New to tortoise by accident and searching for help~

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Cameron

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hmmmm, i may have been a little hasty, might be an egyptian....heck, i dunno!
 

Lohan

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Thanks Tracy........off to look for a heat lamp tonight after work. She is warmer now but still not eating. I bathed her again today and she drank also so this must be a good sign right? She is occasinally going for a wander but generally huddling her self up in the corner, just away from the direct heat of the light bt not completely away from it...unfortunatley she still has not eaten!!! : (

I tried tomatoes today together with cucumber and carrots! But whilst I was there no joy!
Will keep you updated.
Cheers
L.

Laura said:
She will need calcium too. If you cant buy it.. eggshells will work. Clean them well.. and grind them into a powder, sprinkle over her greens. not much fruit.
Can you get a Cuttle bone at a pet store? It may be inthe Bird section. This is great calcium. Some will just eat it, or you can grate it over thier food.


Hi Again Laura.....if i sprinkle on the water - as she is not eating - do you think that will work? Thanks
 

Tracy Gould

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the sooner u get a heat lamp the better she will not eat till the temps are right and for what i can gather about these torts they are a challenge to look after, good luck i am keeping my fingers crossed for you
 

Lohan

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Hello guys...

So I went to the Pet shop/Vet Surgery two nights ago for a heat lamp and as suspected they do not have such a thing and mostly only cater for Cats and Dogs and a few others....even when I explained that there is a real need for a heat lamp she said 'why cant you just make it with a normal lamp'...anyway I guess if she hasnt specialised in exotics then she wouldnt know - but I would think a general veterinary practitioner would know te difference and benefits between a normal lamp and a specialised heat lamp! Anyway....I gave up on tha one - also no cuttlebones as suggested....she said I could adminster normal calcium drops that we give to human babies???...I went for the eggshells anyway.

So I have good news amongst this worrying news about not being able to get my hands on a heat lamp (got a friend in the UK at the moment who will return soon, will have a look online and ask her to pick one up - need one that does the job but reasonably priced so any advice guys?). Anyway, back to the other good news, what I am doing is working afterall as last night I was so excited to see that she began to eat and for a long time too....after a rest and a short bathe she went back for more and munched away for some time. Today also again she was there munching away. I cant tell you guys how happy and excited I was to see her eat...I also sprinkled finley crused and well cleaned egg shells on the food, which she seemed to like almost as though I had put salt and pepper on the meal and it made it more appealing hee hee.......
Now I have one new concern. ANTS!!! leaving food out here in Egypt is not a good thing....and of course after a while the ants are out and a all over the food. I have moved them away, cleaned the food again, but of course you can only keep them away for so long. Is this a problem for her, and will they make her sick. I am worried that they may try to crawl into her shell or try nibbling at her when she rests and sleeps. I dont really know what to do. Any advice.

Finally my last point - I fed her green pepper which is the first thing she started to chew at - but looked too tough and too much of a challenge so was worried she may give up and stop eating - so quickly put in cucmber and toms. Also had some broccolli leaves (very green) no lettuce in town at the moment - are broccolli leaves ok? She ate the leaves and seemed to enjoy them but also thought they may be too tough?

I want to thank you all for your help, advice and care because it has really helped, without that I dont think now she would be eating so its all thanks to you for your time. ;)

Please let me know about the ANTS!!!! Pesty little things grrr.

Tracy Gould said:
the sooner u get a heat lamp the better she will not eat till the temps are right and for what i can gather about these torts they are a challenge to look after, good luck i am keeping my fingers crossed for you

HI Tracy - just letting you know, still noheat lamp - cant buy them here have been looking, so getting from UK if poss with a friend coming over. Just wanted to let you know the good news - she is now eating hurrahhh, have been keeping the lamp on to warm her and seems to be workign - for now!!!! Thanks for all your help.

Laura said:
wow.. first of all WELCOME!
Priorty for her right now is warmth.. You should get a container to keep her in and not allow her to roam the floors. Too cold. The drinking she was doing sounds perfectly normal. make sure the water is warm. very important she gets fluids. Can you post pictures of her? top and underside? People here can tell you exactly what you have.
What kind of grocery stores do you have access to? Do they sell different types of veggies and greens? Lettuce?
pet stores? She will need special lights.
her substrate can be dirt from outside, or orchid bark.. or?

HI laura - just wanted to share the good news with you - my tiny t is finally eating, as of yesterday! And was still munching away today - no heat lamp yet but on the case - see my last post...but Im so pleased she is finally eating and getting warmer! Thanks for your help.
 

Xilonen

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Good to hear she's eating!

