Hello All,
My stepson purchased an elongated tortoise at a pet shop approximately 9 months to 1 year ago. We named her Matilda. (probably prematurely!) But, based on my online research, I believe that Matilda is indeed a "she" as she has a short tail and non-concave belly.
There is so much conflicting information out there re: diet, habitat, etc. I am looking for some detailed and accurate information about the proper care for an elongated tortoise. We want to be certain that Matilda is happy, healthy and properly tended to.
I searched this site and was not able to find a detailed "care sheet" for the elongated species. I would greatly appreciate it if some one could point me in the right direction. I have attached a few photos of Matilda for reference. She seems healthy to us, but to say that we are novices is probably an understatement.
She is not very active but her appetite seems to be very healthy. We are feeding her primarily red leaf lettuce. We coat some of the lettuce with a calcium with vitamin D3 powder a few times a week and include a cherry tomato every other day or so. She loves the tomatos! She is currently in a glass terrarium with a little soaking dish, heat lamp, light (turned off each night and on each morning), half log to hang out underneath and a mulch-like bedding. We mist the entire area every morning and evening using a spray bottle.
She is growing and I think she ought to upgrade into a bigger and better enclosure but there seem to be a lot of conflicting thoughts/ideas about what the best type of enclosure really is. We are in Pennsylvania, which has very chilly winters, so she will definitely be an inside tortoise.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. We want Matilda to be a happy spoiled little tortoise.
Thanks in advance!!
See photos here: http://s103.beta.photobucket.com/user/anylise/library/Matilda
My stepson purchased an elongated tortoise at a pet shop approximately 9 months to 1 year ago. We named her Matilda. (probably prematurely!) But, based on my online research, I believe that Matilda is indeed a "she" as she has a short tail and non-concave belly.
There is so much conflicting information out there re: diet, habitat, etc. I am looking for some detailed and accurate information about the proper care for an elongated tortoise. We want to be certain that Matilda is happy, healthy and properly tended to.
I searched this site and was not able to find a detailed "care sheet" for the elongated species. I would greatly appreciate it if some one could point me in the right direction. I have attached a few photos of Matilda for reference. She seems healthy to us, but to say that we are novices is probably an understatement.
She is not very active but her appetite seems to be very healthy. We are feeding her primarily red leaf lettuce. We coat some of the lettuce with a calcium with vitamin D3 powder a few times a week and include a cherry tomato every other day or so. She loves the tomatos! She is currently in a glass terrarium with a little soaking dish, heat lamp, light (turned off each night and on each morning), half log to hang out underneath and a mulch-like bedding. We mist the entire area every morning and evening using a spray bottle.
She is growing and I think she ought to upgrade into a bigger and better enclosure but there seem to be a lot of conflicting thoughts/ideas about what the best type of enclosure really is. We are in Pennsylvania, which has very chilly winters, so she will definitely be an inside tortoise.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. We want Matilda to be a happy spoiled little tortoise.
Thanks in advance!!
See photos here: http://s103.beta.photobucket.com/user/anylise/library/Matilda
