# CDTs



## Yvonne G (Nov 15, 2010)

Is this just too cute, or what?







(I will be adopting them out in a couple weeks, as soon as I see that they're all eating)


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## Torty Mom (Nov 15, 2010)

Awwwee!! They are super cute!! How long ago did they hatch? I have a girlfriend that may want one!


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## Yvonne G (Nov 15, 2010)

The darker colored ones are a year old, but the lighter ones hatched in Sept and Oct of this year.


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## Torty Mom (Nov 15, 2010)

Thanks Yvonne, an older one would be good for my friend!


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## laura808 (Nov 15, 2010)

OH MY GOSH!!! Thats like my heaven right there! I wish that I could reach into my screen and pluck one out!!! Such cuties!


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## Madortoise (Nov 15, 2010)

Oh wow, I think I counted 22 all together in the pix. They are cute x 22 (or more if there are more hiding). 
Now what's the likelihood of them breeding w/each other and is that an ok thing for sibs to breed?


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## Candy (Nov 15, 2010)

Where did you get all of those from Yvonne?


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## armandoarturo (Nov 15, 2010)

Awesome!!!!! 
are you getting them all? :O


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## Kristina (Nov 15, 2010)

finleafeater said:


> [email protected][email protected]!



Ya know?!?!

I am hating where I live, at this very moment...

Who in CA would be willing to sponsor me??? Anyone??? LOL!


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## Angi (Nov 15, 2010)

Oh..I would love more babies, but I think you live too far. I am North East of San Diego in Ramona. As soon as the babies are big enough and the old dog passes my back yard will become a CDT fortress.


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## Tom (Nov 15, 2010)

Love them. So tempting...


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## Yvonne G (Nov 16, 2010)

They were given to me by someone here in my town who has a couple different pairs of adult CDTs. Yes, there are 22 of them! She told me that the Fish and Game knew all about her, but I really doubt that's true. She didn't seem to have a clue that it was illegal to incubate the eggs. She kept them on alfalfa pellets and hedged quite a bit when I tried to pin her down on what they're used to eating.


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## Angi (Nov 16, 2010)

Where are you? How far from San Diego?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 16, 2010)

I'm in the Fresno/Clovis area. About a 5 or 6 hour drive north from San Diego. 

Normally I want to do a yard inspection before I adopt out my rescues, but because these are just babies and can't go into a yard yet, I forgo the yard inspection. But no shipping.


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## Angi (Nov 16, 2010)

Does anyone else in San Diego want to go on a road trip?


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 16, 2010)

I am located in Southern California and I will be making a trip to Clovis CA as soon as Yvonne is available. I am willing to pickup other TFO members CDT's but I will need to get some gas money for this mission. If anyone is interested PM me.


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## Isa (Nov 16, 2010)

Amazing!! I agree with the others, very tempting


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## Laura (Nov 16, 2010)

I hope that person stops intentionally breeding... 
i must admit Im on the fence since they are an endangered species.. but since they cant be released, then it just put pressure on those already needind homes...


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## cuppidsarrows (Nov 16, 2010)

I so want one !!!! I would love to know when they will be available.


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## Shelly (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks VERY much for the babies, Yvonne, they are adorable! I had forgotten how teeny they are! And thanks as well to Walter for making that VERY long trip. It is greatly appreciated!!


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## Torty Mom (Nov 21, 2010)

Yea! Shelly how many did you end up getting? They are just so cute!!!


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## Shelly (Nov 21, 2010)

I received a hatchling and a yearling.


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## armandoarturo (Nov 21, 2010)

do we get so see some pictures??? xD


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 22, 2010)

One of new CDT's


Hey Guys! Well yesterday was a very loooong day! As some of you may know, I made a trip to Yvonne's home in the Fresno area and back to Los Angeles in the same day. I brough back with me 11 baby CDT's. I made my first stop at Tom's Ranch...his setup is Amazing! The P.pardalis Leopards are Gorgeous...Cant wait to visit again. And then made 2 more deliveries for Shelly and Emily. Thank you again Yvonne for welcoming us into your home..Im soooo jealous of your collection!


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## Shelly (Nov 22, 2010)

They are very active, have really good appetites, and do not mind being handled one bit. 




Walter, I forgot to ask if you kept any for yourself?


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 22, 2010)

Walter, I forgot to ask if you kept any for yourself?

Yeah, I kept the Aldabra in the Picture. I wish. I kept 2 yearlings.


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## cuppidsarrows (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks so much Yvonne for letting me have one of the babies and Walter thanks for bring my baby down to me!


