# What were your "beginner mistakes"?



## Hrairoo (Jan 30, 2016)

We all make mistakes, especially when we are new to something! What were some of your errors regarding tortoises when you got your first?


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## ArcT (Jan 30, 2016)

Not doing my research here first...


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## Hrairoo (Jan 30, 2016)

ArcT said:


> Not doing my research here first...



Seems like many have been there before!  I have too, but with birds, it's definitely quite stressful when you realize you're doing everything wrong for your animal!


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## dmmj (Jan 30, 2016)

I started with turtles and tortoises more than 30 years ago. my beginner mistake was lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables lots I mean a lot


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## Hrairoo (Jan 30, 2016)

dmmj said:


> I started with turtles and tortoises more than 30 years ago. my beginner mistake was lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables lots I mean a lot


Yikes, that musta been very hard on them! 
I had a turtle, we were never sure what kind of turtle she was, but we always fed her everything and anything. (Wild caught, still living seafood, to cooked crab! She even ate my favourite goldfish, which was quite surprising, the fish was at least half of the turtle's size O_O)


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## spud's_mum (Jan 31, 2016)

I started with a table and read the wrong information.


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## Lyn W (Jan 31, 2016)

Taking in a rescued tortoise and knowing absolutely nothing about his care.  I had no idea there were so many species of torts with such different needs!
Thankfully it was very hot in the UK at the time so UVB and weeds were plentiful and I found this forum and Tom put me in touch with another UK leopard keeper (yourlocalpoet) who responded very quickly so that I was able to go out and buy everything I needed within a couple of days. I still learn something new everyday.


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## lisa127 (Jan 31, 2016)

I started with box turtles over 20 years ago. While I got the lighting correct and had a large wooden box made so had plenty of room, i made the mistake of using recycled paper bedding at first.


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## keepergale (Jan 31, 2016)

I was raising CDT back in the day and I read everything about their care. Therefore I limited their protein intake and kept them warm and DRY. I gave pyramided little tortoises to everyone I knew.


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## Careym13 (Jan 31, 2016)

I listened to a friend's advice on how many tortoises to get (2) and on how to keep them. Then I went online and read things similar to what she had told me and decided that must be how to keep Leopards. Then they both got respiratory infections. And then....I found TFO and asked a lot of questions, got a lot of good advice (even if it was hard to hear sometimes since I realized I was doing everything wrong) and now my tortoises are thriving.


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## Robertchrisroph (Jan 31, 2016)

Red light lol for night heat


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## Speedy-1 (Jan 31, 2016)

*I don't remember where I got it ,but I saw a "black light" and thought it would be great for night heat ! Luckily I gave it a test run first , as soon as I smelled the paint burning and saw it curling off the bulb I knew I got handled ! Oh well . *


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## Sara G. (Feb 15, 2016)

Agreeing to take in two Red Eared Slider babies before I knew just how much was involved with them.  I don't regret it though and my not-so-little-ones are almost due for their next upgrade, goodbye 65 gallon, hello 200 gallon (now I just need to find the space for it...and the money).


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## naturalman91 (Feb 15, 2016)

care wise and habitat wise i was spot on but my enclosures weren't very sturdy and needed replaces a lot. i JUST got good at enclosures i've been through my fair share of enclosures but i've finally got the process understood


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## wellington (Feb 15, 2016)

Did my research, but this forum didn't come up. Because there was so much conflicting info, I chose to listen to the breeder. Bad choice.


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## Cheryl Hills (Feb 15, 2016)

I got a turtle before finding the group. Did my research, thought I was doing thing right. I read the book! Sure is a lot of conflicting info out there. Then I found the tortoise forum. Made all the difference. Now I feel better about my turtles and tortoises . I know they will get the right care. Best place ever!


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## hingeback (Feb 15, 2016)

substrate and plants! The coco coir is very little, and she can't dig through the clay beneath so she had to lay her eggs on the ground. The hill I made her keeps eroding. Way too little plants, she hides under the hill everyday.


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## surfergirl (Feb 15, 2016)

I too researched and was told dry and hot for sullys, no humidity and closed chambers were bad cause bacteria and infections my sully is not too bumpy but he definitely deserved a smoother shell. I now believe humidity is king with the proper temps of course.