For the ants, would it be possible to put a barrier of duct tape sticky-side-up around the enclosure to trap them before they could get to the food? It's crude, but you can even leave dead ants (especially crushed up) around the perimeter of the enclosure as dead bugs almost universally discourage others of their kind from entering the area. Copper strips work for some pests, as it carries a small current which shocks them as they cross, but it may only work for slugs/snails and less so for non-sticky bugs.

I don't know how quickly the ants become a problem, but probably the best alternative is to offer her food while you watch, and remove extras as soon as she finishes eating, though you may want to leave it out for her while she's still adjusting.
 

egyptiandan

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You do most definately have an Egyptian tortoise and it looks like a female.
Your going to need to get a thermometer to tell what temperatures your getting. How long are you leaving the light on for?
Your best bet with food is stick to green foods, especially at first.
Seems like she is finally settling in though, which is good. :D

Danny
 

ForestExotics

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By the photo's I thought it was a Egyptian tortoise too.
 

Lohan

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egyptiandan said:
You do most definately have an Egyptian tortoise and it looks like a female.
Your going to need to get a thermometer to tell what temperatures your getting. How long are you leaving the light on for?
Your best bet with food is stick to green foods, especially at first.
Seems like she is finally settling in though, which is good. :D

Danny

HI Danny - many thanks for looking at her for me, your advice is highly appreciated and welcomed - have seen lots of people have a lot of respect for your Knowledgeable advice on here, so thanks a million.

There is a lot of stuff I need to get it seems, UVB/UVA light, substrate, thermometers, plastic box etc etc, am doing my best in my means and you may have seen that I will be getting some supplies hopefully bought over with a friend of mine who is currently visiting the UK and coming back out in about a week or so. Box ordered, Subtrate ordered...still looking at heat lights/tools as the nes that I have seen so far are quite expensive!!!..(more than a 1/4 of my monthly income out here)..so I am looking for a cheaper versions but hopefully effective. Slightly worried though cos I have read stuff about malfunctions and un-safe lamps etc. Any suggestions? The ones I have looked into so far are Powersun and T-Rex if I remember names correctly! Any less expensive but good enough ones out there that you know of? If not looks like I will have to bite the bullet and fork out for the other expensive ones.

Finally in reply to your question - have kept the light on now for a few days - it doesnt generate loads of heat otherwise, there is a cool shaded area too, well Ihave one shaded area away from the lamp, and also have a halved plant pot near the light which seems to generate and insulate warmth for her. Is this not good to keep the light on for all this time? I am slightly worried about dehydration, but not sure if it is actually warm enough for that to happen. Today I bathed her in warm water and she also drank until she had enough then walked out......she has still recently been huddling her self up against the walls of the box though and hiding away in the shell, either in the light or away from the light (is this normal behaviour or is she distressed?). Finally today, I ate some strawberry's and I placed a few of the Strawberry leaves (leaned without any trace of the fruit on them) in with her other stuff. Is this ok for her? Trying to give her variety.

Look forward to hearing back from you. Also happy to hear you think she is a she after all! lol.....
 

egyptiandan

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Glad to help :)

Arcadia is a new company that makes UVB lights in the UK and I think they are a bit less expensive than the 2 you mentioned.
No it's not good to leave the light on all the time. You should have the light on for 12 hours a day. Having the light on all the time will cause her to be stressed (it gets dark in the wild :p) and not do well.
She will be fine at night as long as the house temperatures don't get lower than 16C.
Yes the tops of strawberries are just fine. If your low on choices at the market, you can try green beans (fresh or frozen). Cut them up into small pieces. You can also use calcium pills for humans for her. You just have break the pill up, making a gritty powder. Just sprinkle that over the food.

Danny
 

Ivan M

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Egyptian Dan is the man when it comes to Egyptian torts for sure. Great info on here for this gent and his new found tort. Keep in mind it is a species that lives in arid places so it may not drink lots of water. What I do most of the time is I have a spray bottle and when I give them food in the mornings before heading out to work I spray the greens a few squirts of water in this way they get some hydration while eating. Good luck and please keep us posted. One tip stick to greens..... Fruits are really not healthy for Egyptians.
 

cork_screw

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That is an egyptian tortoise, I have one myself, yours is very nice and looks to be in good health.

Since she/he is native to your habitat, seeing as how you're from egypt, is it possible to setup an outdoor enclosure? Or would that not be secure with the privacy of maybe the public or predators? Is it similar to the coastal scrubs of northern egypt that you can just put him somewhere safe where he/she can bask for a while? I understand that seeing as how you're in egypt you might not have access to things like UVB/UVA lighting, light meters etc...
 
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