My baby torts' new video on Youtube!

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Mao Senpai

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Nice video.... I see 3 different tortoise in there? Didn't someone mention that it was not a good idea to house different species together.... if I'm not mistaken.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Mixing species is a bad idea. Each species carries pathogens indigenous to that species. Those pathogens could conceivably make the other species sick or dead. You are lucky that has not happened.
The other thing I see is those rocks. They are hard for hatchling tortoises to walk on and I see that the babies could possibly get a condition called "splay leg". Those babies are too small to try to walk on those rocks regularly.
I don't mean any disrespect; the kids and the hatchlings are cute, it's just I see it as a bad example instead of a good one. Mixing species is an especially bad example. Many of the tortoises we get now are captive bred instead of wild caught so mixing species is not as serious now as it used to be. But it's still not a safe practice yet.
I see you say you are going to separate the hatchlings, I would also move the water away from the rocks so the babies don't have to walk over the rocks regularly
 

relaxkuma123

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Thank you very much maggie.
I will remove those rocks soon. could you or anyone here tell me more about "splay leg"?
This is first time hearing this word.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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relaxkuma123 said:
Thank you very much maggie.
I will remove those rocks soon. could you or anyone here tell me more about "splay leg"?
This is first time hearing this word.

Although most experts believe that the condition is congenital (possibly due to genetics resulting in weak connective tissue), it can be exacerbated by environmental conditions, such as being raised on a slippery floor or big rocks, big pieces of wood or rabbit pellets that give no traction. A good substrate providing good traction and lots of exercise may help reduce the incidence of splay-leg. It causes the legs to grow out to the side with a floppy motion. You will notice on those slippery rocks the hatchlings are falling with their legs sliding out to the side.
 
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