They finally got here!

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muddoc

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A friend of mine and I started talking about getting some Aldabras on a trip home from a reptile show in December of last year. We decided to make some calls and get some. Well after almost 7 months, they finally got here. The Icelandic volcano caused 2 delays in shipping from the Seychelles, but the wait was worth it. I just got these guys today and got them home. They are a bit lite for their size, but we found out that they do like Mazuri tort diet, and I have a bag full ready to go. They area that they are in was also seeded with Bermuda about 6 weeks ago, and is full of clovers. So, I think they will be happy in their new home. I also found some kudzu growing on my property, so they will get some of that as well. Lastly, I have a planned visit to the local market to get old fruits and veggies from them on disposal day.

Enough of my talking, here are te pics that I know everyone always wants.

Here is a pic of them both when they got home. A good soaking, and a light scrub of the shells to clean them up a bit. They both drank a good bit when they hit the water, which is good, because they both urinated on the way home.
torts.jpg


Meet Pong. It is the larger one of the two.
pong1.jpg


Meet Ping. The smaller one.
ping1.jpg


Here is a shot of Pong's imperfection.
pong2.jpg


Ping's imperfection is shown here.
ping2.jpg


Here is a shot of Ping and Pong when I introduced them to their new enclosure. (p.s. they are named after a teacher of mine in highschool that had a pair of ducks with the same name. I thought the names were great, since they aren't gender specific, and we don't know the sexes yet). Sorry the grass is so long, but we just got back from vacation and haven't cut it yet.
torts2.jpg

This last pic is of the enclosure for the time being. It is made out of 1" PVC and 1" x 1" mesh on the side and 1" x 1/2" mesh on the sides. The mesh is attached in the corners with fence ties, and UV resistant zip ties in the middle. There is some expanded PVC on 2 sides and one half of the top for shade. They are positioned under a tree that allows them shade for about 75% of the day. The full sun is early morning sun, which should not get them too hot, although we will watch it closely over the next couple weeks. The enclosure is secured to the ground with U-stakes, so that they cannot lift it, nor can animals get in. We made this enclosure for now, so that it could be moved if they start to demolish too much flora in the area. I will start building there next enclosure in the next couple weeks. Next up is a 16' x 16' cinder block enclosure, that will eventually be the corner of a one acre pen. That will take some time, but time is one thing I have with these guys.
tortcage.jpg


Thanks for looking, and please let me know if anyone has any input.
 

dmmj

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I will take an imperfect aldab any day of the week, does anyone know are those so called imperfections genetic or what? and gratz.
 

Stephanie Logan

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You LUCKY!

What a privilege to have a pair of Aldabran tortoises to raise. I don't even want to know what they cost, but it sounds like you've got the space for them, so have fun creating enclosures and figuring out their favorite foods and building their winter quarters and just watching them do their torty things...I'm so jealous my screen looks green. Truly.
 

Tom

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Wow! Very nice. I love the texture of the skin on their legs.

I vote for a bigger pen now. 16x16' is too small for them now. Don't mind me. I just like them to have LOTS of area to move around. Your future one acre pen sounds great.
 

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Tom said:
Wow! Very nice. I love the texture of the skin on their legs.

I vote for a bigger pen now. 16x16' is too small for them now. Don't mind me. I just like them to have LOTS of area to move around. Your future one acre pen sounds great.

I VOTE FOR THE ENTIRE YARD! And they are nice looking indeed! Congratulations!
 

muddoc

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Thanks for all of the warm replies. I am definitely excited to get these guys home and start watching them grow. I will post updated shots from time to time, and even though I have read alot of books, and have some good tortoise contacts near here, I will still probably be asking questions from time to time.

DeanS said:
I VOTE FOR THE ENTIRE YARD! And they are nice looking indeed! Congratulations!

While I definitely want to get started on the 16 x 16, I am building it myself, so it will take some time (and money of course), I can't wait to start on the one acre. The whole yard is definitely out, as we sit on 7.1 acres. LOL. That would be a huge length of wall. Plus the Bass pond would be too deep for them, and I think they would get lost too easy. I may never find them on 7 acres. LOL.

Thanks again for all of the comments. I am sure I'll have some eating photos coming in the next couple days.
 

Missy

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That is my dream to raise an Aldabra. I love the names :)
 

tortoisenerd

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Very cool! You want to increase the enclosure size over time, so while giving them a lot of spac eis awesome, you don't want to give it to them all at once.
 

ChiKat

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They are stunning! I love their names :)
 

Laura

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Awsome... why not get them locally? Did you want genetics for breeding? Did it cost more from there then here? you dont need to say how much just curious...
 

muddoc

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tortoisenerd said:
Very cool! You want to increase the enclosure size over time, so while giving them a lot of spac eis awesome, you don't want to give it to them all at once.
The next pen they will get will be the 16 x 16 pen. I will probably be building it over the winter, so they won't see it until next year. The one acre pen will be an extension of the walls of the 16 x 16, and will probably take close to 2 years to build. So, they will be progressing slowly through the sizes.

Thanks for the input, as I can alwasy benefit from other peoples knowledge of the subject.

Laura said:
Awsome... why not get them locally? Did you want genetics for breeding? Did it cost more from there then here? you dont need to say how much just curious...


We had a contact that was already getting some from the islands, making it very easy to add a couple more to his order. With that said, they were not going to cost any more than getting them locally (although it is my understanding that the local ones are mostly imported from the islands as well, due to very few if any people actually captively breeding them in the states). The short answer is that it was easy to get them this way because the order had already been placed by the time we inquired.
 

DeanS

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So their pen is 16x16 but they'll have access to an acre of Bermuda? You can't ask for more than that...excellent;)
 

muddoc

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DeanS said:
So their pen is 16x16 but they'll have access to an acre of Bermuda? You can't ask for more than that...excellent;)

Their pen right now is 5' x 5'. I will be building the 16 x 16 this winter. The 16 x 16 will be a corner inside of the 1 acre pen, but won't actually have access between the two. But, it will be their home for about 2 - 3 years while I build the big one. I will definitely post pictures as construction bgins. I will be seeding some Bermude in the large pen, but probably not all of it. I think I will seed with at least 3 to 4 grasses, so that they can pick their favorites.
 

DeanS

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muddoc said:
DeanS said:
So their pen is 16x16 but they'll have access to an acre of Bermuda? You can't ask for more than that...excellent;)

Their pen right now is 5' x 5'. I will be building the 16 x 16 this winter. The 16 x 16 will be a corner inside of the 1 acre pen, but won't actually have access between the two. But, it will be their home for about 2 - 3 years while I build the big one. I will definitely post pictures as construction bgins. I will be seeding some Bermude in the large pen, but probably not all of it. I think I will seed with at least 3 to 4 grasses, so that they can pick their favorites.

Very well planned out...looking forward to seeing the finished project...yard and torts;)
 

muddoc

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ALDABRAMAN said:
Congradulations! They are very rewarding.

Thanks. I don't get on here very often, but I saw your response today. I also have seen quite a few of pics today, and you have some amazing animals. So far, I have truly enjoyed keeping these guys. I am in the process of building a 16' x 16' outdoor pen for them. This should suffice for at least another 3 - 5 years. After this pen is done, I will begin work on the 80' x 80' pen for them. It will probably take about 3 years to complete.
 
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