# Christmas Eve Day Torts and Roos



## exoticsdr (Dec 25, 2010)

Cruising the yard on Christmas...Teddy Rooosevelt (bigger roo on the right) and one of his girls Ginger Rooogers (Julia Roooberts not pictured...was hanging on my leg while I took the pic). Sulcatta is Luigi and the Leopard is Tortollini. Luigi came to me two years ago, found walking down the highway by one of my clients.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Dec 25, 2010)

Great picture...except for the mixing species part...


----------



## Torty Mom (Dec 25, 2010)

Wow, that must be awesome to have roos! How high is that fence so they don't get out? 

I love the names!! Very cleaver!!! 

I hope you and your crew have a great holiday!


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 25, 2010)

Its about time we're seeing pictures of your menagerie! Your leopard tortoise is very pretty. Too bad their coloration fades as they get bigger. But still a very pretty animal.


----------



## Kenny (Dec 25, 2010)

amazing animals


----------



## abra (Dec 25, 2010)

Ooohhhh! Love the kangaroos! And of course the torts


----------



## onarock (Dec 25, 2010)

Great names, nice looking torts. Can you post more pics of that leopard?


----------



## PeanutbuttER (Dec 25, 2010)

Teddy Roosevelt...Hah...great name for a kangaroo. Somehow it just fits.


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 25, 2010)

maggie3fan said:


> Great picture...except for the mixing species part...



I don't worry about that too much...I know a good vet that keeps an eye on things for me. So which part concerns you most? two African species being kept together or the Aussies mixed in? haha

Here's a couple more pics also


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 25, 2010)

The desert tortoise's carapace is quite interesting. When he was a hatchling it looks like he had reverse pyramiding. I wish there was some research online about that. Every so often I get baby Manouria with reverse pyramiding. They grow out of it ok, but I'm curious what causes it.

Our zoo keeps Rheas in with their Galops. I've always wondered how they could do that because the birds poop on the grass that the tortoises eat. That would be cross contamination for sure.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Dec 25, 2010)

Yes, they are both African species but they pretty much don't cross each other territories in normal life. I don't mean any disrespect but...
those of us more experienced keepers spend a lot of time telling newbies not to mix species. The one species might carry a pathogen that could conceivably make the other species sicken or die. So like I said we spend a lot of time trying to impress that upon new keepers and then comes the new Vet in town and he shows pictures of his animals and he is mixing species and all that stuff that we have tried to impress upon the new keeper flies out the window. I know of several instances where Sulcata and Leopard were kept together and the more shy leopard ended up dying or getting parasites from the more outgoing aggressive Sulcata. You are skating along the edge with your 2 African species, and you are an experienced medical person who, (I would hope) would notice one of the species acting not quite right and you would do something about it right away, while the new keeper probably wouldn't notice the subtle signs of sickness and the sickness would progress until when caught it was harder to treat.
I am hoping you would understand what I am trying to say and not doing a very good job of it. I really mean no disrespect but when the newbie sees your mixed species what we are trying to teach them isn't valid anymore.
They automatically think that if you can do it, so can they. So I repeat that I mean no disrespect I am just trying to show you how you might be making it harder for us to teach new keepers the best way to keep their chelonia...
I really enjoy having a Veterinarian on the forum with us, especially one who participates like you do and I hope you see what I am trying to say and I hope you understand that I mean no disrespect at all...


----------



## Millerlite (Dec 25, 2010)

Only thing is ive also seen a handful of people who mix species without any effect at all, in fact there tortoises thrived, Ive seen it both with "experienced keepers" and "newbie keepers" Its actually more common it seems like now a days then a few years back when everyone would get slammed for mixing species. I remember when people would mix subspecies and people would get mad cuz of that. I dont know there are two sides to every story i guess.

But tortoises looking good. The kangaroos are awesome very interesting.


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 25, 2010)

Maggie, 

No disrespect taken. This pic was taken just to show some of my critters and not intended to teach a lesson to anyone. For the sake of new tortoise owners, let's just say this was a photo opportunity for a couple of torts that needed some sunshine after being locked up indoors during the recent incliment weather and is in NO WAY a recommendation by a veterinarian or any tortoise keeper to mix species or for that matter to mix members of the same species of innapropriate sizes. That said, all the subjects in the picture are checked for worms and other parasites on a regular interval and treated as needed and I have every confidence that they are healthy and disease free or this pic would not have been taken and shared.....I'm hope this goes for all the other mixed species pics I've seen on this forum also.

BTW, enjoyed your story Millie and Gertie's Excellent Adventure....very cute story line and pictures.


----------



## zzzdanz (Dec 25, 2010)

You have some beautiful animals there Doc!


----------



## Jacqui (Dec 25, 2010)

Yes, that Leopard is awesome. Love his road speed looking picture. I thought it was funny, I was on another site last week when somebody (from TX) was talking about getting a couple of Roos. I told him, he was the first I knew with them. Then later that day I came in here and saw another post of yours. I still find it hard to believe folks have Roos. Not sure why it is, but it is.


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 25, 2010)

I've been very blessed to have the chance to take care of the animals that I do.


----------



## onarock (Dec 25, 2010)

Thats one of the smoothest shelled leopards I have seen. Very nice


----------



## Jessicap (Dec 25, 2010)

exoticsdr said:


> maggie3fan said:
> 
> 
> > Great picture...except for the mixing species part...
> ...



Very nice torts!


----------



## turtletania (Dec 25, 2010)

So nice to see the Roos..... (I am an Aussie) You certainly have a wonderful collection there.


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 25, 2010)

turtletania said:


> So nice to see the Roos..... (I am an Aussie) You certainly have a wonderful collection there.



I love my roos, very sweet creatures (the girls anyway)...and that is an awesome tortoise/turtle collection that you have.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Dec 25, 2010)

exoticsdr said:


> Maggie,
> 
> No disrespect taken. This pic was taken just to show some of my critters and not intended to teach a lesson to anyone. For the sake of new tortoise owners, let's just say this was a photo opportunity for a couple of torts that needed some sunshine after being locked up indoors during the recent incliment weather and is in NO WAY a recommendation by a veterinarian or any tortoise keeper to mix species or for that matter to mix members of the same species of innapropriate sizes. That said, all the subjects in the picture are checked for worms and other parasites on a regular interval and treated as needed and I have every confidence that they are healthy and disease free or this pic would not have been taken and shared.....I'm hope this goes for all the other mixed species pics I've seen on this forum also.
> 
> BTW, enjoyed your story Millie and Gertie's Excellent Adventure....very cute story line and pictures.



Yep, I gotcha...you specifically went looking for something like that?


----------



## turtletania (Dec 25, 2010)

Thanks Todd.... been collecting for 35 years. Those pics are only some, the best groups..... cos they are all over my house - walls, floors, every surface!!!!!


----------



## Tom (Dec 25, 2010)

We've got a lot of the same animals. Red Roo, Emu, sulcata, leopard tort, lots of dogs. The current one is my third roo. He's pretty feisty.


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 26, 2010)

maggie3fan said:


> exoticsdr said:
> 
> 
> > Maggie,
> ...



Looking? Absolutely, (I figured I had broken some cardinal rule on TFO and wanted to see how many other's have stepped on the same landmine) but definitey not expecting to find anything...considering how strongly your convictions came through in your post about my mixing of species. I realize, as others should, photo opportunities arise and are taken, shared and enjoyed by others because of an interest in these spectacular animals......here's another example, recently a photo was posted with some radiated torts and plowshares in a tub, lots of water, fresh poo and very cute hatchlings..no mixing species comments, From a strict tortoise keeping viewpoint, BAD picture and definitely not recommended, From a tortoise lovers viewpoint, HOMERUN!!, I want them, and lots of 'em, thanks for sharing. In the future, I will be much more careful in my posting of pics to make sure to make them more appropriate for both keepers and lovers.



Tom said:


> We've got a lot of the same animals. Red Roo, Emu, sulcata, leopard tort, lots of dogs. The current one is my third roo. He's pretty feisty.



Dang Tom, sounds like we are cut from the same cloth. My male roo can be a real turd at times, I try not to encourage any aggression and he can be such a good boy...the girls are both very sweet and they all were so much fun to bottle raise.


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 26, 2010)

We usually DO mention the mixing species thing, however those pictures, if memory serves correctly, were posted by someone in a foreign county...maybe Hong Kong? I can't remember. But at any rate, we have a hard time getting through to those folks because their illegal tortoises are so easy for them to get. They just don't seem to take husbandry seriously, especially pointers from us.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Dec 26, 2010)

I am sorry this has blown up into something I didn't intend. Your pictures looked like those animals definitely lived together, mine were a fantasy world, a made up story for entertainment.
In your case, I felt I explained very carefully my feelings on keeping mixed species together and giving advice to newbies on the subject. I explained to you about crossing pathogens etc. I am a kind of old fashioned tort keeper and I was taught you shouldn't mix species and just why and so I try to pass that on to new keepers.
You obviously didn't break any kind of a TFO rule as nobody but me has commented on the subject. As for the radiateds and plowshares, I don't have any interest in those kind of tortoises and didn't even see the picture.
I will continue to try and teach newbies not to keep mixed species together, you can post any kind of picture you want, TFO members will continue to ignore me and chelonia will continue to die.


----------



## laura808 (Dec 26, 2010)

I have wanted to become a veterinarian from the age of four! Hopefully I will attend Purdue University in 5 years (so long from now!!!) and go to their vet school or major in animal sciences.  Which college did you go to?


----------



## exoticsdr (Dec 26, 2010)

Laura,

Attended Vet School at Iowa State Some free advice: apply to as many schools as you possibly can afford to apply to. Make sure you find out what the pre-reqs are for each school you are going to apply to (if you don't have them done, don't waste your money), volunteer at a vet clinic or clinics as often as you can, during your undergrad schooling, try to find a professor that is doing research and see if you can volunteer to help out, get really good grades, competition is stiff to get into school (my class: I think average GPA was 3.67 or so, 1800 applications for 100 positions, 60 female applicants accepted, 34 young gentlemen and 6 old farts of which I was fifth oldest at the ripe old age of 34.) Also, if and when you get in...competition is over (though the young students had a hard time with this concept)....study hard, DON'T STRESS OUT, have fun. "A" students make the best researchers, "B" students make the best veterinarians and "C" students make the most money.


----------

