# I'm adopting a new girl!!



## sushisurf13 (Sep 6, 2008)

So I've been working with Robyn (CRAZY1) to adopt an adult DT. She has been absolutley great!
I'll be getting her very soon and she will have full access to my backyard. I've been getting it ready for a couple of months now and I'm very excited.

I'm in Huntington Beach, CA. Are there any other members in my area that have DT's? If so, let me know. I'd like to pick your brain a bit about how you care for them near the beach. I just thought it would be good to talk to others in this area about how they deal with certain climate issues.

Thanks and take care everyone!


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## jlyoncc1 (Sep 7, 2008)

Eric, Congrats on getting your new DT. I have also adopted from Robyn and she is nothing but wonderful! Good luck!!


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## purpod (Sep 7, 2008)

Enjoy your new friend once you get her; aand dont forget to post some pics of her in her new home; a large yard with free range will be great ~

{And yeah, isn't she a sweet~heart? Love ya, Robyn!}

Purpod


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## Josh (Sep 7, 2008)

I know a DT owner that lives near the beach and gives her tortoise free range of the yard. At night she let's him into the insulated garage where he sleeps in his tortoise house.


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## Jentortmom (Sep 7, 2008)

Congrats!! Can't wait to she your new tort..


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## Megan (Sep 7, 2008)

Congrats on your new girl  We love our DT!

I am in the Costa Mesa area and we just brought home a 70 year old DT. He has a large area in our backyard and sleeps in his "house", in his pen, every night. This is our first tortoise, so I don't know how we will do the hibernation. That I need help with!


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## Crazy1 (Sep 7, 2008)

Hibernation is the easy part. I stop feeding my DTs about the end of the first or second week of Oct. I make sure they have plenty of water available. When the temps get down to about 40 (Usually around Thanksgiving), its bed time. I place them in a plastic tote lined with newspapers, place a towel over them, then a metal screen over the top of the tote and place them in the shed. I check on them weekly to make sure nothing has disturbed them, no ants, mice etc. Sometime in March when the night time temps stay above 40 they begin to slowly wake up. I know this because the begin to move in their totes. That is when I take them out and offer them lots of water. I stimulate them to drink by running the hose water over their shells. They do tend to tank up on water. Then sleep for a day or two and then the eating begins. 
They are lots of fun. Eric I am sure you will love Vanolla. Oh and I have to thank her and Alana (abeck) for giving me the chance to care for her and find her a forever home with Eric and be able to photograph her and win first place with her beautiful face.


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## Megan (Sep 9, 2008)

Robyn,

What if I have an outdoor house in his pen that stays dry, with bermuda for bedding? Can he stay in that for the winter?


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## Crazy1 (Sep 9, 2008)

Megan, you can't let them get damp. Damp is bad. How cold does it get were you are at, at night? Is the house insulated? Animal and ant free? Mice, rats and ants can devistate a sleeping tort. I have never let mine hibernate outside the shed but as long as that is all takencare of and the weather does not dip below 32 and he stays absolutley dry, I don't see why not. My shed does not dip below 32 even if it get to 32 at night. I know I have been out there at 3AM when it got to 30 last year and it was still a wooping 38 inside the shed. Perhaps others who hibernate there DT could chime in. Could you move his house into the garage?


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## chelonologist (Sep 10, 2008)

sushisurf13 said:


> I'm in Huntington Beach, CA. Are there any other members in my area that have DT's? If so, let me know. I'd like to pick your brain a bit about how you care for them near the beach. I just thought it would be good to talk to others in this area about how they deal with certain climate issues.



If your tortoise decides to dig a burrow in your yard, you'll need to watch out for winter rains filling the burrow and drowning the tortoise. That's probably the main cause of mortality for desert tortoises maintained in yards in coastal California. If your tortoise excavates a burrow and hibernates in it (and this is something I'd encourage my tortoises to do), you'll want to protect it from winter rains or flash floods. I plan to do this by encouraging my tortoises to excavate their burrows on a hillside that will drain rapidly, thereby preventing the burrow from filling with water. If your tortoise excavates a burrow in a flat area, you may need to put a large umbrella or other structure over it that will keep the rain away, and a small berm around it to keep flash floods from entering the burrow.


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## Shelly (Sep 11, 2008)

How deep will an adult dig a typical burrow?


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## chelonologist (Sep 11, 2008)

Shelly said:


> How deep will an adult dig a typical burrow?



Depending on the substrate and other environmental conditions, an adult burrow typically extends to a depth of between 2 and 6 feet, and can range in length from 2 to 12 feet. There are always exceptions, but from what I've seen in the field with wild tortoises, most fall within this range of depths/lengths. You should take into account that captive tortoises may behave differently.


