# Baby Nevada Desert Tortoise Advice?



## AmandaTheTurtle (Jun 9, 2016)

We just picked up a baby desert tortoise, not sure how long it has been since they have hatched. I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to take care of the little guy? Food/Habitat/ Stuff like that? We've taken care of adult desert tortoises before, but never a hatchling. I want to make sure I get good advice.


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Jun 9, 2016)

Hello Amanda


Do we get to see pics of your tort and it's enclosure ?


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## AmandaTheTurtle (Jun 9, 2016)

We only just found it, so it's staying within a box until we can get a proper set up.


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## Tom (Jun 9, 2016)

The first thing to do is give your new baby a warm shallow soak ASAP.

I've raised dozens of DT hatchlings. I care for them exactly like this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This one will help too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Be aware that following the typically found advice will result in the typical found result, which is death. People have been raising them all wrong for decades and when they die, they explain it away with phrases like: "Well… some of them just aren't meant to survive…" or "Well a lot of them die in the wild too…". Nonsense! None of mine die. Not a one. There is no reason why babies should die in our hands.

Outside all day is not good for them. Open topped tables are not good for them. Dry substrate is not good for them. They need to be soaked daily, or close to it, and this will not "disturb their water balance", whatever that is. They need access to drinking water in a shallow dish. Grocery store lettuce is not a good diet. Cool nights are fine, but they need a basking area during the day.

You will undoubtedly receive conflicting advice and this can be daunting. Ask what the advice is based on. Ask what their success rate is. Ask if the info is from a website or from first hand experience raising lots of hatchlings.

Please feel free to ask lots of questions here and ask for clarification or explanation of any of this.

P.S. Your baby is gorgeous!


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## Yvonne G (Jun 9, 2016)

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Where did you find this baby? It is illegal to pick them up from the desert.


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## AmandaTheTurtle (Jun 9, 2016)

Thank you for the great response! And no, not to worry. We did not pick it up from the desert, I was walking my dog down our neighborhood street and she was interested in some bushes. I looked through it and saw it and none others. I'm thinking it came from a neighbors own captive tortoises since it is more common near where I live to have them as pets.. Possibly they had some that bred and it somehow got loose. I'm going to contact them and see if any of them were expecting hatchlings. It's a really busy area, definitely not a safe area for a baby to be free so I'm hoping taking care of it meanwhile is not seen as bad.


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## mr.tismyturtle (Jun 18, 2016)

Hello I'm am an experienced desert tortoise owner for over the past six years.


I live in the Las Vegas valley and have owned 3 desert tortoises, and one Russian. Currently I have only one desert because they were fighting and everyday when I came home I found my small tortoise was pushing the big in the pool. So that's first keep tortoises separate, first to keep them from fighting and from them transmitting disease. The second thing is under two years need to spend some of the day inside, in a terrarium. I have lost one of my babies deserts by leaving her outside in her shaded pin, it even included a 3 feet deep burrow and a massive bowl of water with dirt angles to help her climb in. Do not leave outside, they will die. They are Also more at risk to develop disease in this growing faze of their life. Okay so take him out three hours a day so his shell develops properly and get a reptile light for his cage. KEEP MOISTURE LOW or they will Develop shell rot. Feed them when outside to not attract knats to cage. Tape paper to sides of cage if it's clear, so the tortoise won't injure himself on the wall. Feed every day. They also need a bath once a week and need a water dish large enough for them to fit inside. One for inside tank and the other for the outside enclosure. Always watch tortoise outside because my great aunt Had a 3 foot desert almost 45 years old and over night he dug a burrow under the brick wall and escaped into the desert. A desert tortoise can move 10 miles a day so if they get lost, there probably gone. They are also ninjas, one winter I let my desert hibernate in my closet and I do weekly checks and he wasn't their and I checked every were and though he might be outside because I leave the door open for my dogs. Aka dogs might also bug deserts keep them away, my dogs are friendly and over 10 years old so they don't care. After about a week and putting up signs around my neighborhood I found him hiding behind an Amazon box in the pantry. In all tortoises are very fun and will live longer than you. You probably should put them in your will. 

Okay let's go to what they eat, anything green expect corn sprouts and strong smelling vegetables (onions,leeks,garlic,ext.) I planted a 10 by 10 plot of blue lake bush beans and they love to eat the whole plant, beans and all . If you have weeds then you will surprised when they have all disappeared. There favorites include tomatoes, grapes, beans ,dandelions and desert willows for a picky tortoise. Tortoise really eat anything, alive or dead. Also fence in expensive plants because my grand parents, adopted my big desert and had a array of 40$ flowers in they flower garden. It took three days and my grandparents finally realized half of the plants were dead, they really eat everything.

Also give vitamin a because they are problem child's to eye problems, my desert in his second year got an eye infection and they ran into a woody shrub and a 1/4 stick went through his mouth. After fighting infection and 20 doctor visits to get injection over 1000$ in medical bills and me have to feed him manually he is finally healed. Just pay 20 bucks now for vitamins then have to waste hours each week fighting your tortoise to keep his mouth open and hold his leg out when he gets two ejections a week. While he go crazy with the pain. Okay I think that's all.
Hope your tortoise does well!


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## Yvonne G (Jun 18, 2016)

Hi mr.tismyturtle:

I'm very happy that you are here to contribute to our conversations, but I feel I must contradict quite a bit of what you've said. You are telling our original poster to treat her tortoise just like we used to do in the old days. We've come a very long way with tortoise husbandry in the last few years. I'll try to go over your points one at a time:

You have had 6 years of experience keeping desert tortoises. Some of us here have been taking care of them for 20 or 30 years, and we've really learned a lot in the past 5 years.

We recommend keeping babies indoors with an hour or two a day out in the sun. Our reasoning is shown below where I talk about the monsoon season.

As far as moisture is concerned, some tortoise species, desert tortoises included, hatch during the rainy season. The ground is wet and there is a lot of green, growing things for them to eat. They also occupy burrows either made by tortoises, or made by other animals, and after the rains, the burrows are quite moist. This does not cause shell rot, but it does help the shells to grow smoothly and helps keep them hydrated.

Baby tortoises need to be put in shallow water daily for at least 15 minutes. For years, we used to keep our babies too dry, contributing to what we used to call "hatchling failure syndrome." You can even spritz water over their food to help with hydration.

The very best diet for desert tortoises is weeds and grasses. If that's not possible, then dark, leafy greens, such as endive and escarole could be used as *part of a varied diet. *Here's a good list of foods to choose from, but don't get stuck feeding the same one or two things all the time:

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

I like to offer calcium supplementation twice a week, and vitamins only once a week. 

I hope this helps you to learn and grow. I'd love to see pictures of your tortoise and the yard where he lives (But start your own thread - this thread belongs to AmandatheTurtle.


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