Got my first tortoise

[biking-monkey]

Hi everybody

Just joined the forum, I got my first tortoise this week. I've named him Donatello, and is 4 months old Horsfield. Loving every second watching him, so fascinating seeing him explore his enclosure.

Here's a pic of him

Seems a great forum, already learnt a lot reading around

 

[spud's_mum]

Welcome!
What a cutie you have there

 

[biking-monkey]

Mischievous I'd call him haha loves digging up any plants and trying to climb anything and everything

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome.

Please post pictures of his enclosure and lighting and we'll help you get things just perfect.

A good start would be to read this post on Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome !

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome to you and Donatello. There's lots to learn but this is the best place for up to date information from very experienced keepers who thankfully share their wealth of knowledge and tried and tested methods with us. So read, search and ask as many questions as you like to make sure your tort has a safe and happy home.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Cute little tort there!

 

[teresaf]

Definitely a cutie. I'm not an expert but he seems older then 4 months old though. he seems to have an awful lot of growth rings for a 4 month old. Eh, I probably don't know what I'm talking about...lol
Hello and welcome!

 

[biking-monkey]

Funny you should mention that. A colleague in work thought he was older. I really don't know, the pet shop claim he's 4months old. I started researching how to age a tortoise and WOW so much info and doesn't seem particularly easy to do. I'm just going to accept he's x age but happy and healthy

 

[Yvonne G]

Yeah, being captive bred it's a little hard to tell because you never know how much or often he's been fed, and that makes a difference on how fast or slowly he grows, but my guess would be he's a year or maybe two years old. At any rate, he's a real looker!

 

[teresaf]

Yeah @Yvonne G likth my 3-pound 1 1/2 yr old Burmese Black Mountain tortoises... However, babies have a certain softness to their skin and smoothness to their shell, I think, and are pretty easy to spot. I too think he's closer to 1-2 years old... it's easier for pet stores to sell babies (babies are so cute everybody wants one) so the younger they pass them off as the faster they can sell them.
I hope you didn't buy all the supplies that they push as well. most of it isn't safe for a tortoise. coil type bulbs and ramped water bowls for example

oh I see the water dish in his photo! Good job!

 

[biking-monkey]

Before I bought him I read up on here so everything the shop tried pushing I just said no thanks I'm all setup. Once home I just followed all the advise on here. He settled in real quick and is pretty happy, especially climbing.

 

[Amron]

Hello and welcome. I'm a newbie on here and have great help and advice, hope you do too.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Welcome to the forum !