Found Tortoise

[Janimal]

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Brilliant photos Jane...I was going to say it looked like a girl to me too, before Mark said for definite

mine were both females too, long time ago now though. She looks great...hope you get to keep her :thumbsup: :wub:

Always fed mine lots of fruit and tomatoes, dont think it was ever the diet that killed them but the ignorance then about

hibernation

 

[eve]

Gosh Mark, your torties are superb

Who would have thought to find a tortoise specalist on a sighthound website :teehee: :teehee: :teehee: (w00t)

Sounds like Mark's tortoises are fed only the very best no cheap icebergs for them :teehee: Of course if you want to be totally sure go organic (sorry Mark just a wee slip of Scots humor at your expense

 

[Mark Roberts]

Brilliant photos Jane...I was going to say it looked like a girl to me too, before Mark said for definitemine were both females too, long time ago now though. She looks great...hope you get to keep her :thumbsup: :wub:

Always fed mine lots of fruit and tomatoes, dont think it was ever the diet that killed them but the ignorance then about

hibernation

Ive never hibernated mine as in the wild (like bears ect) tortoises hibernate due to their being no food about and that its to cold for thier bodys to function, it's now accepted by many that tortoises if kept warm through the winter suffer no ill effects from not hibernating.

and due to them not going without foof for 3-4 months whilst hibernating have better shell growth and grown at a more even rate making for a stronger healthyer tortoise.

all tortoises need heat to digest thier food, in years gone by when they were sold in most pet shops for 50p we all bought them and just put them in the garden most would live a year or so but then suddenly died it probably wasnt diet but lack of heat to enable them to process their food and so in a way they starved to death even thouigh food was available.

mine are kept indoors most of the time and are kept at an average tempreture of 30 degrees and have uv lights on for 14 hours a day in the summer and 10 hours a day in the winter, they need to uv to motalise the calcium nd use it to build a good stronge shell.

things have realy move on from the days when you just left them in the garden all year and hoped for the best.

 

[jinnyfizz]

This thread is fascinating! So much to learn and I have to admit I've never really thought very deeply about tortoises :blink:

I never realised that you bred them, Mark ....... they look lovely and so diddy when they're babies! It's wonderful that you can give all this advice - as Eve said, who'd have thought we'd find a tortoise specialist on a sighthound forum :thumbsup:

Good luck with your little girl, Jayne. Has Bradley given her a name yet? Hopefully you will be able to keep her :luck: :luck:

 

[Janimal]

Brilliant photos Jane...I was going to say it looked like a girl to me too, before Mark said for definitemine were both females too, long time ago now though. She looks great...hope you get to keep her :thumbsup: :wub:

Always fed mine lots of fruit and tomatoes, dont think it was ever the diet that killed them but the ignorance then about

hibernation

Ive never hibernated mine as in the wild (like bears ect) tortoises hibernate due to their being no food about and that its to cold for thier bodys to function, it's now accepted by many that tortoises if kept warm through the winter suffer no ill effects from not hibernating.

and due to them not going without foof for 3-4 months whilst hibernating have better shell growth and grown at a more even rate making for a stronger healthyer tortoise.

all tortoises need heat to digest thier food, in years gone by when they were sold in most pet shops for 50p we all bought them and just put them in the garden most would live a year or so but then suddenly died it probably wasnt diet but lack of heat to enable them to process their food and so in a way they starved to death even thouigh food was available.

mine are kept indoors most of the time and are kept at an average tempreture of 30 degrees and have uv lights on for 14 hours a day in the summer and 10 hours a day in the winter, they need to uv to motalise the calcium nd use it to build a good stronge shell.

things have realy move on from the days when you just left them in the garden all year and hoped for the best.

Yes thats exactly my meaning Mark, mine were both from pet shops way back then..Not a bad size I must admit....and kept outdoors during the day

but brought them in at night...no lamps no vivarium.....and then used to sort of force hibernate them in the winter in a box

with leaves and straw....both died... on reawakeing....or not in their cases sadly... I dont think enough information was given about them

or even known about them then, so its great weve all been re educated about them....and also they are not imported into the country the way they were either.

 

[TURBO]

OMG ive learnt so much about tortoises here , very usefull info

My brother got given a tortoise when he was 5 and he is now 45 , Zorba is still going strong

But has had a few adventures in his time , most recent one was when he was dropped by my nephew and ended up cracking his shell

so off he went to the vets .

Plus he has escaped a few times through the winter .

