grew up in SE Arizona

Hi Tortdad, I am about 70 miles east of Yuma, a small town called Date land.

 

[Keith D.]

I

I notice a slight bit of pyramiding in the pictures. Your baby would benefit from having a moist substrate instead of newspaper.[/QQUOTE
So your saying there isn't enough moisture in his tank? Or a calcium issue?

 

[teresaf]

Read some of the closed chamber threadS. closed chamber just means enclosing the tortoise area to keep the humidity and heats more stable. Hydration keeps tortoises smooth as a babies butt...heat needs kept above 80 though, 24/7, to stop respiratory infection from developing.

 

[ascott]

Good Afternoon all, I am new to this forum as of today and have been adopting and tending to tortoises of many species since I was a child. My name is Keith and I live in SW Arizona. At the moment I have 1 desert tortoise, 1 red eared slider and 1 mystery tortoise that was dropped at my door a few days ago. I am thinking he is either a desert or a sulcata not sure though, will post pics soon on him, once I get him in decent shape hopefully. The main reason I decided to join this forum is to figure out if sprouted seeds are a good food decision or not, especially for my young dessert tortoise which we have named Leo. Also other quality high protein foods I could feed him due to all the pages I go to conflict with each other when it comes to what is good to feed and what isn't. Hope to hear from y'all soon and I'm glad to be hear. Here are some pics of Leo. The picture with him on the white feeding lid and the one with him soaking are from when I first received him. The one with him with the terracotta crock is from today.

View attachment 130976 View attachment 130977 View attachment 130978

Good Afternoon all, I am new to this forum as of today and have been adopting and tending to tortoises of many species since I was a child. My name is Keith and I live in SW Arizona. At the moment I have 1 desert tortoise, 1 red eared slider and 1 mystery tortoise that was dropped at my door a few days ago. I am thinking he is either a desert or a sulcata not sure though, will post pics soon on him, once I get him in decent shape hopefully. The main reason I decided to join this forum is to figure out if sprouted seeds are a good food decision or not, especially for my young dessert tortoise which we have named Leo. Also other quality high protein foods I could feed him due to all the pages I go to conflict with each other when it comes to what is good to feed and what isn't. Hope to hear from y'all soon and I'm glad to be hear. Here are some pics of Leo. The picture with him on the white feeding lid and the one with him soaking are from when I first received him. The one with him with the terracotta crock is from today.

View attachment 130976 View attachment 130977 View attachment 130978

A good place to go is www.donsdeserttortoise.

You will want to avoid completely enclosed wet chambers for this species..a warm humid hide is a better choice...how often does this tortoise get outdoors in the natural sun..what is a normal days food for him as well..

 

[Keith D.]

A good place to go is www.donsdeserttortoise.

You will want to avoid completely enclosed wet chambers for this species..a warm humid hide is a better choice...how often does this tortoise get outdoors in the natural sun..what is a normal days food for him as well..

Hi, I cleaned and reworked his tank to have a humid cave/hive at one end of the tank. Sadly I have been working a ton and left him in the care of my brother and he wasn't getting him outside much, but he is under 2 UVB lights. But now I am working from home again so now he is going outside at least once a day for anywhere between 30 min to a hour at a time and he is still under the UVB lights while in his tank. His norm daily food changes from week to week, like one week he will have a mix of Bermuda grass, dandelion greens, carrots and kale. The next week he will have a mix of collard greens, grape leaves, green beans and alfalfa. It just really depends on what I can find organically that week, and he gets between 4oz to 6oz a day.

 

[Gillian M]

A gorgeous little tort-GOD bless.

And a very warm welcome to the forum.

 

[mikeylazer]

Make sure those are not coil UVB bulbs and that they are MVB instead. Uvb coil bulbs will slowly kill your tortoise through blindness which leads to a closed eyed lethargic tortoise who will fail to thrive.

 

[Keith D.]

Make sure those are not coil UVB bulbs and that they are MVB instead. Uvb coil bulbs will slowly kill your tortoise through blindness which leads to a closed eyed lethargic tortoise who will fail to thrive.

I have two types of bulbs, one reptisun 10.0 UVB fluorescent and a 26w repti glo 10.0 compact UVB 150. My local stores don't carry any MVB bulbs.

 

[mikeylazer]

If the reptisun 10.0 is a standard flourescent tube then leave it in but the reptiglo needs to go. Please please please get rid of it now. The lasting effects coil bulbs have on young torts are extremely fatal. If you do not beleive me then liston to the experts and they will tell you the same thing. @Tom @YvonneG

 

[Keith D.]

If the reptisun 10.0 is a standard flourescent tube then leave it in but the reptiglo needs to go. Please please please get rid of it now. The lasting effects coil bulbs have on young torts are extremely fatal. If you do not beleive me then liston to the experts and they will tell you the same thing. @Tom @YvonneG

what size MVB should I get for him then?

 

[mikeylazer]

160 watt is best. If the reptisun 10.0 is a tube fluorescent, that would be fine for the UVB but MVBs are so much nicer in my opinion as they are like a mini sun in a way.

 

[Keith D.]

160 watt is best. If the reptisun 10.0 is a tube fluorescent, that would be fine for the UVB but MVBs are so much nicer in my opinion as they are like a mini sun in a way.

I heard the mvb lights are super touchy and will blood easy with little movements, is this right, how are they for you?

 

[Keith D.]

OK so I went online and purchased a Hagen Exo-Terra Exo Terra Solar Glo Mercury Vapor Lamp: : 160 Watt, some New Zealand sphagnum moss (hopefully its safe for tortoises, I am pretty sure it is) and a stand for the light. I think I am good now. Just have to wait for it to come in lol.

 

[Keith D.]

OK so I went online and purchased a Hagen Exo-Terra Exo Terra Solar Glo Mercury Vapor Lamp: : 160 Watt, some New Zealand sphagnum moss (hopefully its safe for tortoises, I am pretty sure it is) and a stand for the light. I think I am good now. Just have to wait for it to come in lol.