Almost

[ColaCarbonaria]

Ok today finally got here and it was almost to good to be true. I purchased 2.2 erosa (was told country of origin for shipment was Togo but haven’t seen docs) last week and last night was best shipping options for everybody so I had them held at shipping center so they didn’t bump around all over town all day pick them up this morning get them home open first bag and th tortoise is wet but I didn’t pay any attention because I notice her left rear foot is missing...

As you can see it’s an old wound and she has obviously been getting around club footed for some time. But it gets better or worse depending on how you look at it. So I’m a little stunned to see she has no foot but start thinking, hey she’s obviously a fighter or was her foot tied off w string or wire as a tether to wait and sell? (Doubtful but possible?) regardless she had no foot and she’s wet so I start investigating and find


So obviously I’m incredibly disappointed she couldn’t hold on and the pics speak for themselves. But ever th optimist, th 4 tortoises were actually 2 pairs and in seemingly good shaped, clear eyes and noses all open except one male right eye and I squirted eye wash (from vet)on it and he opened up. All under weight big time, nobody was over 3 pounds and I assume dehydrated so everybody soaked for an hour and went into enclosure that is 50/50 cypress mulch and top soil w lots of leaf litter on top w shelves built out and covered w fake plants for lots of hiding in leaf litter under shelters w th Herpstat set at 85 degrees and th RH in th same neighborhood I think I’m ok with my setup. As far as the tortoises go I have talked w my vet and she gave me dosages for fenbendazole and metronidazole, but I just want to get some weight on them, I have broken up portabella mushrooms and strawberries for food. Club foot female and one male immediately hid and the second pair just hung out. Have tried to leave alone since they got here so don’t know if any food has been touched. But anyway that’s what happened and I’d be more than appreciative of experience on or thoughts on these guys since it is my first go with th hingebacks.

 

[wellington]

Wow, sad that the seller did not tell you about the foot. Also that they didn't notice any signs of her trying to find places to nest to delay shipping until the eggs were laid.
Sounds like they will have a much better life now with you. Good luck with them and I will alert a couple members that may be able to help you.
@tortadise @Jacqui

 

[Jacqui]

Mine like temps a little cooler. Big question is what are you doing for lighting?

Give them some quiet time to settle in. Keep offering very ripe fruit and mushrooms. Might try some live bugs or worms. Place food right next to their hides.

 

[Jacqui]

Almost forgot, give them a few babyfood soaks. Didn't mention it, but you do have a large soaking area for them, correct?

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

@Jacqui thank you. I’ve got a uvb 5.0 set up but not turned on yet, read they need time to relax way more than they need intense light. I use wood framed pens w heavy duty 3 mil plastic doubled up to greenhouse over the frames for heat retention and humidity so th only light is the overhead in tort room through 2 layers of gh plastic. I could towel th top but it’d be pretty dark in there. I’ve got a thermometer at floor level and it’s a cpl degrees cooler than th 85 I’ve got th stat set for so I may be ok there? And I got it going to 80 at night so it fluctuates. Is a baby food bath exactly what it sounds like? Just a bunch of baby food and a tort and tub? I also keep redfoots and use low fat wet cat food for protein will these guys respond to that or would pink mice/bugs be better? I was also going to put some healthy redfoot poop in for them to eat as well but wanted to see what some of you guys thought on that before I did it. Th redfoots are healthy f2’s that I’ve raised from breeder for years. I do have a large soaking area in enclosure. Thanks so much and sorry for peppering you w a bunch of questions!

 

[Yvonne G]

Regarding the baby food soak - Strained carrots has the most vitamin A, so that's what and why I use carrots. Take a receptacle with tall sides but a small floor space and add half and half warm water and Gerber strained carrots. Leave the tortoise soaking in this solution for a half hour or more. If they don't drink, that's ok because they do absorb some of the nutrients through the thin skin on the underside of their neck and the thin skin around the cloaca. When a tortoise hasn't been eating in a while the first thing they miss is vitamin A, and that's why you see them with swollen shut eyes. That's why the vitamin A rich carrot soak.

I wouldn't give them any poop from other species of tortoise - especially poop from a tortoise that doesn't come from the same continent at yours. You might be infecting them with something they can't shake off.