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## dannylozano10 (Feb 15, 2016)

I still am a beginner actually still not a tort owner yet but I've been preparing and I bought so much wrong domes and light fixtures and bulbs and now I've got everything good and helping others with stuff I know is right


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## teresaf (Feb 15, 2016)

I researched right here but SOMEHOW in all the info i read (lots) I missed where you weren't supposed to keep them in PAIRS! Ugh...


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 16, 2016)

I kept a PAIR of Redfoot together. The male was hunting down the female 24/7.
later I added a Russian tortoise. All given to me by their failed owners. They knew that I took in animals.
This was all before there were any forums.
It was just live and learn and some books that all contradicted one another.
I knew very little, but it was all from experience.
Soon, I had three dedicated pens outside of my house.


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## Anyfoot (Feb 16, 2016)

Started with an open table for my juvenile reds, bad idea for where I live. 

Got adult reds that are mutts. Love them all the same though. But I would advise anyone else taking on unwanted reds to try and get them from same localities.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 16, 2016)

Anyfoot said:


> Started with an open table for my juvenile reds, bad idea for where I live.
> 
> Got adult reds that are mutts. Love them all the same though. But I would advise anyone else taking on unwanted reds to try and get them from same localities.


All of mine are from the same locality. MIAMI.


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## Anyfoot (Feb 16, 2016)

ZEROPILOT said:


> All of mine are from the same locality. MIAMI.


 I defo have 2 mutts, the other day I turned over 2 of my other northerns, and they have marbling coming on the plastrons, I was certain both of these were of the northern clad.


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## Hrairoo (Feb 16, 2016)

Wow! Crazy some of the mistakes that can be made, eh? Thank got this forum exists to help people with these issues!


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## Prairie Mom (Feb 16, 2016)

Not removing mildly tort-toxic plants... http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/we-had-a-case-of-tulip-poisoning.116334/


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## Big Charlie (Feb 16, 2016)

I knew absolutely nothing other than the single page I got from the pet store when I bought Charlie 17 years ago. Luckily it told me to soak him. I wasn't told to keep his environment humid. I had him in an aquarium with a screen on the top. I took him outside regularly, often leaving him unsupervised in a wading pool or fenced off area, not realizing the danger. Luckily he never got picked up by a bird. Once when I looked away he disappeared. We lived on 117 acres with only barbed wire fences so he could have been anywhere. He was gone for 2 days and then miraculously showed up at the back door.

Surprisingly, I made some good food choices for him. I gathered weeds for him, almost from the very beginning. 

He and I have been extremely lucky. Despite my ignorance, he is thriving and has a relatively smooth shell.


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## Nibs (Mar 10, 2016)

My tortoises were a surprise birthday present from my Grandad a few years ago, having been wanting a tortoise since I was tiny (though without any idea what was involved!).

I was delighted to get two babies, and panic bought everything the assistant said I needed in the pet shop that day to get an enclosure set up for them, spending a fortune on stuff that I now know was either wrong, not really needed or could have been bought much cheaper elsewhere - and then found out that they were Sulcata's, and so were going to grow to be absolutely enormous!!

I started by keeping them hot and dry, and raised on just pellets as my Grandad had been advised.... So pretty much made all of the beginner mistakes you possibly could: wrong food, housing, not realising that the pyramiding was a bad thing and not just their natural growth, and now finding that raising two together is not a nice thing to do for company......

So glad to have found this forum, they are now in a far better enclosures, are growing more smoothly, and the pellets are long gone. The task at the moment is building them good outdoor enclosures ready for Spring, so they can make the most of the garden and UV.


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## Big Charlie (Mar 10, 2016)

Nibs said:


> My tortoises were a surprise birthday present from my Grandad a few years ago, having been wanting a tortoise since I was tiny (though without any idea what was involved!).
> 
> I was delighted to get two babies, and panic bought everything the assistant said I needed in the pet shop that day to get an enclosure set up for them, spending a fortune on stuff that I now know was either wrong, not really needed or could have been bought much cheaper elsewhere - and then found out that they were Sulcata's, and so were going to grow to be absolutely enormous!!
> 
> ...


