Hello! To be perfectly honest, I am a cat person. I have been my entire life. I love everything about cats. A couple years ago I discovered how beautiful tortoises are. I watched a documentary about desert tortoises and felt so compelled by them that I wanted to build the best tortoise enclosure ever in the future. I've been reading about them, learning about how much care they require and giving it a lot of thought because when you adopt a tortoise it's a life long commitment. Funnily enough, I had to give a presentation at school on last Wednesday about a ceramic artist named Kurt Weiser and I told my class how much I've learned to love tortoises. (Weiser has a porcelain-painted tea pot with a tortoise on one side and a hummingbird on the other)
I told my class my plans to adopt a tortoise someday. Life had other plans for me. The very next evening my dad was fixing a friend's computer and she told him her captive desert tortoise had hatchlings and she was looking to give them away. I think you can probably guess how this story ends.
If you can't guess, let's just say that after I stopped squealing with joy I quoted the Game and Fish regulations for keeping tortoises, asked where they came from, and started going crazy. I was in a complete panic knowing that the set up I managed to scramble up on such short notice absolutely would not cut it (10 gallon fish tank filled with dirt, bermuda grass, and a cut up shoe box for shelter). Within the next couple days I went out and bought a UVB lamp, a bigger tank with a screen lid, a heat lamp, phosphorus-free calcium supplements, leafy greens and anything else I could possibly think of at the time. I went into shock at the pet store check out because I'd purchased $200 worth of stuff.
I am now the proud owner of two baby desert tortoises. They're only a couple weeks old and both look really healthy. I have temporarily named them Morgan and Merlin until I can figure out their genders-- and if both are male, I do fully intend on building separate enclosures... They're so tiny at this point I'll cross that road when it comes.
So...yes. I am happy to be here but a little terrified. I'm looking forward to making friends and asking questions.
The picture below was taken on Friday morning. Their breakfast consisted of strawberry and turnip greens. Good thing I like salads, I guess... This was their inferior set up.
I told my class my plans to adopt a tortoise someday. Life had other plans for me. The very next evening my dad was fixing a friend's computer and she told him her captive desert tortoise had hatchlings and she was looking to give them away. I think you can probably guess how this story ends.
If you can't guess, let's just say that after I stopped squealing with joy I quoted the Game and Fish regulations for keeping tortoises, asked where they came from, and started going crazy. I was in a complete panic knowing that the set up I managed to scramble up on such short notice absolutely would not cut it (10 gallon fish tank filled with dirt, bermuda grass, and a cut up shoe box for shelter). Within the next couple days I went out and bought a UVB lamp, a bigger tank with a screen lid, a heat lamp, phosphorus-free calcium supplements, leafy greens and anything else I could possibly think of at the time. I went into shock at the pet store check out because I'd purchased $200 worth of stuff.
I am now the proud owner of two baby desert tortoises. They're only a couple weeks old and both look really healthy. I have temporarily named them Morgan and Merlin until I can figure out their genders-- and if both are male, I do fully intend on building separate enclosures... They're so tiny at this point I'll cross that road when it comes.
So...yes. I am happy to be here but a little terrified. I'm looking forward to making friends and asking questions.
The picture below was taken on Friday morning. Their breakfast consisted of strawberry and turnip greens. Good thing I like salads, I guess... This was their inferior set up.
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