Re: my new tortoises

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Posted by Joe on February 13, 1999 at 21:40:22:

In Reply to: my new tortoises posted by nathan on February 13, 1999 at 21:27:08:

: *grin*
: Okay, I finally did it. I've been bugging my fiance about
: wanting a tortoise about as long as she's been bugging me
: about wanting an iguana. So today we drove to Havre De Grace
: MD and went to a reptile show (4 hour drive) and she picked
: out her iguana and I picked out two leopard tortoises.
: They are about four inches in plastron length, possibly
: a little less. I'm guessing they are roughly ((ROUGHLY,
: I know it's not possible to know unless you were there
: when they poked out of the egg)) two years old from what
: I've read about some captive bred growth charts (yes, they
: are captive bred, I figured I do ya'll proud *grin*).
: One nibbled on some chickory today, they were snacking on
: some lettuce when I got them. I didn't get hosed too bad
: on the price either (if anyone is curious, you can email
: me). They are home now, in a 4' by 2' enclosure, which
: at their size is pretty big. It's a turtle table, but only
: one hole for a bin is left, and that bin has very sandy
: soil. Most of it is astroturf. Since I've never kept tortoises
: before, I totally didn't think about their grazing nature
: and so the guys have been trying valiantly to nibble on
: the bright green grass (astroturf) without any luck, and
: making funny faces. Anyone have any good ideas about a
: substrate that I can put in like astroturf (i.e. a sheet
: of something) perhaps I can get a grey or brown indoor
: outdoor carpetting..... I think I will get rid of the green
: as soon as I can though. I can't use all dirt or pellets
: or anything because of the design of the table (pictures
: SOON on my website).
: Anyway, before we purchased them, alesia and I toured some
: grocery store to make sure we could find a good variety
: of acceptible foods. Now, just for the record, what temp
: gradient do you all recommend? right now I've got a roughly
: 75 at one cool end with a hide box that one already loves
: to around 85 at the hot end, where the diggable sandy
: soil is. The whole thing drops to about 75 at night, perhaps
: a few degrees lower.
: ANYWAY. Alesia and I raced home and spent the rest of the
: day doing a total cleaning of everything and setting up
: the new animals (almost everything was ready for them
: before we went) and spent the day with our new family.
: The torts are very active, nice hard shells, clear eyes,
: very curious.
: What amount would ya'll recommend feeding for both?
: I was figuring about 3/4 cup a day.... just wondering if
: I was accurate.

: Okay,
: Anyway, thanks for the info so i could learn the diffs
: between my 20 something turts and these two new torts in
: care and diet and such.

: Later,
: Nate

Congratulations!
Sounds like you're off to a good start. I can't help you much except to tell you to do a search on this forum. There have been a lotof post on leopards. What are the turts you have?

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: : *grin* : : Okay, I finally did it. I've been bugging my fiance about : : wanting a tortoise about as long as she's been bugging me : : about wanting an iguana. So today we drove to Havre De Grace : : MD and went to a reptile show (4 hour drive) and she picked : : out her iguana and I picked out two leopard tortoises. : : They are about four inches in plastron length, possibly : : a little less. I'm guessing they are roughly ((ROUGHLY, : : I know it's not possible to know unless you were there : : when they poked out of the egg)) two years old from what : : I've read about some captive bred growth charts (yes, they : : are captive bred, I figured I do ya'll proud *grin*). : : One nibbled on some chickory today, they were snacking on : : some lettuce when I got them. I didn't get hosed too bad : : on the price either (if anyone is curious, you can email : : me). They are home now, in a 4' by 2' enclosure, which : : at their size is pretty big. It's a turtle table, but only : : one hole for a bin is left, and that bin has very sandy : : soil. Most of it is astroturf. Since I've never kept tortoises : : before, I totally didn't think about their grazing nature : : and so the guys have been trying valiantly to nibble on : : the bright green grass (astroturf) without any luck, and : : making funny faces. Anyone have any good ideas about a : : substrate that I can put in like astroturf (i.e. a sheet : : of something) perhaps I can get a grey or brown indoor : : outdoor carpetting..... I think I will get rid of the green : : as soon as I can though. I can't use all dirt or pellets : : or anything because of the design of the table (pictures : : SOON on my website). : : Anyway, before we purchased them, alesia and I toured some : : grocery store to make sure we could find a good variety : : of acceptible foods. Now, just for the record, what temp : : gradient do you all recommend? right now I've got a roughly : : 75 at one cool end with a hide box that one already loves : : to around 85 at the hot end, where the diggable sandy : : soil is. The whole thing drops to about 75 at night, perhaps : : a few degrees lower. : : ANYWAY. Alesia and I raced home and spent the rest of the : : day doing a total cleaning of everything and setting up : : the new animals (almost everything was ready for them : : before we went) and spent the day with our new family. : : The torts are very active, nice hard shells, clear eyes, : : very curious. : : What amount would ya'll recommend feeding for both? : : I was figuring about 3/4 cup a day.... just wondering if : : I was accurate. : : Okay, : : Anyway, thanks for the info so i could learn the diffs : : between my 20 something turts and these two new torts in : : care and diet and such. : : Later, : : Nate : Congratulations! : Sounds like you're off to a good start. I can't help you much except to tell you to do a search on this forum. There have been a lotof post on leopards. What are the turts you have?

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