Billiethetortoise10
New Member
Hi, we’ve had Billie for a few months now. Tortoise is pretty young, I was wondering if anyone can gender it or is it still too young to tell? It’s a horse field tortoise.
Has a messy underneath side but it doesn’t eat much pellets has a lot of kale. We have a light for it but might need something to check the temperature. We keep the light on during the day and turn it off at night which was advised by the pet shop.Oh boy. Please, if you are using those pellets as substrate get rid of them asap.
He is too small to sex from the size of him but post a pic of the underside and tail.
Russians do not pyramid easily and yours is already getting a lot of it.
Please read the caresheet on this forum and made needed changes asap.
Welcome from Devon. In your first photo, his front claws look rather long and fragile - it might be a good idea to snip a tiny bit off the ends, with nail scissors, so he isn't having to balance on the points - if you look at each claw in a good light, you can see if there is a transparent bit at the end - don't cut beyond that though, or it might bleed.Hi, we’ve had Billie for a few months now. Tortoise is pretty young, I was wondering if anyone can gender it or is it still too young to tell? It’s a horse field tortoise.
Thank you!Welcome from Devon. In your first photo, his front claws look rather long and fragile - it might be a good idea to snip a tiny bit off the ends, with nail scissors, so he isn't having to balance on the points - if you look at each claw in a good light, you can see if there is a transparent bit at the end - don't cut beyond that though, or it might bleed.
Best wishes,
Angie
Please don't believe the pet shop...they are in the business of making money...not, I repeat they don't usually give the correct advice...The tort needs humidity and those pellets would swell up...he needs the correct substrate, fine grade orchid bark, coco coir, potting soil (no additives or white pellets...Most of all...because I am familiar with this condition, those rabbit pellets don't provide a firm-ish substrate to walk on. Pellets cause a condition called "splay leg", instead of their legs growing back basically, because they push with their rear legs, the legs roll on the round pellets and the rear legs grow straight out sideways. That's a rough explanation. He needs to have a basking platform of 90 to 100 degrees, a specific 85 degrees in order to digest his food. The store was correct about the light. Pretend it's the sun...on (up) in the morning and off (down at night...Has a messy underneath side but it doesn’t eat much pellets has a lot of kale. We have a light for it but might need something to check the temperature. We keep the light on during the day and turn it off at night which was advised by the pet shop.