Our Aldabras, Bigfoot, Littlefoot and Meatball

dd33

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Just curious, has anyone tried walking an aldabra? Like you see some people walking their sulcatas
Not sure if that would work. They pretty much do what they want to do. If you are lucky you can get them to walk for food but ours aren't food motivated yet.
 

dd33

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Made some progress on the new nightbox for our tortoises this weekend. The old night box was 4x8. This new one is 6x20. It shares a wall with their current nightbox. We are going to build a larger fenced area around this night box and move some of our smaller tortoises into the current aldabra pen.
aldabra-house1.jpgaldabra-house2.jpg
 

dd33

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We moved our Aldabras over to another tortoise pasture for the day while I did some work on the electrical and roof of their current night box. These guys are getting too big to pick up now. I need to get one of those rubbermaid carts for them.

The biggest one gained nearly 5 kilos in the past month and now weighs 37.3kg. The smallest one is 30kg.

aldabra-5-29-2022-1.jpgaldabra-5-29-2022-2.jpgaldabra-5-29-2022-3.jpgaldabra-5-29-2022-4.jpgaldabra-5-29-2022-5.jpgaldabra-5-29-2022-6.jpg
 

dd33

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The new tortoise yard is nearly complete. Still have to add the hot wires to the tops of the fence posts and run a few water lines. This is divided into a winter and summer yard. The winter yard has two shade spots but nowhere to really hide. The summer yard has tons of palmettos that will make finding and moving them quite difficult if they decide to stay out during a cold winter night. The winter yard is probably too big. I will most likely add some additional fencing around the house to be used for extreme cold weather events.

torthouse2.jpg
Front of the new house.
torthouseinside.jpgInside of the new house. The heating devices are not installed yet.oldtorthouse.jpgThe old enclosure.aldabra.jpgwinteryard.jpgThe winter yard, looking towards the tortoise house.summeryard.jpgThe summer yard.
 

dd33

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We have had these guys for 4 years now. When we got them they were 300-500 grams. Today the largest one weighed 39.9kg and the smallest 31.3kg. I can't believe how fast they grow!
aldabra.jpgaldabra2.jpgaldabra3.jpg
aldabra4.jpg
aldabra5-jpg.350304

aldabra6.jpg
 

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cmeye11

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dd33

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This is an awesome looking group of tortoises! Is the smaller tortoise in the 4th picture a new tortoise?
Thank you. The smaller one in the 4th picture is a Galapagos tortoise that we are boarding for a friend.
 

Tolis

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dd33

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The first house is heated with Kane pig heat mats on the walls and an oil filled radiator. The second house is heated by Kane mats on the walls again and chicken brooder panels suspended from the ceiling. The brooder panels have a selectable wattage of 40 or 200 watts. We were buying them from Tractor Supply but they stopped selling the ones that we like and ship you a different product now despite using the same photo online.
 

Suranai

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Dec 11, 2019
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Virginia
The first house is heated with Kane pig heat mats on the walls and an oil filled radiator. The second house is heated by Kane mats on the walls again and chicken brooder panels suspended from the ceiling. The brooder panels have a selectable wattage of 40 or 200 watts. We were buying them from Tractor Supply but they stopped selling the ones that we like and ship you a different product now despite using the same photo online.
What temperature are you able to maintain during the night?
 

dd33

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What do they weigh now?
At the end of last month they weighed 45.7, 38.8 and 34.8kg, they are due for their next weigh in this weekend. I think they are about 5-6 years old now.
 
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