# Tortoise boarding (holiday pet sitting)



## squirrelkitty (Jan 3, 2019)

What do you guys do with your torts when you go on holiday?
We're currently looking for somewhere for our baby (Hermann's, ca 6 months old) to stay when we go on holiday in May.

What do you what guys do with your torts when you go on holiday? 
We're currently looking for somewhere for our baby (Hermann's hatchling, ca. 6 months) to stay when we go on holiday in May.
Today we visited two pet shops that offer boarding (both, reptile 'specialists',... not). There is no way our precious baby is staying at either of them. They both fed the tortoises that were for sale iceberg lettuce and lots of bell peppers! They had a sulcata the size of a rugby ball in an enclosure with an area smaller than that of our baby! The torts looked 'sad' (slightly dehydrated?) and not very energetic. While they didn't show signs of pyramiding, their shells did look very dry and brittle. Their snakes were also in tanks that were way too small (one beautiful, huge python only had enough space to double itself up back and forth for entertainment). 
Basically, what they mean by "boarding" is that they stick the creature in an enclosure and only check on him once a day. Our baby loves to climb and dance and is prone to flip over when he gets too eager. So he would need to be checked on several times a day. He also needs his bath every day and his substrate needs to be sprayed. 

So we're going to check out pet sitters on the Internet. We'll phone some of them and ask them whether they would bathe him, etc. If that doesn't work, I'll try my friends. But if I can't find anyone, I'll stay at home with my baby, there is no way I'll leave him at one of those horrible shops for a week.


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## squirrelkitty (Jan 3, 2019)

Sorry the first part of my post is doubled up. I'm on my phone and the text I entered was invisible so I pasted it from a 'notepad' app.


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## LaLaP (Jan 3, 2019)

I just left my torts for a week for the first time. I was worried but it was fine. 
I had 2 different friends come to feed and check on them. I have all the lights on timers and the heat on a thermostat so that made that part easy. I usually pick weeds daily but to make it easy I got store bought greens (endive, escarole and cactus). 
I have adult torts so I decided they could go a week without a soak but that's probably not true for you're baby. I hope you can find someone who is responsible and follows instructions well. 
The flipping seems problematic. I've heard that some people get tortoise cams so they can check on them remotely. Then maybe you could have neighbors on standby if your baby needs a rescue. 
Hope some of that is helpful


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## squirrelkitty (Jan 3, 2019)

LaLaP said:


> I just left my torts for a week for the first time. I was worried but it was fine.
> I had 2 different friends come to feed and check on them. I have all the lights on timers and the heat on a thermostat so that made that part easy. I usually pick weeds daily but to make it easy I got store bought greens (endive, escarole and cactus).
> I have adult torts so I decided they could go a week without a soak but that's probably not true for you're baby. I hope you can find someone who is responsible and follows instructions well.
> The flipping seems problematic. I've heard that some people get tortoise cams so they can check on them remotely. Then maybe you could have neighbors on standby if your baby needs a rescue.
> Hope some of that is helpful


Thanks.
We do have a webcam already and our landlords have rescued the stupid creature twice. Our friend also has a key. But I still couldn't leave my precious baby alone for a week because he would dehydrate. If I have to get one of my friends to look after him, he'd have to live with them, rather than them coming round every day.


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## jsheffield (Jan 4, 2019)

I just got back from a week away from my 6mo redfoot ... he was fine.

With a closed system, lights on a timer, and heaters on thermostats, the system is stable, and warm and wet enough.

I made sure to feed and soak him a bit extra before and after my absence, and he's fine.

I have a camera focused on the tank, abs a friend who could've stopped in of something went wrong.

Jamie


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## Pastel Tortie (Jan 5, 2019)

Maybe you could find a house sitter who will also tend to the tortoise? You have a few months to interview, check around, and find the right match.


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## Cheryl Hills (Jan 5, 2019)

jsheffield said:


> I just got back from a week away from my 6mo redfoot ... he was fine.
> 
> With a closed system, lights on a timer, and heaters on thermostats, the system is stable, and warm and wet enough.
> 
> ...


Happy Birthday


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## Pastel Tortie (Jan 5, 2019)

Depending on the situation, it might be easier to find a house sitter (to stay there for a week) than a pet sitter or tortoise sitter (who would have to stop by on a regular basis). It may not cost much more, either. There are plenty of reasonable, quiet, responsible individuals out there who would love to get away from their families, roommates, or annoying neighbors for a week.


