My Intro

[Reira Evenstar]

I realized I never posted one of these...I just jumped right in. I'm a 33/F from the western Florida Panhandle. I have a husband and two daughters...ages 2 and 3....and an awesome rescue dog and cat. If you are into dogs, he has his own Facebook page that tracks his progress from an emaciated, hairless, heartworm + to what he is today. Let me know if you want the link! I have always been obsessed with tortoises and turtles, and it has taken me this long to finally decide to have one as a pet. I am so excited to have him for the rest of my life. I am hoping one of my daughters will take him on for me after I pass. Let's see....what else....I have a bachelor degree in IT, but have never worked in the field. Right now I am a "homemaker/stay-at-home-mom" which has its advantages and drawbacks. Other hobbies include gardening, PC gaming, reading, and obsessing over various other things at different times :-D My favorite time of year is fall and winter, and I am absolutely living in the wrong part of the country, but we are stuck here because of husband's job. I love the cold and snow. Right now it's still 80 degrees here. My tortoise will like it though!

Enough about me. Thanks for all the great info concerning tortoise care!

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome to you

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and welcome again!
I love your user name and avatar pic.

 

[Reira Evenstar]

He died Last night in his sleep. My baby tort died I thought this was going to happen though, from how he's been since I unboxed him. I'm afraid my breeder is not going to ship me another (although I still have to pay shipping) because they aren't going to accept blame (already been talking to him) and wanted me to change things I didn't want to change (he said MVB were bad for tortoises and to use a coil and also that humidity needed to be below 50 - I've been keeping it between 50-60 with soaks also). I really don't think it's something I did. I'm hoping he will let me pay shipping and the 100 buck difference to get an older one. In never want a hatchling again

This sucks. Can someone PM some good places to purchase a Greek? That are in stock? In case I can't get a refund or other tort from this guy. My husband is pissed.

 

[Tom]

He died Last night in his sleep. My baby tort died I thought this was going to happen though, from how he's been since I unboxed him. I'm afraid my breeder is not going to ship me another (although I still have to pay shipping) because they aren't going to accept blame (already been talking to him) and wanted me to change things I didn't want to change (he said MVB were bad for tortoises and to use a coil and also that humidity needed to be below 50 - I've been keeping it between 50-60 with soaks also). I really don't think it's something I did. I'm hoping he will let me pay shipping and the 100 buck difference to get an older one. In never want a hatchling again

This sucks. Can someone PM some good places to purchase a Greek? That are in stock? In case I can't get a refund or other tort from this guy. My husband is pissed.

So sad. It always hurts me to see an enthusiastic, dedicated new tortoise person go through this.

Was this one of those "dry start" guys? If yes, I wouldn't take another baby from him if he paid me to. You are likely to go through the exact same thing. There are many good breeders right here on the forum. Post an ad in the "wanted" section, and see what you get.

Read these for more info and to learn what questions to ask:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

Your mistake was not buying a hatchling. Your mistake was buying a hatchling from someone who didn't start it correctly. You are not alone in this.

Have you seen this one:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Number one is number one for a good reason...

 

[Reira Evenstar]

So sad. It always hurts me to see an enthusiastic, dedicated new tortoise person go through this.

Was this one of those "dry start" guys? If yes, I wouldn't take another baby from him if he paid me to. You are likely to go through the exact same thing. There are many good breeders right here on the forum. Post an ad in the "wanted" section, and see what you get.

Read these for more info and to learn what questions to ask:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

Your mistake was not buying a hatchling. Your mistake was buying a hatchling from someone who didn't start it correctly. You are not alone in this.

Have you seen this one:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Number one is number one for a good reason...

The poor little guy. I've still got him sitting in his enclosure. Gotta bury him.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I am so terribly, terribly sorry for your loss.
Poor little guy.
i'm also betting it was nothing you did.
Bad start from the breeder, I would think.
Condolences.