I remember as a young un i use to have nightmares about Zorba being found on his back

Ive always fancyed getting myself one because a friend breeds them but so far havnt

Funny how people think they are slow movers because Zorba isnt when he puts his mind to it .

All the best on your find x

 

[Mark Roberts]

and also they are not imported into the country the way they were either.

Unfortunatly that isnt true, most people think the importation was banned it wasnt it was only the importation of wild caught torts that was banned farmed tortoises are and always were allowed.

now you have large farms in places like sloveinia supposedly breeding thousands every year for the pet trade.

tortoises are still brought into the UK in their thousands each week packed into wooden crates with no food/water (tortoises can servive several weeks with no food/water) but the conditions of travel are no better now than 20 years ago and hundreds die every year making the trip.

there are enough tortoises in the uk for breeding programmes to ensure that no wild caught/farmed specimens are put through the stress of the jurney.

anyone thinking of buying a tortoise should ask to see the defra paerwork and only accept specimens that state the country of origin as the UK (not slovienia ect) these are born and bred in the UK and cost no more to buy than the imported ones.

OK RANT OVER

 

[haycroft]

Thanks for all the info

firstly i'l take her to the vets to see if shes chipped,then i think which ive been told someone at the back of us may have tortoises so i'l ask if they have them and see if they say they have one missing

if no luck finding her owner...we are happy to keep her but im sure she cant stay in a box

what sort of housing will i need to get,lights,heater and where is the best place to keep

do you think shes just woken up from hibernation as shes seems to be eating alot

no name for her yet not until we know she'l be staying

oh Bradley just said...'shelly'..we would have to see,

 

[Mark Roberts]

she would be best kept in a vivarium (as mine are my main 1 is 6ft long x 18inch high x 2ft wide) they allow you to fully control heat/light/humidity although some feel they shouldnt be kept in vivs? but mine do realy well so I can only speak from my experiances, although the experts! say they only breed if fully happy last year we hatched 15 babies from 24 eggs this year weve 8 in the incubator so far..

mines a feature in the living room with logs/rocks ect for the to climb dig ect.

tortoise tables are another good way to keep them indoors with a heat lamp which it will\bask under when it needs to warm up normaly before/after eating.

you will also need a uv light a strip type (lookthe same as\a flouresant) go for the 10.0 repti glo as tortoises need a lot of uv to matabolise the cuttlefish/calcium.

she will have probably been out of hibernation for over 2 month but her previous owner may have lost her last year when it went cold as she might have dug down or hid under a shed ect to hibernate if kept out doors so they may have stopped looking for her 6 months or more ago.

if you want to chat ask questions ect your welcome to ring me pm me if you need my number.

 

[eve]

WOW! Keeping tortoises sounds very specalist (and expensive) these days. No critism intended. It is fantastic that the information is there for them to be properly looked after and avoid high mortality rates.

I am quite proud that my Tortie lived to be about 35 - 40. She died after getting gangrene in 1 leg comming out of hibernation. (Must have gotten frostbiten). I was devastated 20 years ago however, vets were not as clued up as they are now and reptile specalists were only just beginnging to appear. Her shell was always fantastic (must have been all the carnations she demolished :teehee: ) She did love caulliflower florets however and these have calcium. She also used to nibble the scallop shells we had in the garden. Funny how they find what they need. I have often thought about getting another but realise now that I would probably be outlived (there is a thought )

 

[Mark Roberts]

they have great little boxes now for hibernation,

the "rep nursary", its an incubator that keeps the eggs warm but can also be used to cool as well so is ideal for hibernating the tortoises in as its digitaly controlled to the set tempreture ideal if youve 1 or 2 but to small for many more this obviously avoids the chance of frost or mouse/rat damaged that happens a lot with the box in the shed method (rats love hibernating tortoises to nibble on)

, some use drinks cooler fridgews but obviously these need opening daily to allow fresh air in (being air tight)

 

[Janimal]

and also they are not imported into the country the way they were either.

Unfortunatly that isnt true, most people think the importation was banned it wasnt it was only the importation of wild caught torts that was banned farmed tortoises are and always were allowed.

now you have large farms in places like sloveinia supposedly breeding thousands every year for the pet trade.

tortoises are still brought into the UK in their thousands each week packed into wooden crates with no food/water (tortoises can servive several weeks with no food/water) but the conditions of travel are no better now than 20 years ago and hundreds die every year making the trip.

there are enough tortoises in the uk for breeding programmes to ensure that no wild caught/farmed specimens are put through the stress of the jurney.

anyone thinking of buying a tortoise should ask to see the defra paerwork and only accept specimens that state the country of origin as the UK (not slovienia ect) these are born and bred in the UK and cost no more to buy than the imported ones.