 

[Jacqui]

I am agreeing with the no poop comments from Yvonne. I usually start out with carrots, but then if one keeps not eating for awhile, I try other types of baby food soaks (the fruits) to sorta go for a variety to maybe have one kick their interest up.

 

[Anyfoot]

@ColaCarbonaria Are these erosa eating yet?

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

@ColaCarbonaria Are these erosa eating yet?

So sorry for th delayed response. I’ve been at th threshold of hell, driving 10 hrs across 5 states w my 12 and 8 yo girls[emoji849] thank god for Netflix short answer is yes th old strawberries seem to be disappearing faster than th mushrooms.
Long answer is I got the guys in and soaked several times and settled in for a couple days then had to leave town for Griswold family Xmas in th Queen City, Charlotte, NC (undoubtedly named for one of your long lost auntie’sbut good friends came down and house sat for th entire menagerie and she kept telling me th strawberries are disappearing, but also one of th males had crawled up on top of some of th hides and not in th hides so I’m going to separate pairs this weekend and really try to separate individuals. So baby food soaks begin again today and a total clean and inspection of enclosure this afternoon when girls go to their mothers house for th weekend. I want any and all advice and or criticism I want all knowledge I can get from you guys who have done this before, please. Thank you

 

[Anyfoot]

Are you 100% on their gender?

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

Yes but I’ll send pics of tails

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

Th club foot female who had eggs in bag w her and one other tort have same size tail and th other 2 animals tails are twice th size if not 3 times. So pretty sure.

 

[Anyfoot]

One of the female homeana I had delivered arrived with an egg. I guess being scared makes them lay.

Try feeding a bit of beef heart. They love it.

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

Are you 100% on their gender?

Hey, sorry for slow response but I try not to stress them and this shot turned out. Obviously one of th males. Took 3 different stops but found th beef heart, thanks!!

 

[motero]

Hope these guys turn out to be a great group. Something to watch out for is the club footed one probably won't be able to construct a nest. Good luck.

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

Been close to a month and wanted to update and ask for some advice. First, thank you to everyone who has responded so far, I welcome the input. I’ll start with synopsis/update then probably ramble into some questions. Got tortoises separated into their own quarters so tortoises 1,2&4 are in one enclosure separated into 3 hab’s and tort #3(‘big girl’ as I have started to call her) is in her own hab. Both enclosures are set up low 80’s temp w 85-90 RH. I have had to dry th enclosures some I had them too damp to begin with. Both habitats have very low light and plenty of shelter. So I’ve gotten a good feeding response from the slurry I’ve concocted of chopped fruit & veg and bh. So #1(club foot female), #3(big girl) & #4(male) are eating good with #3&4 consistently finishing half or more of their plates! Now I’ve reviewed notes and don’t have anything stating #2 ate. It’s just mentioned in general, like “all torts ate some” but other tortoises in notes have stand out days where 3&4 will finish the meals. And 2 has noticeably not eaten for several days now. I’ve changed up feed mix some and added some greens today and club foot is only one interested in greens she rooted down and got to greens purposefully. So today I’ve weighed everybody and everyone has gained weight!!! With 3&4 gaining close to half a pound each. So I’m planning to start first round of fenbendazole for 1,3&4 in the morning and continue soaking and baby food soaking #2, he has gained a couple ounces since being here but somethings up. So basically would like to hear from you guys on what to do with #2 (continue soaking and offering food? But we all know insanity is doing same thing over and over expecting different result...) and if it seems wise to go ahead with med’s on other 3 tortoises.

Big Girl

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I'm late to the party. I have 14 erosa, and they are all finally growing (growth seam apparent). I started them out with a high % of mushrooms and now have them down to about 5% mushrooms.

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-project-for-kapidolo-farms-erosa.153977/

Of the original 15, one passed. I did not close the enclosure door secure enough, it fell about 6 foot and appeared okay, next week it was dead.

Pound for pound these guys eat more food than any other species I have.

All these had already been through a course of prophylactic meds so I did not do that when I got them. They are really great species. Hingebacks, or as I like to call them "African box tortoises".

I've enjoyed reading your posts ColaCarbonaria.