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## sushisurf13 (Sep 11, 2008)

I'm planning on allowing her to hibernate in my garage or shed. I think there is too much rain during winter to risk her being outside. January and February can be very, very wet. Has any found the humidity around here to be problem? I personally know a few people that keep DT's here in Orange County, but they all live inland from me. Its less humid and probably drier. Thanks Guys


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## Crazy1 (Sep 11, 2008)

Eric I am not sure that humidity will be a problem in your garage but here is a site with mini dehumidifiers. http://www.allergybegone.com/mini-dehumidifiers.html
I have used the Eva-Dry EDV300 Mini-Dehumidifier with yearling DTs. I simply affixed it (wrapped a wire around it) and hung it from the side of their aquarium (yes I had them in an aquarium at the time) It worked great. 
I know you are a little worried but I am sure she will be fine with you, where there is a will there is a way. You already have Greeks Her humidity and moisture needs are very close to theirs.


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## sushisurf13 (Sep 12, 2008)

Thank Robyn. I'm not too concerned. She'll be fine. I was just wanting to get in touch with other local people that are raising DT's. Just to get some ideas. 
I cant wait to have Vanolla here, I'm so excited!!!!!!


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## Crazy1 (Sep 12, 2008)

I am glad you are not too concerned. And I think getting ideas from others is great. Now to the Getting Vanolla to you. 
I am up for a trip to the beach with my D-O-G-S. (they think they are people, or maybe even torts they do love Mazuri) And I was thinking I could bring her your way. I usually take them to HB anyway. This Sunday afternoon or the next weekend Sat or Sun afternoon or the next works for me. I am getting ready for vacation so I would like to get her to you before I go in Oct. Just let me know what will work for you.


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## Crazy1 (Sep 14, 2008)

Here is the winning pic of Vanolla Erics new girl


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## purpod (Sep 14, 2008)

A well deserved first place if you ask me! Xllnt, Robyn!

Purpod


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## Yvonne G (Sep 15, 2008)

I know that Chronologist is an expert working with desert tortoises in the field, but I really don't think its a good idea to allow a captive desert tortoise dig a burrow and hibernate in it. There isn't as much rain in the desert as there is around the rest of California. Remember the cardinal rule: Warm/wet = ok......Cold/wet = deadly to tortoises!!! Even if the burrow doesn't flood, osmosis pulls water into the soil of the burrow and it becomes wet. My desert tortoises have a burrow, but in late September I block off the entrance to it so they can't go into it anymore. They also have a cinder block house and that's what they have to use until its cold enough to box them up and put them someplace where it will stay dry all winter.

Yvonne


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## chelonologist (Sep 15, 2008)

emysemys said:


> I know that Chronologist is an expert working with desert tortoises in the field, but I really don't think its a good idea to allow a captive desert tortoise dig a burrow and hibernate in it. There isn't as much rain in the desert as there is around the rest of California. Remember the cardinal rule: Warm/wet = ok......Cold/wet = deadly to tortoises!!! Even if the burrow doesn't flood, osmosis pulls water into the soil of the burrow and it becomes wet. My desert tortoises have a burrow, but in late September I block off the entrance to it so they can't go into it anymore. They also have a cinder block house and that's what they have to use until its cold enough to box them up and put them someplace where it will stay dry all winter.
> 
> Yvonne



Very good point, Yvonne - I like the idea of blocking the burrow before the onset of winter. I'm thinking about how wet soil can get here during the winter, and I can recall digging holes to a depth of four feet or more and the soil is moist all the way down! Definitely not good for a tortoise to be in a burrow that moist during the cool of winter. But desert tortoises love to dig burrows, and I would encourage everyone to give their pet tortoises the opportunity to excavate and inhabit their own burrow during the warmer months.


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## james (Sep 15, 2008)

chelonologist said:


> emysemys said:
> 
> 
> > *I know that Chronologist is an expert working with desert tortoises in the field, but I really don't think its a good idea to allow a captive desert tortoise dig a burrow and hibernate in it.* There isn't as much rain in the desert as there is around the rest of California. Remember the cardinal rule: Warm/wet = ok......Cold/wet = deadly to tortoises!!! Even if the burrow doesn't flood, osmosis pulls water into the soil of the burrow and it becomes wet. My desert tortoises have a burrow, but in late September I block off the entrance to it so they can't go into it anymore. They also have a cinder block house and that's what they have to use until its cold enough to box them up and put them someplace where it will stay dry all winter.
> ...



this is a great example of all ego's aside.


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## sushisurf13 (Sep 16, 2008)

I love getting different opinions!!


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