OK RANT OVER

Thanks for that info Mark,.... I Never knew that...always thought theyd made importing them illegal...

I thought at least now they would be shipped over in a much better way... thats just so sad.....

the pet shop I go to for my frozen dog food knows someone who breeds them, and was saying last time I was in it was so much better

to get one bred in this country :thumbsup:

 

[Mark Roberts]

the pet shop I go to for my frozen dog food knows someone who breeds them, and was saying last time I was in it was so much betterto get one bred in this country

if the importers market dry's up they will stop importing.

 

[haycroft]

TALLULAH has gone to her owners

Bradley is so upset and in tears now would like a tortoise of his own as the owners has offered us a tortoise house with heater/light etc

she is 6 years old and the owners has all the paperwork...at sometime in the past she had been lost for 18 mths and was dug up by a dog in a neighbours garden so this explains why mark had said she had a bad diet at some point

she has a smaller male which she was told a female once bought sometime ago

Tallulah is a typical female got a mind of her own and moves out once 'he' get on her nevers lol

i even got attached to the little thing eating from my hand

 

[Mark Roberts]

her owners must be made up at getting her back but I can understand why your lad would miss her as they endere themselves on you very quick.

 

[eve]

Bradley must be so sad loosing his new friend

Just remind him how wonderful it was that he found her and that she has 'gone home' I am sure he will be allowed to visit having probably saved her life. He has the lovely Lucy to take care of and is probably by now an expert in Tortoises. Mabye the family that own Tallulah would let him look after her and her friend if they go on holiday.

Tell him I am so Jealous that he has Lucy, she is absolutely stunnng. I see Lucy's brother Austin ( Celt) most weeks as he lives nearby but have not taken a photo lately. I think Nicky is going to meet us on Thursday and I will try and remember to take then camera so that I can take a photo of Lucy's brother Austin for him. If he followed the Story of Bella, I will also try and post a photo of her trying the Lure for the very first time. She has settled really well and apart from being trouble with a CAPITAL 'T' is a lovely girl and very happy and well here.

 

[k4tie-d]

TALLULAH has gone to her ownersBradley is so upset and in tears now would like a tortoise of his own as the owners has offered us a tortoise house with heater/light etc

she is 6 years old and the owners has all the paperwork...at sometime in the past she had been lost for 18 mths and was dug up by a dog in a neighbours garden so this explains why mark had said she had a bad diet at some point

she has a smaller male which she was told a female once bought sometime ago

Tallulah is a typical female got a mind of her own and moves out once 'he' get on her nevers lol

i even got attached to the little thing eating from my hand

aw thats so sad, happy that for her owners, but so sad for Bradley and you

i hope Bradleys not to upset for to long, and that he eventually feels proud of himself for finding her and returning her home. :huggles: :huggles:

 

[pepa]

so pleased you found her family for her but so sorry Bradley

I have enjoyed this thread and must agrea that the up keep on tortoise's have improved so much.

Ihad one as a child and remember going to the pet shop and picking the smallist one thinking it would last longer :wacko: I must have been around 7 years at the time and can remember it was only 50p it he was the size of a meat and potoato pie we called him freda thinking he was a she then we found out he was a he.he lived in the house most of the time but in the summer my dad made him a run with a house. and he was an excape artiss the amount of times next door would find him after he had eaten all his prise pansies in the garden.he had the run of all down stairs the joys of coming down stairs in bear feet and standing in poo was lovley.he would also run under the radiators and bang his shell on it.I lost fred about 20 years ago my grandad found him under the sideborad my Grandad was devistated as we all wear but he was convinsed fred new his name and came to him when he called him.unforunatly I lost my Grandad 15 years ago too .both wear lovely men :wub: :wub:

broght back so meny happy memouries thank you

 

[haycroft]

pepa

how sad, at least youve fond memories

Bradley is now saving all his pennies...lots of coppers atm in his money box,as we are going to get a little tortoise from mark when ready

It has put a smile back on bradleys face..he doesnt realise hes gotta wait for a little while though

he would have a garden full of animals if he had his way,hes so confident around animals..a little too much at times

 

[pepa]

I am so pleased your getting him one (w00t) they a brill little things :wub: :wub: :wub: