# Reputable tort authors



## Wdt77 (Jun 19, 2018)

Are there any books that the group recommends with the latest humidity requirements for baby torts.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 19, 2018)

I'm afraid not. The humidity thing is too new. Most tortoise books are all about the old, hot, desert way of keeping them.


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## G-stars (Jun 19, 2018)

There’s a few out there that recommend using a humid hide. Which it in itself is a step in the right direction. But none that I know if which recommends a closed humid chamber.


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## Toddrickfl1 (Jun 19, 2018)

I've found everything I needed to know right here on this site and my tort is doing great and growing smooth.


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## Tom (Jun 19, 2018)

I don't know if they have any books out, but here are a few authors that are giving out great tortoise care info:
@Yvonne G 
@Will 
@Markw84 
@zovick 
@G-stars 
@TechnoCheese 

There are many others here too. I don't want anyone here to feel slighted if I didn't mention their name, but I have to go to work at some point today...


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## Wdt77 (Jun 19, 2018)

Tom said:


> I don't know if they have any books out, but here are a few authors that are giving out great tortoise care info:
> @Yvonne G
> @Will
> @Markw84
> ...



I have seen a lot of good advice on here but I was hoping to find it all in one book. Thanks for reply.


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## Tom (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> I have seen a lot of good advice on here but I was hoping to find it all in one book. Thanks for reply.


I like books too. I have a tall stack of tortoise books, and have met many of the authors. Unfortunately, its all the old wrong info, I'm sorry to say.

I can recommend some great books on tarantulas! Or falconry!


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## Yvonne G (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> I have seen a lot of good advice on here but I was hoping to find it all in one book. Thanks for reply.


The trouble with books is they never change. What an author writes today may be outdated by tomorrow, yet the book stays the same. Even some care sheets on the web are not updated.


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## Toddrickfl1 (Jun 19, 2018)

Yvonne G said:


> The trouble with books is they never change. What an author writes today may be outdated by tomorrow, yet the book stays the same. Even some care sheets on the web are not updated.


I did a lot of research online before I got my Redfoot and it was very confusing. Some recommended 30-40% humidity some 70-90%. Most stated that pyramiding was from bad diet, really none from lack off humidity. I kept landing on this forum thru Google searches (which I think is a good thing for newbies). Everyone on here seemed to know what they were talking about and the ones that did had beautiful tortoises. So I made the choice to follow what I seen here and I've had great results so far.


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## Wdt77 (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> I have seen a lot of good advice on here but I was hoping to find it all in one book. Thanks for reply.



The list should collaborate and publish IMO[emoji3]


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## Markw84 (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> The list should collaborate and publish IMO[emoji3]


One of the great values of this forum is that is living and evolving. The things I would have put in a book just 2 years ago have changed quite a bit since then and today I would write many things differently. I fully expect with experiments and learnings, tweaks to best practices and sharing, many of the things I would write down now, will need to be revised next year.

Tortoise knowledge and husbandry is changing so rapidly now, and the forum actually facilitates and speeds the ability for that change and new learnings.


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## Wdt77 (Jun 19, 2018)

Markw84 said:


> One of the great values of this forum is that is living and evolving. The things I would have put in a book just 2 years ago have changed quite a bit since then and today I would write many things differently. I fully expect with experiments and learnings, tweaks to best practices and sharing, many of the things I would write down now, will need to be revised next year.
> 
> Tortoise knowledge and husbandry is changing so rapidly now, and the forum actually facilitates and speeds the ability for that change and new learnings.



Ok that makes sense. If I want to get and raise a tortoise as described in this forum should I purchase from someone who keeps the hatchlings in the closed chamber as well. How do you know if that is the case.


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## Markw84 (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> Ok that makes sense. If I want to get and raise a tortoise as described in this forum should I purchase from someone who keeps the hatchlings in the closed chamber as well. How do you know if that is the case.


I would look to find someone active on the forum or someone they recommend. Then always ask questions of that person and at least see some pictures of the tortoise you are considering. See how the tortoise is growing. Read @Tom 's thread on hatchling failure syndrome and see how that compares to how the tortoise has been started. https://tortoiseforum.org/posts/215031

Once you know the type of tortoise you are looking for, ask for suggestions and advice here on the forum.


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## Wdt77 (Jun 19, 2018)

Thanks Mark


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## Yvonne G (Jun 19, 2018)

Y


Wdt77 said:


> The list should collaborate and publish IMO[emoji3]


Yeah, but, who knows? Maybe in a month from now we'll have learned a new and better trick to tortoise health, and our published book/article would be outdated already.


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## Tom (Jun 19, 2018)

Wdt77 said:


> Ok that makes sense. If I want to get and raise a tortoise as described in this forum should I purchase from someone who keeps the hatchlings in the closed chamber as well. How do you know if that is the case.


In addition to the thread that @Markw84 linked for you about what happens when it goes wrong, read this one to see how it _should _be done:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

These two threads should help formulate what questions to ask of any breeder. Most of them won't even come close to having the right answers, I'm sad to say. Please feel free to ask for help or advice anytime. You can always message people privately if you don't want to ask about a specific breeder publicly. Some of the seemingly good ones have a dismal track record.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jun 19, 2018)

The 'latest' is also the really really old. What has happened is that the romantic idea of climates where different species come from has been replaced with a heads up look at what the microclimate when the native habitat provides all the things for growth and reproduction. By reducing some of the off season (no growth, no reproduction) and extending the growth and reproduction season at the microclimate and diet scale it is possible to extend growth from seasonal to slow and steady. It seems fast as it is continuous, but it is slow and steady.

Baby tortoises have a somewhat different best time and period of growth, as reproduction is not yet a driver in their lives, than adults. On a Facebook page someone with frustration in their word arrangement asked 'how do some of you get your tortoises to grow so fast?' It really is not fast, it is continuous and uninterrupted. The 'way' is to keep them in a perpetual late spring, abundant food, good ambient temperatures and high humidity like what would occur in the micro climate of lots of plush growing things they eat.

Looking at a desert, dry, scrub forest and seeing an adult leopard tortoise does not a natural history narrative make. Think of the annual cycle of rain, warm (not hot) daylight hours, and food sources, not the still image of one adult walking around in the open. That's the latest, it's the oldest.


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## Tom (Jun 19, 2018)

Will said:


> The 'latest' is also the really really old. What has happened is that the romantic idea of climates where different species come from has been replaced with a heads up look at what the microclimate when the native habitat provides all the things for growth and reproduction. By reducing some of the off season (no growth, no reproduction) and extending the growth and reproduction season at the microclimate and diet scale it is possible to extend growth from seasonal to slow and steady. It seems fast as it is continuous, but it is slow and steady.
> 
> Baby tortoises have a somewhat different best time and period of growth, as reproduction is not yet a driver in their lives, than adults. On a Facebook page someone with frustration in their word arrangement asked 'how do some of you get your tortoises to grow so fast?' It really is not fast, it is continuous and uninterrupted. The 'way' is to keep them in a perpetual late spring, abundant food, good ambient temperatures and high humidity like what would occur in the micro climate of lots of plush growing things they eat.
> 
> Looking at a desert, dry, scrub forest and seeing an adult leopard tortoise does not a natural history narrative make. Think of the annual cycle of rain, warm (not hot) daylight hours, and food sources, not the still image of one adult walking around in the open. That's the latest, it's the oldest.


AKA: Thriving, not just surviving.

Or: Optimal conditions vs. survivable conditions.


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## PA2019 (Jun 20, 2018)

Will said:


> The 'latest' is also the really really old. What has happened is that the romantic idea of climates where different species come from has been replaced with a heads up look at what the microclimate when the native habitat provides all the things for growth and reproduction. By reducing some of the off season (no growth, no reproduction) and extending the growth and reproduction season at the microclimate and diet scale it is possible to extend growth from seasonal to slow and steady. It seems fast as it is continuous, but it is slow and steady.
> 
> Looking at a desert, dry, scrub forest and seeing an adult leopard tortoise does not a natural history narrative make. Think of the annual cycle of rain, warm (not hot) daylight hours, and food sources, not the still image of one adult walking around in the open. That's the latest, it's the oldest.



I agree with you 100% Will and have a question that is related.

**Disclaimer** I have a 840g 5.75" elegans that I am debating whether or not breed once her weight is 1,000g.

You mention "reducing some of the off season (no growth, no reproduction) and extending the growth and reproduction season" to achieve continuous slow and steady growth. 

I am wondering if you take a young near-adult female tortoise, and apply the quoted principles, but removed the reproductive aspect, would the growth rate of the tortoise be increased significantly, or does providing the ideal environment/diet super-cede the benefits of holding back a young adult tortoise from breeding?


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jun 20, 2018)

PA2019 said:


> I agree with you 100% Will and have a question that is related.
> 
> **Disclaimer** I have a 840g 5.75" elegans that I am debating whether or not breed once her weight is 1,000g.
> 
> ...



My Guess is ... once breeding commonsense a different suite of feedback occurs (hormones) in the tortoise and the growth only is relegated to growth and reproduction. I imagine there are female tortoises that have never been exposed to males that lay eggs based on nutritional support. But some nutrition is hormones. D3 in higher amounts is a reproductive hormone. Think about this, increased basking (chance to synthesis D3) occurs in the spring and fall, when reproductive behavior is at it's highest. There are no doubt other factors at play, but in also more sun means more D3, and sunning on purpose occurs when basking is used the elevate body temperature for other activity. I know, I'm speculating. If only someone would hire me to run a lab to do all these studies. LOL.


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## Raymo2477 (Jun 20, 2018)

Wolfgang Wegehaupt's books are great for Hermann's torts.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tortoise Forum mobile app


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## alexa0ne (Jun 25, 2018)

I have read the book of Simon Girling, entitled Pet Owner's Guide to the Tortoise.


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