Pebbles&Petunias
Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2015
- Messages
- 41
Hello tortoise lovers alike!
I have been trying to figure out what type of tortoise I have since I got her in November 2014. I know there's tons of threads and all the forums are a little overwhelming but I get a lot of good info from this forum so I decided to join. I got Pebbles from a very uneducated family that had no idea how to take care of a tortoise. There are several things wrong with her but she is doing ten thousand times better than when I first got her. Because of this poor treatment she is disfigured and discolored. She has mild pyramiding, a very bad hunch back, wonky legs, and a couple chips in her shell. There all getting much much better I have even stopped a couple problems completely. She used to cough a lot when we first got her due to her being on very fine sand and constantly breathing it in. That however has subsided. She had a hard time adjusting to the right foods because all they ever fed her was sandy iceberg lettuce and tortoise pellets. She is now a great eater and has a hearty appetite for how little she is. When we first brought her home we gave her a soak and noticed a big clump of sand on her Plastron that wouldn't come off. I started picking at it with my fingernail and it was a huge wad of sandy bubble gum! These people we're just so uneducated about tortoise care and never did there research they provided her with a terrible home and thought they had done a good job. I have been nursing her back to health. She will never be 100% but I can strive for as close as I can get. I've done tons of research and believe I am doing a great job for a first time tortoise owner especially with all the progress we have made with her. Now I just have one more thing I'm not sure about and that's what kind of tortoise she is. The man I got her from told me she was a Russian tortoise but upon further research I'm just not sure. She's really discolored so it's hard to tell. I'm almost positive she's a desert tortoise I'm just not sure which. Hermann's, Medditeranian, Greek, maybe he is right and she is a Russian? I just don't know. I've tried emailing professionals with no reply. I've taken her to different pet stores and people can only give me guesses and I just wanna know if there's anyone out there who can give me a definite answer. Please help.
Thanks for reading!
I have been trying to figure out what type of tortoise I have since I got her in November 2014. I know there's tons of threads and all the forums are a little overwhelming but I get a lot of good info from this forum so I decided to join. I got Pebbles from a very uneducated family that had no idea how to take care of a tortoise. There are several things wrong with her but she is doing ten thousand times better than when I first got her. Because of this poor treatment she is disfigured and discolored. She has mild pyramiding, a very bad hunch back, wonky legs, and a couple chips in her shell. There all getting much much better I have even stopped a couple problems completely. She used to cough a lot when we first got her due to her being on very fine sand and constantly breathing it in. That however has subsided. She had a hard time adjusting to the right foods because all they ever fed her was sandy iceberg lettuce and tortoise pellets. She is now a great eater and has a hearty appetite for how little she is. When we first brought her home we gave her a soak and noticed a big clump of sand on her Plastron that wouldn't come off. I started picking at it with my fingernail and it was a huge wad of sandy bubble gum! These people we're just so uneducated about tortoise care and never did there research they provided her with a terrible home and thought they had done a good job. I have been nursing her back to health. She will never be 100% but I can strive for as close as I can get. I've done tons of research and believe I am doing a great job for a first time tortoise owner especially with all the progress we have made with her. Now I just have one more thing I'm not sure about and that's what kind of tortoise she is. The man I got her from told me she was a Russian tortoise but upon further research I'm just not sure. She's really discolored so it's hard to tell. I'm almost positive she's a desert tortoise I'm just not sure which. Hermann's, Medditeranian, Greek, maybe he is right and she is a Russian? I just don't know. I've tried emailing professionals with no reply. I've taken her to different pet stores and people can only give me guesses and I just wanna know if there's anyone out there who can give me a definite answer. Please help.
Thanks for reading!