HeGoesBySprout
New Member
Hi basically to cut the story short I made a tortoise table for my girlfriend for Christmas but the original tortoises I bought turned out to be suffering with herpes and they had it before i purchased them. I had no idea what to look for so I never knew. after taking them to a specialist and spending money to try and make them better I had to put them down which was upsetting and it put a downer on my girlfriends christmas present! They lasted two weeks and It wasn't down to anything we did although the change of habitat may have accelerated their stress levels and didn't help?!?!
So after much back and forth messaging with the breeder he gave me the last one of the bunch for free because of how out of pocket I was. This little guy we have now (i think hes a boy but he is only 12 months) straight away has been completely different. He is eating regularly, poos maybe once a week and we bathe him every other day. His shell is not completely smooth and i think that was down to the constant romaine lettuce diet and poor conditions he was kept in (being that his enclosure was smaller than the one I have made for him and was kept with maybe 7 other torts).
We keep him on a sand/soil substrate from Komodo that is specifically designed for Russians or so it says. with patches of orchid bark around the enclosure too. He is fed different types of weed and salads on different days. I dont know what it is and this is my concern but he has put on 5g in two weeks and I know from research that is alot! There is a shallow water dish also there is a humidity hide (we got this idea while trying to save the other torts life). 2 feeding areas, 2 mounds and the substrate is about 4 inches deep. He has a house (which he never uses) and sleeps in the corner closest to the lamp. He has been sleeping alot the basking temp is kept at 90*f
and the overnight temps with all equiptment off are around 65*f. I have just switched to digital thermometers because the analogue ones are pants apparently? I will post some pictures up of the enclosure later with a heat map. Please tell me if anything is wrong with what we are doing? we just want to keep this little guy happy and healthy.
So after much back and forth messaging with the breeder he gave me the last one of the bunch for free because of how out of pocket I was. This little guy we have now (i think hes a boy but he is only 12 months) straight away has been completely different. He is eating regularly, poos maybe once a week and we bathe him every other day. His shell is not completely smooth and i think that was down to the constant romaine lettuce diet and poor conditions he was kept in (being that his enclosure was smaller than the one I have made for him and was kept with maybe 7 other torts).
We keep him on a sand/soil substrate from Komodo that is specifically designed for Russians or so it says. with patches of orchid bark around the enclosure too. He is fed different types of weed and salads on different days. I dont know what it is and this is my concern but he has put on 5g in two weeks and I know from research that is alot! There is a shallow water dish also there is a humidity hide (we got this idea while trying to save the other torts life). 2 feeding areas, 2 mounds and the substrate is about 4 inches deep. He has a house (which he never uses) and sleeps in the corner closest to the lamp. He has been sleeping alot the basking temp is kept at 90*f
and the overnight temps with all equiptment off are around 65*f. I have just switched to digital thermometers because the analogue ones are pants apparently? I will post some pictures up of the enclosure later with a heat map. Please tell me if anything is wrong with what we are doing? we just want to keep this little guy happy and healthy.