I remember buying those pellets too. Charlie wouldn't touch them. They smelled awful. Luckily at the time I had guinea pigs. I was already gathering weeds for them so I fed him most of the same stuff. At least I knew he was going to get big.


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## Linhdan Nguyen (Mar 10, 2016)

I bought 2 russian tortoises because the guy at the petstore said tortoises get lonely and he stated he had 2 tortoises because of this. Not sure if hes lying now that i know the truth. And in all my research, i dont remember reading "pairs dont do well" until i came here and posted my first thread


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## Razan (Mar 10, 2016)

Got a very large sulcata from a neighbor. It was great fun to hand feed him. I once had ten fingers. Tortoise forum said "Do Not Hand Feed".
Have you ever ignored good advise? I try not to...I still have ten fingers.


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## Linhdan Nguyen (Mar 10, 2016)

Razan said:


> Got a very large sulcata from a neighbor. It was great fun to hand feed him. I once had ten fingers. Tortoise forum said "Do Not Hand Feed".
> Have you ever ignored good advise? I try not to...I still have ten fingers.


LOL OMG ! I thought you were going to say you lost a finger ! I had to read your post 3 times!


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## squirt15 (Mar 11, 2016)

I used the bath to soak my not even one year old sully lets just say i think he wanted to be a turtle and go towards the deep end of the tub when i went to turn off my timer and take dinner out of the oven maybe gone 2 minutes lets just say we soak him in the sink now


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## christinaland128 (Mar 12, 2016)

I fed mine eggplant once. Then I later found out it wasn't all that safe. :/


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## haylee345 (Mar 12, 2016)

Still semi-beginner, got my first tortoise in November. I didn't water-proof her closed wooden enclosure, grew mold up the walls and on the roof. Didn't bake or freeze substrate, now I have bugs everywhere. Also took outside dirt and dirty flowerpots and put them in her enclosure which is where some of the bugs and mold probably came from.


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## Crzt4torts (Mar 12, 2016)

Used Carefresh newspaper for substrate, and red light for night heat.
Kept as a pair, but for the most part that was not a problem for these two. Separate now, though make is struggling with the change...


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## IIzDaFury (Mar 14, 2016)

I wanted 1 hermann tortoise, did all my research into it, my breader said he had none left on the last minute of delivery, so he offered me 2 russian torts for the same price, i did half a hour research and said yeah sure, i didn't realise they should never be kept together.. So they've been seperated now.. I also had a few difficulties with heating and lighting since the breader gave me a viv too! >:O they'll sell you anything to make a quick buck these days... A viv isn't terrible just low ventilation so it's harder to keep the correct temperature, and torts don't understand glass so theres that too... :/

owell, i'm slowely making a better life for them!


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## Hrairoo (Mar 14, 2016)

It's so great to hear from all of your experiences!


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## Momof4 (Mar 15, 2016)

30+ years ago just letting box turtles roam the back yard. I had a small book with a box turtle on the cover that pet stores sold. 
22yrs ago my dad gave me a tortoise and to this day I have no idea what it was. I just remember him having a dark carapace. My roommates boyfriend did build me an enclosure for our apartment balcony. I know I kept him dry and cold because he got a respiratory infection and my aunt gave him his antibiotic injections for me. I did have water for him but he was dehydrated as well. 
His name was Sherman the Tank and I gave him to a family who moved to Oregon. I think about him all the time I wished we had TFO back then.


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## Bogie=babyDINO (Mar 20, 2016)

When I first got my sully he was 1 month old and I bought the reptile water bowl at the pet store. I found him flipped over twice with his head almost underwater before I researched on here and read baby torts drown to death in those water bowls! I am extremely lucky bogie didn't drown. I'm so thankful for the tortoise forum!!!


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## KaijuEmily (Mar 20, 2016)

My first turtle was given to me by my cousin when i was really little. We started out feeding him pellet food, but eventually, i learned better. Unfortunately, i was always taking him outside to hang out on the lawn, and one day , he vanished!


