Hiya

[destiny88]

Hi to all

so glad to have found this forum

Ive always loved tortoises and i have now decided to go ahead
and buy one
Since im a beginner i have decided on a Hemann or a Horsefield
as ive read these are the best for beginners
So i am realy going to be looking for tons of advice about everything!!
Ive been doing some tortoise research before actually buying one
and im finding lots of conflicting information!! grrrrr
I first visited a pet shop and the tortoises are all in vivariums
i have since read that this isnt very good and i should buy from a
breeder .....
so i shall be having lots of reads before buying my tort although i realy cant wait ..

karen xx

 

[tiff3grl]

Hello and welcome

 

[destiny88]

Thankyooouuuuu

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

I would suggest a Russian, but it depends what kind of shell pattern you find interesting. I started out with a leopard tortoise and learned quickly on all the mistakes I made, and I quickly changed them. But thats part of starting out with a more advanced species. I don't know much about Hermans but Russians are very easy. You don't need to worry about humidity and all you need is a good UVB lamp, a heat lamp, and or an MVB lamp which combines both. There are plenty of good threads on here about diet as well. Congrats on your first tortoise and enjoy. Russians have big personality I am told

 

[destiny88]

I would suggest a Russian, but it depends what kind of shell pattern you find interesting. I started out with a leopard tortoise and learned quickly on all the mistakes I made, and I quickly changed them. But thats part of starting out with a more advanced species. I don't know much about Hermans but Russians are very easy. You don't need to worry about humidity and all you need is a good UVB lamp, a heat lamp, and or an MVB lamp which combines both. There are plenty of good threads on here about diet as well. Congrats on your first tortoise and enjoy. Russians have big personality I am told

Thanks very much for that
i hadnt even considered a russian ! i was just told hermans and horsfields were good but i will certainly be looking into russians now
big personality sounds very good
thankyou

 

[JoesMum]

Re: RE: Hiya

Hello and welcome

How much space can you provide and would you be able to let your tort have an outdoor enclosure? All torts benefit from time outside, but Russians especially need space as they get older.

Tortoises live for a very long time, so you need to be thinking about what you are likely to be doing, and where you are liekly to be living, in future before you buy.

 

[destiny88]

Hello and welcome

How much space can you provide and would you be able to let your tort have an outdoor enclosure? All torts benefit from time outside, but Russians especially need space as they get older.

Tortoises live for a very long time, so you need to be thinking about what you are likely to be doing, and where you are liekly to be living, in future before you buy.

Hiya and thanks for the welcome

yes my tort would have an outdoor enclosure
I would happily have him/her out all day but i have to admit i think it would realy stress me out leaving the tort outside at night
would i be able to bring him in at night and out through the day ?
i have a conservatory that i was thinking of keeping him in through the night ? it also gets very warm through the day even when its
not nice out as it has a perspex (think thats what you call it) roof
so is like a greenhouse during the daytime.

thanks
karen

 

[JoesMum]

Joe uses my conservatory overnight in colder weather. Then I pop him under a basking spot in his outdoor kennel to toast so he can get going for the day.

In warmer weather he would be a nightmare in there. He would get too hot and want out.

The outdoor risk needs to be countered by predator proofing your enclosure by day.

 

[jjsull33]

Thanks very much for that
i hadnt even considered a russian ! i was just told hermans and horsfields were good but i will certainly be looking into russians now
big personality sounds very good
thankyou

Russian is the common name for a Horsfield, and they certainly are quite personable, I love them so much. They do need quite a bit of roaming room, mine have 40square feet each and I am looking to give them another 40 each by the end of the summer. I would give them the whole yard if we didn't have a dog as well.

Also glass and plastic usually block the UVB coming from the sun, so even though the room may be warm and bright as a green house it would still need a UVB supplement if living inside there 24/7. Letting them live outside over night is hard to do, this is the first summer that mine have spent nights outside as well and I also get paranoid about it, however I built their pens to ensure they cannot escape and predators cannot get in and so far they seem happier than usual getting to stay out all night.

 

[destiny88]

Thanks very much for that
i hadnt even considered a russian ! i was just told hermans and horsfields were good but i will certainly be looking into russians now
big personality sounds very good
thankyou

Russian is the common name for a Horsfield, and they certainly are quite personable, I love them so much. They do need quite a bit of roaming room, mine have 40square feet each and I am looking to give them another 40 each by the end of the summer. I would give them the whole yard if we didn't have a dog as well.

Also glass and plastic usually block the UVB coming from the sun, so even though the room may be warm and bright as a green house it would still need a UVB supplement if living inside there 24/7. Letting them live outside over night is hard to do, this is the first summer that mine have spent nights outside as well and I also get paranoid about it, however I built their pens to ensure they cannot escape and predators cannot get in and so far they seem happier than usual getting to stay out all night.

GREAT info thanks
i didnt know a russian was a horsefield! great stuff
I have quite a big back garden all fenced and lots of lawn
so i will have to get a proper secure enclosure for him before i buy him/her . i dont have other animals but we get cats prowling about
a lot .
Good point about the conservatory blocking the uv , i hadnt thought of that so thanks for pointing that out.

glad to hear yours are happy bieng out at night
I certainly wont be sleeping the first weeks when mine stops out!
and i havent even got him yet ha ha ha

 

[jjsull33]

If you do choose a russian, keep in mind they are great diggers, and can dig under a fence into another yard pretty easily. You would want to do something to prevent it. I chose to make a fully enclosed pen including hardware mesh underneath the substrate, but as I said before I have other animals to worry about so this keeps them separate with no chance of meeting. Other people have put slate/cinderblock pavers lining the perimeter of the yard to help discourage digging, as well as an abundance of places to hide throughout the yard.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Karen, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[destiny88]

If you do choose a russian, keep in mind they are great diggers, and can dig under a fence into another yard pretty easily. You would want to do something to prevent it. I chose to make a fully enclosed pen including hardware mesh underneath the substrate, but as I said before I have other animals to worry about so this keeps them separate with no chance of meeting. Other people have put slate/cinderblock pavers lining the perimeter of the yard to help discourage digging, as well as an abundance of places to hide throughout the yard.

Great point thanks
i shall certainly keep that in mind
i was planning on my other half (if i can get him motivated!)
to make a purpose built enclosure when the tort gets bigger
I was thinking of buying maybe a 2 year old one and creating
an easy outside pen for now in something (big tub ect)
for now .
thanks
karen

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Hi Karen, and welcome to the Forum!

Thanks very much