Recent content by Andre1981

Thank you for sharing your extensive experience, Tom. I appreciate the insights, and I'm glad the safety warning itself was well received. Wishing everyone here all the best with their tortoises!

Thanks for clarifying. It's always good to exchange perspectives, and focus on the best care possible for the animals.

With all due respect, but comparing a scientifically backed, species-appropriate fasting day to physical trauma like throwing an animal off a cliff or drowning it is a classic textbook example of a straw man argument. It is not only highly manipulative, but biologically completely inaccurate...

A fasting day simulates the natural variability of their environment, where food might be abundant one day and scarce the next. Also a fasting day allows the entire gastrointestinal tract to process existing food fully without the addition of new material. This helps prevent "backup" or...

I think I saved my tortoise's life yesterday. It was her fasting day, and she stumbled upon a stray piece of hard droppings. She snapped at it and pulled her head back; because her jaws were still open, her head got wedged between her upper and lower shell. Driven by her biting reflex, she...

Soaking takes place two times a week. After 10 Minutes it tries to climb out of the soaking container but slips. I nevertheless let it do that for 20 minutes because I see it as a training for muscle strength. Before and after hibernation it gets daily soaks. I changed the substrate from soil to...

Thank you. I think if you look closely at the scutes, you can also see that the grow rings are not so many at once anymore like it was when the tortoise was young. Maybe that's a sign of more evenly growth. About the nails..As you can see, especially the nails at the hind legs look almost...

Hello everybody, I just want to give you an update. My tortoise will be 3 years old this summer. It became a friendly, calm, and very strong tortoise. It also now is less shy of me, it even allows head rubs now and it never bites. According to the short tail, its a female. In my first...

Thank you for the answer Tom. I kept the temps high during the first week, then gradually reduced it. Anyway, I think the tortoise sensed it is winter, it became lazy and ate less. In the end it would only eat a single ball of Mazuri, herbs and salad was refused (before the fasting period) and...

Hello, my Hermans tortoise is in the fridge since 25th of December. It is 18 months old and this is the second hibernation. The first one was done by the breeder. He only sold the animals after the first successful hibernation. The temperature in the fridge is electronically controlled and...

So, at the weekend i will buy a plastic box to build a wet hide. When I order stuff next time I will buy Repti Bark substrate as advised here. Just one question: The seller recommends the Repti Bark for tortoises no younger than 4 years because of "sure footedness" or "tread security". What's...

I just read that moss is not recommended. So I think I will change the soil to Repti Bark as advised. Does anyone have a recommendation for what to put in the cave or the wet box to raise the humidity as moss isn't the way to go?

Thank you all. So i will mist the substrate more often and i will provide spaghnum moss in the cave. Another good idea is to build a wetbox. If that is not accepted by the tortoise i have to find a way to close the top. I remember when i got it, it didn't use the cave with the moss in it...

That a difficult topic. You know, I am open for different opinions of course. Here the majority says mercury vapor lamps are not good, other sites say exactly the opposite. That the ZooMed UVB tubes were dangerous. Anyway, because the EU plans a ban of mercury vapor bulbs in 2025 because of...

Yes and he makes sure he gets food. When you are greeted with that expression in the face you don't think about making yourself a cup of coffee first, no you have to feed the tortoise first :) When I got him he would squirm and try to pry out of my hand when I carried him. Now he let's it...