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## squirrelkitty (Jan 6, 2019)

Pastel Tortie said:


> Depending on the situation, it might be easier to find a house sitter (to stay there for a week) than a pet sitter or tortoise sitter (who would have to stop by on a regular basis). It may not cost much more, either. There are plenty of reasonable, quiet, responsible individuals out there who would love to get away from their families, roommates, or annoying neighbors for a week.


The pet boarding we're looking into actually involves taking the tortoise to their place for him to stay there. Getting a house sitter isn't a bad idea in itself. But in our area there are lots of scallies, I doubt we would be able to find someone responsible.


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## JoesMum (Jan 6, 2019)

In 47 years we never boarded Joe. He was far happier left to his own devices in the garden he knew. I had a neighbour come over and check on him, top up his water and drop some extra food in (He mostly ate the weeds in the garden, so that wasn't always necessary) In winter he hibernated so that required no care from anyone.

I would hesitate to board a tortoise. They frequently don't cope with change well. They cannot be kept with other tortoises at the boarding place. I can't actually see how an animal boarding place could do provide the correct care without you taking your own enclosure with the tortoise... not and make a profit too. Far better to buy a timer for the lights, make use of new technology to spy for tipping and train a neighbour or two.


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## JoesMum (Jan 6, 2019)

squirrelkitty said:


> The pet boarding we're looking into actually involves taking the tortoise to their place for him to stay there. Getting a house sitter isn't a bad idea in itself. But in our area there are lots of scallies, I doubt we would be able to find someone responsible.


Visit without an appointment. Look round and give them the third degree on tortoise care. If they can't answer your questions properly then your tortoise will be better off unattended in your home.


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## jsheffield (Jan 6, 2019)

JoesMum said:


> In 47 years we never boarded Joe. He was far happier left to his own devices in the garden he knew. I had a neighbour come over and check on him, top up his water and drop some extra food in (He mostly ate the weeds in the garden, so that wasn't always necessary) In winter he hibernated so that required no care from anyone.
> 
> I would hesitate to board a tortoise. They frequently don't cope with change well. They cannot be kept with other tortoises at the boarding place. I can't actually see how an animal boarding place could do provide the correct care without you taking your own enclosure with the tortoise... not and make a profit too. Far better to buy a timer for the lights, make use of new technology to spy for tipping and train a neighbour or two.



This ... I think that given my tort's system being dialed in correctly, there's more chance of something going wrong with a stranger coming by to help than with simply leaving him alone for a week ... so long as he's properly warm and humid, he won't starve.

Jamie


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## squirrelkitty (Jan 7, 2019)

Thanks for your replies everyone.
We are definitely going to visit the boarding place and ask them lots of questions and ideally we would bring our own enclosure.*
My neighbours are nice but scallies, but I can try to ask my friend to check on him if the boarding isn't trustworthy. 


* (My poor baby is in temporary accommodation right now because the set-up that came with him from the shop was inadequate and we had to order some components to build our own. He didn't like being moved to his temporary home at all and spent the first two days snoozing, hissing at me and squeaking randomly. So I'm sure boarding in a strange habitat would stress him.)


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## Maro2Bear (Jan 7, 2019)

squirrelkitty said:


> Thanks for your replies everyone.
> We are definitely going to visit the boarding place and ask them lots of questions and ideally we would bring our own enclosure.*
> My neighbours are nice but scallies, but I can try to ask my friend to check on him if the boarding isn't trustworthy.
> 
> ...




I like your term of “scallies” - i see it comes from scallywag.

*scally* (plural *scallies*) (derogatory) A rascal or miscreant, a scallywag. (Northern England, especially in Manchester and Merseyside, derogatory) A jobless yob who has little or no education and is suspected of having committed some type of crime. 

Good luck with your new tort.


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## Blackdog1714 (Jan 7, 2019)

I have a SELFON Reptile Food Dish Water Drinker that I glued with Gorilla glue to a small piece of slate that I bury in the substrate. By doing this he can't tip it over and has access to water for many days without needing refreshed. Be prepared it is flimsy and I expect it to only last long, but it it is a cheap (3.96 on Amazon with free shipping) Also make sure to glue the cage to the base cause it wil wobble loose. Took my Russian only a couple of days be fore he was enjoying it. Added with graze and plants I feel good leaving him for a week now. Good luck


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