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## Gaby-PR (Apr 3, 2016)

With my turtle: 
Using gravel on the tank. Sometimes he tried to eat it and the tank always got extremely dirty. Now the bottom is bare, the turtle is safe and the tank is super clear.
With tortoises:
Changing the substrate for something that doesn't help with their humid enviroment.


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## Tipsy_tortoise (May 26, 2016)

Bogie=babyDINO said:


> When I first got my sully he was 1 month old and I bought the reptile water bowl at the pet store. I found him flipped over twice with his head almost underwater before I researched on here and read baby torts drown to death in those water bowls! I am extremely lucky bogie didn't drown. I'm so thankful for the tortoise forum!!!



I've had nightmares about this. It didnt even cross my mind that my hermanns could flip over and drown in that dish. My box turtles flip themselves all the time but they can right themselves fairly easy. As soon as I got on here I quickly realized my mistake and switched it out for a very shallow bowl.


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## KaitlinKeefe_ (Jul 16, 2016)

sand  caused impaction but luckily with the help of this site i helped my tort without having to bring him to the vet


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## glendalk (Jul 17, 2016)

I gave him minimum attention. I did what the pet store said I had to and that was it. Now I spend much more time giving a variety of veggies/greens, soak him, attend to temp and humidity needs, shell health, lots of sun and outdoor time, substrate work... I also have learned to not get my undies in a bunch when someone disagrees with my choices. I take the info they have to offer, research and then do what works best for Sheldon and I.


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## mctlong (Jul 17, 2016)

Mine was buying a tortoise from Petco. I was naive and did not know that they sell wild caught Russians. I know better now. It's been over 9 years and I still feel guilty for supporting the system that took my Indy from his home, crammed him in a box, and shipped him to my local Petco. It must have been a horrible experience for him. He seems content now, but nothing I can give him can replace his life in the wild.


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## Ellen & Toby (Jul 18, 2016)

Not doing my research before I got him! The breeder gave me all the wrong information  fortunately for Toby I am a bit of a perfectionist and want to learn as much as I can so that I can give him the best care. So after a couple of days of hard research and trying to muddle through conflicting info I realised I had to change things. Wish I had discovered TFO sooner.


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## jUMPSu1t (Nov 21, 2018)

Lost my torts a lot in my backyard... ended up making tape-on arrow beacons on their shells to find them... one fell off anyways.


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## drew54 (Nov 21, 2018)

I made a fatal mistake in my first sully hatchling. [emoji22] I had done research for about a year Behr getting him. I found this forum and followed the advice and set my enclosure up as recommended by the forum and ordered from a recommended breeder from the forum. I had the little dude two weeks and he was thriving until I changed the substrate out because I used coco coir and kept it swampy. The little dude didn't mind it, but I had read on here about how to keep it a lot cleaner. 

I had bought more coco coir and orchid bark. I swapped the swampy out for the dry coir and made it damp and not swampy. I put the bark over it and misted it.

I didn't realize I had the prove to the Che in the damp coir and under the bark. The temps got too hot over night. I also read on here when I was trying to find the temp range for soaking that the water should be hot. 

I found many different answers from different people say it should be warm and then others said it should be hot and so on. 

I was overwhelmed because some of this info had been from some well known members on here. Anyway, I got confused and went with hot approach and needless to say I cooked my tiny dude. [emoji17]

I corrected the temps the very next morning and all that was good. I just didn't realize until after he died and I did more research strictly on soaks that the soaks were too hot also. 

I've since them corrected all my mistakes and I've been doing things right for my new little tort ever since. The members of this forum have helped me tremendously with their knowledge and experiences. 

My advice to a new owner now is always tailor your care to your tort and forget all the conflicting info and stick with the care sheets on here.


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## pepsiandjac (Nov 21, 2018)

I think my worst mistake was over feeding my first Greek tortoise,
and not sticking to 1 species would be another.


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## orv (Nov 21, 2018)

Sixty plus years ago, when I first got Tommy, our adult California Desert Tortoise, my dad and I drilled a hole in the scute just above his left rear leg and restrained him with about 20 feet of closeline. I remember his straining against it to this day. I picture him doing this and am shamed by guilt. How did we not know the cruelty of this? Tommy passed away during brumation the winter of 2013. He survived more than sixty years in my parent's back yard . . . most of it unrestrained. I'm so grateful that our husbandry skills have evolved to where they are today: not perfect . . . but far better. His spouse, along with their son, now aged 34, along with two juvinile female rescue tortoises live in a natural setting in our yard today. We reside on the southern rim of their natural environment here in Aguanga, California.