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## armandoarturo (Nov 22, 2010)

amazing!!! they look so beautiful!!
congratulations everyone on your new tortoises


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## Candy (Nov 22, 2010)

Wow Walter I can't believe that you made all of those trips in one day. What a nice person you are to bring back babies for Emily and Shelly. I am so happy for you that you got 2 babies for yourself. They are little Fernando's.  I wish I could have taken one but at the last minute I realized that it would take a long time for them to get as big as Fernando and I wouldn't want to take any chances with my dogs hurting it. Anyway congratulations to all of you who got some. Pictures, pictures and more pictures please. Walter didn't you get any pictures of Yvonne with any of the tortoises? What about Yvonne with your little baby girl?  Hey what did you do with the rest of them if you gave Emily 2 and Shelly 2 and you took two? Where's the other 5?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 22, 2010)

Candy said:


> Walter didn't you get any pictures of Yvonne with any of the tortoises?



And I was wearing my Tortoise forum T-shirt that day, too.


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## Candy (Nov 22, 2010)

Oh shoot Walter I told you to take lots of pictures to post here when you got back. You missed Yvonne is her TFO shirt?


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 22, 2010)

Im sorry.... I was overwhelmed with her collection. I'll post more pics of the few I took. To answer you question candy... 4 for Cory, 3 for Tom, 2 for shelly, 2 for myself and 1 for emily. I'm a little concerned right now about new tortoises....The bigger one is a little sluggish not too active and the smaller one is pacing and pacing the enclosure. I soaked them both in warm water. Maybe they're tired????


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## Yvonne G (Nov 22, 2010)

Just make sure they're warm enough. You may have to cover the habitat to keep out the draught. (draft??)


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 22, 2010)

ok, that makes sense. Question.. One the Tortoise's Carapace in kinda flat..is that signs of MBD??? The guy at Pet Store recommended liquid calcium since the shell is a bit soft too.

Just make sure they're warm enough. You may have to cover the habitat to keep out the draught. (draft??)


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## Yvonne G (Nov 22, 2010)

The yearling shouldn't have a softish shell, but its quite common in hatchlings, and the little one is only a month or so old. My sister uses the liquid calcium on her babies. Just remember, calcium won't work without the sun (or a UV light).


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## Angi (Nov 22, 2010)

I am so bummed I didn't know you were going


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## Candy (Nov 22, 2010)

Tortuga_terrestre said:


> Im sorry.... I was overwhelmed with her collection. I'll post more pics of the few I took. To answer you question candy... 4 for Cory, 3 for Tom, 2 for shelly, 2 for myself and 1 for emily. I'm a little concerned right now about new tortoises....The bigger one is a little sluggish not too active and the smaller one is pacing and pacing the enclosure. I soaked them both in warm water. Maybe they're tired????



If you need any babysitting done Walter you know who to ask.  I've done a very good job with my two babies (Ruby and little Eddie).  It's pretty scary the first time, but you'll get the hang of it. Let me know if you need any help with them.


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 22, 2010)

I posted it. I received PM's from members. You mentioned you wanted to do a road trip..but that's the last thing I heard from you.

I am so bummed I didn't know you were going


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## Maggie Cummings (Nov 22, 2010)

Hatchlings are very hard to raise. Make sure they stay warm, soak them in bird vitamins daily and I put Calcionate on their food three times a week. Don't try to feed them anything that's a little different, like hay for instance. Just feed them grass (fresh cut) weeds (dandelions), Spring Mix and add anything good the produce section has, collards, lettuces, endive raddicchio, escarole...anything like that. Make sure they stay warm and do the rest of what I suggest and they should grow fine...if one isn't eating cut up some raddicchio they can't resist it. I add 3 drops of bird vitamins to their daily water. Hatchlings are kinda soft right in the middle of the plastron but the carapace should be hard. Try to put them in the warm sun every chance you can. Only if it's *WARM*, I hope this helps...

It takes a little bit for them to settle down in a new place but they will...it takes a few days maybe 3...and I disagree with those who say to not handle them, I handle mine all the time and I rub their heads and legs, I caress their legs and pull on them. And then months later if you have to go to the vet for anything they are very easy to treat. They keep their heads out and they don't fight the vet...so I think handling them is a good thing...so I do it a lot...


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 25, 2010)

They are chomping on rose pedals and weeds from the garden. I taped newspaper on most of the tank to keep in the warmth. I am currently using a 75 W Infrared Spot Lamp and a household coil bulb 25W (Contains Mercury). I will be purchasing a 10.0 UVB bulb soon..but they are so expensive!...Those the bulb Im using produce any uvb??? Also Im using a Coconut Substrate and they keep eating it... will this harm them??


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## Yvonne G (Nov 25, 2010)

Hi Walter:

I saw an ad in our "for sale" forum from Coastal. He's selling the UVB bulbs pretty cheap...and I think there's going to be a Black Friday discount tomorrow. Even though your spiral bulb is only a 25 watt, I still think its pretty dangerous to use them, especially with babies.


