hello there.. i'm aRym from kuala lumpur, malaysia. i have a pair of star tortoise. before, i thought i had 2 females. it was a great surprise when i realized the elder one is a he this morning. i found this forum while searching for some info on prolapses and decided to be part of u guys.

anyway, mind of my average english?

Welcome to the forum, aRym!! Usually the first sign we all get that our tortoise is a male is what your little star showed you this morning! Its usually NOT prolapse, just that he has become aware that he has it and likes to put it out and feel what its all about. And your English is just fine!

Yvonne

i have 1 hatchling desert tortoise it came from my neighbor who had a breeding pair 3 of the hatchlings were found walking down our street. the owner gave us one. i live in the high desert southern ca.

Hi Deserttortoiseluver! Welcome to the forum. Desert tortoises are one of my favorite. They are so easy to handle...especially if you have to medicate them (compared to sulcata, for instance!). May we know your name?

Yvonne

Hi my name is Pat and I am the father of 4 adult sonoran desert tortoises and the two oldest just had 6 baby torts. NOW THERE ARE 10.

The babies are about 4 weeks old and 2 inches long. Do you have any idea how long it takes for their shells to harden?

The babies are Mike, Leo, Donny, Rafael, Sandy and Dee Dee.

They are eating wheat grass and edible indigenous flowers. They are also drinking well. We plan to keep them up this winter even though the big one hibernate.

These are our first babies. We have raised desert torts for over 8 years and these are our first set of hatchlings.

(11-03-2008 07:34 PM)patrick Wrote:  Hi my name is Pat and I am the father of 4 adult sonoran desert tortoises and the two oldest just had 6 baby torts. NOW THERE ARE 10.

Hi Pat: Welcome to the forum! Your babies are just adorable. What do you plan for them? Adoption or keep? The babies' plastron will stay slightly pliable for three or four months.

Yvonne

Hello Pat and welcome to TF.. Just to let you in on the AZ laws if you don't already know them... You are allowed one sonoran DT per household member. If they have babies you must fine new homes (at no charge) or surrender them to game and fish within two years. So depending on how many you have currently in comparison to your household size you might want to think about what you are going to do with the babies, or try and apply for a permet to keep all of them.

But anyways welcome and your babies are so cute!! I have two yearlings and a 8yr old male that where all born in captivity and given to me, I think the are the sweetest torts.

HI THERE MY NAME IS JOCK , I HAVE THREE HORSEFIELD TORTOISE
JUST RECENTLY BOUGHT TWO OF THEM BUT NOW I NEED A BIGGER HOME FOR THEM DO YOU KNOW IF ITS OK TO PUT THEM IN A AQUARIUM TYPE TANK [/size][/font][/u]

Hi Jock: Welcome to the forum.

Its much better to buy a cheap plastic tub instead of using a glass aquarium. You can buy an under-the-bed storage container or Christmas tree storage bin for pretty cheap at Wal-Mart or K-Mart.

In MY OPINION tortoises are wild animals (as opposed to domesticated animals) and need to be outside for their mental and physical well being. Overwintering indoors is ok, but they really need an outdoor habitat.

Yvonne

(08-15-2007 11:30 PM)josh Wrote:  Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

Hello everyone!

My name is Callum and i am a 'newbie' to the Tortoise Forum. Although i dont have any tortoises at the moment (i have previously cared for a sulcata and a Med Spur-thighed, unfortunatly i had to give these back to their owners ) ... i am due to get 2 Indian Star hatchlings in Jan 09 VERY EXCITED!!!

The forum is an excellent place for me to continue my research and also a place to communicate with other tortoise lovers!

Well thats it, i just thought i'd introduce myself. I'm sure i'll be posting many questions in the future and picking all those brains out there.

Callum

Hi Callum and welcome to the forum!

Yvonne

(08-15-2007 11:30 PM)josh Wrote:  Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

:)Hi,I am Lisa and I was just given a African Spur Thigh tortoise.I am calling him Tanker ,he is 22 inches from front to back ,haven,t been able to wiegh him yet.He was given to me because his carpace was not perfect.I was told that he had probobly been kept with to much humidity as a juvenile and 1 top piece has lost a layer.Today I noticed that one piece on his side is separting from him and he is kind of ragged around the edges. Is there anything I can use on his shell to condition it. I have him outside (I livein St. Petersburg Florida) and he has a exlarge dogloo and I have a shop light fixture in it with a red heat lamp in it and the door has a cover almost to the ground so it can retain the heat. I am feeding him romain and babyspring mix with carrots,sweet potatoes,yellow squash ,zuchinni and winter squash.I just got some plantain and apples for him also. Can you let me know if I am off to a good start ??Oh, I gorgot I also put a hay mixture of alfalfa and timothy in his house and with his food. thanks Lisa I will get a picture soon.

Hi Lisa: Welcome to the forum. It might be better if you ask your sulcata question in the Sulcata Central portion of the forum...that way more folks who are interested in sulcatas might see it.

Yvonne

I just joined this site and I'm super excited! I have a sulcata that is around 10 months old. We got him (?) from a pet store that didn't know how old he was, so we start his b-day from when we got him. I'm hoping to learn more about how to better care for him!

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(11-16-2008 05:22 PM)Lisa Sirois Wrote:  

(08-15-2007 11:30 PM)josh Wrote:  Welcome to TortoiseForum.org. We strive to be the leader in tortoise (and turtle) discussions on the web, covering all topics as they are related to everything from the Cryptodira suborder (thats a fancy way of saying tortoises). Our forums allow for in-depth and specific discussions which can be read by tortoise enthusiasts worldwide!

Register Now (it's free!)

I am Josh. I am the site admin/moderator/what-have-you. I love learning about tortoises and currently care for 2 desert tortoise hatchlings.
Please use this space to introduce yourself (and your tortoises).

:)Hi,I am Lisa and I was just given a African Spur Thigh tortoise.I am calling him Tanker ,he is 22 inches from front to back ,haven,t been able to wiegh him yet.He was given to me because his carpace was not perfect.I was told that he had probobly been kept with to much humidity as a juvenile and 1 top piece has lost a layer.Today I noticed that one piece on his side is separting from him and he is kind of ragged around the edges. Is there anything I can use on his shell to condition it. I have him outside (I livein St. Petersburg Florida) and he has a exlarge dogloo and I have a shop light fixture in it with a red heat lamp in it and the door has a cover almost to the ground so it can retain the heat. I am feeding him romain and babyspring mix with carrots,sweet potatoes,yellow squash ,zuchinni and winter squash.I just got some plantain and apples for him also. Can you let me know if I am off to a good start ??Oh, I gorgot I also put a hay mixture of alfalfa and timothy in his house and with his food. thanks Lisa I will get a picture soon.

From what I hae found on the internet about sulcatas, the fruit and carrots should only be given as treats occasionally. Grass and other grazing greens are best. Even lettuce should be given less frequently than daily due to its water content. Hay is good, but grass is better. Check out anapsid.org for a good overall info site.