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## Toddrickfl1 (Nov 21, 2018)

A coil bulb

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/coil-bulbs.166917/


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## drew54 (Nov 21, 2018)

Drilling into the carapce for many things was very common practice. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself as I'm sure you have more than made up for that incident and many of its time and time again. You seem to have a true love for animals and your efforts to make things better than they were back then says many wonderful things about you and your husbandry to your animals. Forgive yourself Orv as with every negative situation comes moor positives


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## orv (Nov 21, 2018)

drew54 said:


> Drilling into the carapce for many things was very common practice. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself as I'm sure you have more than made up for that incident and many of its time and time again. You seem to have a true love for animals and your efforts to make things better than they were back then says many wonderful things about you and your husbandry to your animals. Forgive yourself Orv as with every negative situation comes moor positives


 Thank you for your kind words, Drew.
(The attached picture was taken a few years ago. The plantings are far more mature now. Pictured is Tommy Jr., the 34 year old son of the original Tommy. His mother is Tammy. How Tommy, senior and Tammy arrived in our care may be found in one of my earlier posts from, I think it was 2014).


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## jsheffield (Nov 21, 2018)

Starting with an open enclosure for my redfoot hatchling .

Jamie


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## drew54 (Nov 21, 2018)

orv said:


> Thank you for your kind words, Drew.
> (The attached picture was taken a few years ago. The plantings are far more mature now. Pictured is Tommy Jr., the 34 year old son of the original Tommy. His mother is Tammy. How Tommy, senior and Tammy arrived in our care may be found in one of my earlier posts from, I think it was 2014).
> View attachment 257833


That's looks beautiful and he is a good looking tort! I will definitely look that up and give it a good read. Do you have pics of your others?


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## vladimir (Nov 21, 2018)

drew54 said:


> I didn't realize I had the prove to the Che in the damp coir and under the bark. The temps got too hot over night. I also read on here when I was trying to find the temp range for soaking that the water should be hot.
> 
> I found many different answers from different people say it should be warm and then others said it should be hot and so on.
> 
> I was overwhelmed because some of this info had been from some well known members on here. Anyway, I got confused and went with hot approach and needless to say I cooked my tiny dude. [emoji17]



@drew54 how hot was the water you were using? I remember your thread, I didn't realize soaking was an issue also


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## drew54 (Nov 21, 2018)

vladimir said:


> @drew54 how hot was the water you were using? I remember your thread, I didn't realize soaking was an issue also



I didn't realize it either until after he passed and I poured through this forum for every possibility and looking at the care sheets a million times over. I finally came across a more recent post about soaking. Tom had recommended that the soaks be 90-95 I believe. I was keeping the soak water around 105-110 per several members recommendation. I also realized that those threads that recommended such a high soaking temp were really really old but I also found similar info on different websites that also suggested high soak temps. 

Now I know better and I believe I'm doing everything I can to keep it as the care sheets recommend. I'm also thinking about doing a thread on her shell smoothing out with high humidity. It's really amazing to see the great efforts of others at work.


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## MichaelL (Dec 5, 2019)

Feeding mainly romaine because that's all they wanted.


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## Maro2Bear (Dec 5, 2019)

KaitlinKeefe_ said:


> sand  caused impaction but luckily with the help of this site i helped my tort without having to bring him to the vet



Happy Birthday!


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## Blackdog1714 (Dec 8, 2019)

Hot Water. I added the water daily to keep the humidity up but it just crept and didn't hold. Then one day Tom is going on about some failure to follow directions and adds that when you add water it should be hot! Boom humidity is my B*tch! Otherwise waiting so late in life to get my torts, but I am glad to have easy access to awesome information and am sorta glad I waited!


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## Sleppo (Dec 9, 2019)

Housing 2 Russians together, what an expensive mistake!


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## Tortoise MasterMan (Dec 10, 2019)

Using and replacing uvb bulbs.


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