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## Angi (Nov 25, 2010)

Well it looks like they are getting a good meal.


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## Maggie Cummings (Nov 25, 2010)

Walter, I would stop using the spiral bulb and just use a an incandescent 100 watt bulb until you can get an MVB. Use a black light bulb for night and cover their tank with foil at night to help keep them warm. Have you mixed the coir with sand? You should mix it about 40/60 with sand and then they'll probably stop eating it.


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 25, 2010)

Thank you. I will be removing the coil bulb. Why are they dangerous?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 25, 2010)

They send concentrated rays out the end of the spiral. Have been known to cause blindness in torts.


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## Shelly (Nov 25, 2010)

You don't need a UV light if you just stick them outside in the sun whenever possible. Just something to provide warmth.


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## tortoisenerd (Nov 25, 2010)

If you can't get the torts out in the sun on a regular basis due to cold conditions, a MVB is really necessary in my opinion. The output on fluorescent tube UVBs is very low, and yes, those spiral bulbs scare me even though they say the problems are fixed. Sure it may be a $50 bulb, but it is supposed to be good for a year (sometimes they burn out sooner, but if you have them mounted correctly there is less risk; most have a 6 month warranty), and they use one fixture for heat/light/UVB. Its the next best thing to natural sun. Lots of annecdotal stories of owners installing one after having a different type of bulb, and all of a sudden their animal is crazy basking & active & happy. I would not want to a see a hatchling go any amount of time without good UVB from a sun or bulb. Unfortunately about the only MVBs available in stores are Powersuns at Petco for about $70-80. You can get bulbs much cheaper online, where Mega Ray & T-Rex Active UV Heat are the best, then Powersun, then others (in my opinion). You need a ceramic socket hood fixture, and a set up to mount the bulb face parallel to the substrate, adjustable vertically (I like the ZooMed large lamp stand). You adjust it up and down between 12 and 18 inches from the tort to get the right temp for basking.


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## Tortuga_terrestre (Nov 26, 2010)

Thank you for the great advice. Im going to be obtaining a 10.0 Zoo Med UVB bulb and a Ceramic Bulb for heat. I have a friend who owns a Pet Shop and is giving me a good deal-No Taxes too!. I stopped using the Coil bulb.


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## Maggie Cummings (Nov 26, 2010)

Tortuga_terrestre said:


> Thank you for the great advice. Im going to be obtaining a 10.0 Zoo Med UVB bulb and a Ceramic Bulb for heat. I have a friend who owns a Pet Shop and is giving me a good deal-No Taxes too!. I stopped using the Coil bulb.



I go along with the group telling you that the Zoo Med 10.0 flourescent bulb is a very low output bulb and it will not help your babies much at all. I have used them in the past and if you use a UVB gun to test the output it would tell you the UVB rays are very low. I, my opinion it is very important to take the best care possible of those babies and that means getting the best bulb possible. I believe Coastal right here on TFO has a MVB bulb for $39 and that is not too much to spend on those babies. It's a 
Zoo Med PowerSun Mercury Vapor Bulb... I just checked and he does...


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## Shelly (Jan 10, 2011)

Little Godzilla and Gamera are really doing great. They have grown from 30 and 45 grams to 55 and 75 grams. They are really active and have great personalities. Thankfully the sun is back out so they have been getting lots of time outdoors. They are loads of fun!


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## Yvonne G (Jan 10, 2011)

Are you sure I didn't slip in a couple sulcatas? They're growing nicely!


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## Shelly (Jan 11, 2011)

Truth be told, I'm probably feeding them a little too much. I love to watch them eat for some reason. I'll probably scale it back a little from now on.


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## armandoarturo (Jan 11, 2011)

:O
nice!!!
look how big they are getting!
congrats!


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## Shelly (Jan 24, 2011)

A couple new pics from today. They have both gained 8 grams in the 2 weeks since the last pictures. I have cut back a teeny bit on the food.
They even have a little burrow now. If you look closely you can see one hiding inside. Industrious little boogers!


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## 68merc (Jan 24, 2011)

Cute, this one must be kin to my Thing One.


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## Shelly (Jan 25, 2011)

68merc said:


> Cute, this one must be kin to my Thing One.



All 4 are siblings, aren't they?


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## Yvonne G (Jan 25, 2011)

I had two separate clutches with the same father but different mothers. I think that 68 merc's came from each clutch. I don't know about yours, John.


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## Shelly (Jan 26, 2011)

emysemys said:


> two separate clutches with the same father but different mothers.



Sounds like my wife's side of the family.


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