New tortoise parent need advice please

Kipley

Active Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2019
Messages
118
Location (City and/or State)
Seattle, WA
The thing is the more torts you have the more space you need. If there is plenty of room for all them all to spread out and avoid each other it may work, but in the confined space of a tortoise table, I think there would still eventually be problems and you would end up with 3 enclosures. One member had 3 torts (can't remember the species) and recently came home to find that the head had been bitten off one of them - absolutely horrific and they had ignored the start of bullying behaviour. I will try to find the post but it contains some horrible pictures. I don't know what outdoor space the OP has but my guess is that in the UK it's not going to be as big as US yards/gardens.

Right now the hatchlings range from 11 grams to 18 grams and are the size of a 50 Cent piece. They are in a relatively small 2 ft x 3 ft concrete mixing tub. I have a wooden Turtle table with a set of lights ready to go at an instant's notice. I have another large tub ready to go as a third enclosure - I'd have to get a UVB tube for it though.
I live on 1/2 acre securely fenced lot backed up to forest, so plenty of room. I've already staked out an 8ft x 20 ft area for the tortoises outside enclosure and I plan to construct it so it can be divided into 2 or 3 separate enclosures as the need arises. It will have lots of visual barriers as well.

As Grandpa Turtle 144 said above, the key is knowing what to watch for, and that is what I've been educating myself on for the past few weeks. Stalking, staring, food aggression or preventing others from getting near the food, climbing on, etc. All the subtle signs that I'm trying to acquaint myself with before such behavior is evident.
I believe I went into this (for once!) with adequate background work and research before bringing the Tortoises home. Keeping my fingers crossed that holds true.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Right now the hatchlings range from 11 grams to 18 grams and are the size of a 50 Cent piece. They are in a relatively small 2 ft x 3 ft concrete mixing tub. I have a wooden Turtle table with a set of lights ready to go at an instant's notice. I have another large tub ready to go as a third enclosure - I'd have to get a UVB tube for it though.
I live on 1/2 acre securely fenced lot backed up to forest, so plenty of room. I've already staked out an 8ft x 20 ft area for the tortoises outside enclosure and I plan to construct it so it can be divided into 2 or 3 separate enclosures as the need arises. It will have lots of visual barriers as well.

As Grandpa Turtle 144 said above, the key is knowing what to watch for, and that is what I've been educating myself on for the past few weeks. Stalking, staring, food aggression or preventing others from getting near the food, climbing on, etc. All the subtle signs that I'm trying to acquaint myself with before such behavior is evident.
I believe I went into this (for once!) with adequate background work and research before bringing the Tortoises home. Keeping my fingers crossed that holds true.
I wasn't questioning your decision to have a group of torts and I apologise if it seemed that way in my post. You have obviously researched well and have the space and facilities to accommodate them. However, I don't know if the OP is fortunate enough to have the necessary resources for a group in the UK, especially as Louise has already said she can't afford the bulbs for a second set up. I wish I had your space for my leopard - your torts are very lucky.
 

Terrapin 3

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
Surprise
When I first got my tort Koopa, he didn't eat or drink for about four days, I've had him for five years and now he's doing just fine. I think they just need to adjust.
And some tortoise species including, Russian, Moroccan, and Hermann's are really territorial so I'd keep an eye on them.
 

HoosierTort

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
171
Location (City and/or State)
Indianapolis
The thing is the more torts you have the more space you need. If there is plenty of room for all them all to spread out and avoid each other it may work, but in the confined space of a tortoise table, I think there would still eventually be problems and you would end up with 3 enclosures. One member had 3 torts (can't remember the species) and recently came home to find that the head had been bitten off one of them - absolutely horrific and they had ignored the start of bullying behaviour. I will try to find the post but it contains some horrible pictures. I don't know what outdoor space the OP has but my guess is that in the UK it's not going to be as big as US yards/gardens.

I agree with the enclosure size and number of torts. I have 3 T.h. hatchlings together in a 3’x6’ table/greenhouse with lots of vegetation, hides, temp spots, water dishes, and feeding spots. They graze a lot on what’s planted, but also demolish the weeds/flowers/and moist tort food I give them too. The key is, I have several of EVERYTHING! Multiple hides in all areas, two water dishes, large sunning area with multiple prime spots and close to shade plants. Same on cool side. I personally like to have an aquarium thermometer buried at the bottoms of both ends and the middle so I don’t just have surface temps to gauge. They’re like $9.99 for a two pack on Amazon and work great! I also keep an electric temp/humidity gauge in their enclosure but I still use a laser thermometer.
I will say that I agree with some very reputable breeders about adding a small amount of washed sand to their coco coir/soil mix for my substrate. I feed from dishes and have never seen a single issue of impaction and it replicates better what their natural environment is.
 
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