 

[Kristoff]

This is so sad. Sorry for your loss.

 

[JoesMum]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss

 

[Reira Evenstar]

Got him buried in my garden between my camellias.

 

[Yvonne G]

He died Last night in his sleep. My baby tort died I thought this was going to happen though, from how he's been since I unboxed him. I'm afraid my breeder is not going to ship me another (although I still have to pay shipping) because they aren't going to accept blame (already been talking to him) and wanted me to change things I didn't want to change (he said MVB were bad for tortoises and to use a coil and also that humidity needed to be below 50 - I've been keeping it between 50-60 with soaks also). I really don't think it's something I did. I'm hoping he will let me pay shipping and the 100 buck difference to get an older one. In never want a hatchling again

This sucks. Can someone PM some good places to purchase a Greek? That are in stock? In case I can't get a refund or other tort from this guy. My husband is pissed.

I certainly would not buy from that guy again. Take a look at our breeders section. We have several members who dabble in the Greek species.

 

[Yvonne G]

I forgot to tell you how sorry I am that your little guy died. No matter how long or short a time you have them, it's just never easy to lose them.

 

[legan52]

I'm so sorry. We are going through the same with a sulcata started dry. I went on the for sale section and bought a hatchling again (even though I also said I wouldn't) from someone who seems far more reputable. The nice thing about this forum is that you can look at what the person posts in general, not just the sale ads. I went with Arizona sulcata because I saw that he posted good advice to new owners and advocated for a wet start. This forum is an incredible resource and it sounds like you did everything you could!

 

[Holly'sMom]

He died Last night in his sleep. My baby tort died I thought this was going to happen though, from how he's been since I unboxed him. I'm afraid my breeder is not going to ship me another (although I still have to pay shipping) because they aren't going to accept blame (already been talking to him) and wanted me to change things I didn't want to change (he said MVB were bad for tortoises and to use a coil and also that humidity needed to be below 50 - I've been keeping it between 50-60 with soaks also). I really don't think it's something I did. I'm hoping he will let me pay shipping and the 100 buck difference to get an older one. In never want a hatchling again

This sucks. Can someone PM some good places to purchase a Greek? That are in stock? In case I can't get a refund or other tort from this guy. My husband is pissed.

I'm so sorry to see this! I just commented on your previous postings on care.. a friend of mine bought a hatchling from a local pet store. It was a "my kids want the cute little tortoise" purchase. She had him about 3 weeks He died. I felt awful for her too and she felt the same way, going over her care and enclosure and wondering what she did wrong when there was nothing wrong. Your baby sounded a bit off from the start, all mine came out eating like pigs and didn't get shy until they'd throughly inspected and tried to escape they're enclosures. Also hatchlings have a high mortality rate from what I have read and it sounds like your little guy was already struggling maybe the stress of shipping put him over? It could be so many things before you'd even received him. I'm newish to tortoises but in all honesty it sounds like you did everything right and everything you could to help him.. I hope you can get another one w/o too much extra costs and that this doesn't discourage you from buying another baby..

 

[Tom]

I'm so sorry. We are going through the same with a sulcata started dry. I went on the for sale section and bought a hatchling again (even though I also said I wouldn't) from someone who seems far more reputable. The nice thing about this forum is that you can look at what the person posts in general, not just the sale ads. I went with Arizona sulcata because I saw that he posted good advice to new owners and advocated for a wet start. This forum is an incredible resource and it sounds like you did everything you could!

Austin is a great person to buy from. I wholeheartedly recommend him.

 

[legan52]

Austin is a great person to buy from. I wholeheartedly recommend him.

That means a lot coming from you! We have a beautiful split scute baby coming in a couple days

 

[Speedy-1]

So sorry to hear of this !

 

[Holly'sMom]

That means a lot coming from you! We have a beautiful split scute baby coming in a couple days

View attachment 191537

That's an adorable tort!! Congratulations!! The split looks pretty cool!