New to Torts, long time exotic keeper

[Bixi]

Hi,
My name is Burke (Bixi is the Sulcata tortoise). I am 32yrs old, married, and I live in East Tennessee. I have kept a lot of snakes/lizards/amphibians over the years (including a mississippi map turtle for 16yrs), but I have never had a tortoise. I came to East TN in 2007 for college and I have not kept any reptiles since then. My wife is deathly afraid of... slithery things.... so I finally convinced her to let me get a tortoise in January of 2017. I really missed having a reptile in my life!
I bought Bixi from a reputable online dealer and she was beautiful and healthy when I received her. She stayed healthy until late March when I discovered she had a respiratory infection. We have an excellent exotics clinic at the local university, so Bixi has been well taken care of, and she has recovered. Since I'm sure she isn't going to go the way of the dinosaurs, I decided to finally flesh out my profile on this website and upload some pics. The R.I. was most likely because I was keeping her humid hide too cool. This has been rectified and she is doing very well. I hope to be around for a long time. See you all on the forums.

Burke

p.s. - Imgur album of Bixi here: http://imgur.com/a/47ubH

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Burke

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello and welcome.
Have you been in to our excellent Sulcata care section yet?

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome, Burke!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Stuart S.]

Hello and Welcome

 

[HenleyT]

Welcome from New Mexico....great pictures!

 

[Bixi]

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I got Bixi out of her tank for the first time in weeks (first time that was not for antibiotic shots) tonight and hand-fed her some romaine. She hasn't had romaine since she has gotten sick, and she looks REALLY healthy and energetic. She was very friendly and happy to eat from my hand. I was worried she would be hand-shy because of the injections, but the romaine appears to trump all other concerns, lol. Good times. Happy tort.

Burke

p.s. - She pulled her cuttle bone INTO her hide. Has anyone else noticed their torts pulling food into their hides? I'm not sure if it was an accident, but it didn't seem like it. Thanks!