Morla_theancientone
Member
Hello, everyone. I'm new and this will be long, so I'll highlight the important bits.
My boyfriend and I are the "reptile people" around our area and last night someone called my boyfriend to say that he'd had a turtle dumped on him by an old lady whose son had moved away and did we want it? He didn't have the means to care for it and was going to just let it go outside if we didn't want it, thinking, "it's a turtle. It'll be fine."
I had a baby sulcata years ago that belonged to an ex-boyfriend and I loved that thing. I have wanted one ever since, but never bought one because I know how hard they are to care for. But I can't say no when it's possibly life-or-death, so I asked my bf to take her in. We were told she would fit in a shoe box so I set up the largest cage I had with what I had on hand and went to pick her up. She was NOT shoe box size.
This girl (definitely female) is basketball sized and took a large sterilite tub to move her. I have her in a 4 foot vision cage and it is way too small for her. She has a basking spot, a hide box (literally a cardboard box because I had nothing else) and a water dish and not much room for anything else.
She has a basking bulb and a UVB bulb mounted inside the cage. The basking spot sits at around 92*. The cold side is about 75*. Her bedding is cypress mulch from lowes - no colorants or fertilizers.
The tortoise food container on top of the cage came with her. I bought the hay as well as some radish tops, collard greens, turnip greens, and various lettuces for her. The plants in her cage are live and tortoise-safe according to the list I found here. I forget what they're called though. She hasn't shown much interest in them.
I know she was being housed by the original owners outdoors without any heat source beside the sun, and her nighttime hide was a cardboard box. It's gotten down into the 40s here. I think she may have a bit of respiratory issue because I can hear whistling when she breathes out. It's not terrible though. What is the recommended treatment for a minor case like that?
I cannot house her outside just yet as I am renting inside a trailer park. It's not as bad as it sounds as all the houses here are new, are the neighbors are mostly older people in retirement, but we're not allowed to put up fences. I can take her outside to bask and forage - I have been doing a lot of gardening lately just for fun so she'll soon have her pick of organic kale and lettuce.
But she'll have to be an indoor tort until we move (hopefully next year).
We are considering building a wooden pen that would take up 1/3 of our living room and letting her live in that. Would this be feasible? Could anyone direct me to some good threads about such an endeavor?
Lastly, I am no expert, but it looks like she has some pyramiding and slight deformities on the sides. Is that accurate? How can I prevent this from worsening and is it possible for a tort to grow out of it as they age?
Thanks everyone for any and all help. I will be spending today reading everything I can!
My boyfriend and I are the "reptile people" around our area and last night someone called my boyfriend to say that he'd had a turtle dumped on him by an old lady whose son had moved away and did we want it? He didn't have the means to care for it and was going to just let it go outside if we didn't want it, thinking, "it's a turtle. It'll be fine."
I had a baby sulcata years ago that belonged to an ex-boyfriend and I loved that thing. I have wanted one ever since, but never bought one because I know how hard they are to care for. But I can't say no when it's possibly life-or-death, so I asked my bf to take her in. We were told she would fit in a shoe box so I set up the largest cage I had with what I had on hand and went to pick her up. She was NOT shoe box size.
This girl (definitely female) is basketball sized and took a large sterilite tub to move her. I have her in a 4 foot vision cage and it is way too small for her. She has a basking spot, a hide box (literally a cardboard box because I had nothing else) and a water dish and not much room for anything else.
She has a basking bulb and a UVB bulb mounted inside the cage. The basking spot sits at around 92*. The cold side is about 75*. Her bedding is cypress mulch from lowes - no colorants or fertilizers.
The tortoise food container on top of the cage came with her. I bought the hay as well as some radish tops, collard greens, turnip greens, and various lettuces for her. The plants in her cage are live and tortoise-safe according to the list I found here. I forget what they're called though. She hasn't shown much interest in them.
I know she was being housed by the original owners outdoors without any heat source beside the sun, and her nighttime hide was a cardboard box. It's gotten down into the 40s here. I think she may have a bit of respiratory issue because I can hear whistling when she breathes out. It's not terrible though. What is the recommended treatment for a minor case like that?
I cannot house her outside just yet as I am renting inside a trailer park. It's not as bad as it sounds as all the houses here are new, are the neighbors are mostly older people in retirement, but we're not allowed to put up fences. I can take her outside to bask and forage - I have been doing a lot of gardening lately just for fun so she'll soon have her pick of organic kale and lettuce.
But she'll have to be an indoor tort until we move (hopefully next year).We are considering building a wooden pen that would take up 1/3 of our living room and letting her live in that. Would this be feasible? Could anyone direct me to some good threads about such an endeavor?
Lastly, I am no expert, but it looks like she has some pyramiding and slight deformities on the sides. Is that accurate? How can I prevent this from worsening and is it possible for a tort to grow out of it as they age?
Thanks everyone for any and all help. I will be spending today reading everything I can!
