Recent content by zovick

Who is the seller? Maybe no more are available, so he/she is taking their time to reply. Or maybe he/she is trying to source an additional tortoise from another seller to be re-sold to you.

Both of those reasons are often given. It is probably about a 50/50 split.

Thank you for pointing this out. I guess the OP didn't read my post completely.

Fred is a male. Alan may also be a male from the looks of his tail, but it is a bit hard to be certain of that because he is smaller and needs to mature more before one can be sure of the gender.

I would recommend using Neo-Poly-Dex Veterinary Ophthalmic drops. Put one drop in each eye and one drop in each nostril twice a day for about 10 days. The downside is that you need a prescription from a vet to get them. However here is a link to those drops...

The smaller one is an Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata). The long narrow nuchal scute is characteristic of the species. Forsten's Tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii) has a much more square nuchal scute. Not sure about the larger one. It looks like a member of the Greek Tortoise family, but...

Looks like a female to me. What did the rescue people say regarding its gender?

That response is correct. Your best bet for a tortoise is probably a Pancake Tortoise. They are small, not too expensive, and to the best of my knowledge, no NYSDEC permit is necessary. A Russian Tortoise might be a bit less costly, but those brumate which Pancakes do not. You don't have to...

From what you have said, it seems as though your tortoise had been sitting in the water pool for a very long time and algae grew on its shell and even on some of the leg scales. I think your cousin is describing the algae growth as "moss". Do you believe the "pool" was always kept as clean as...

It might look a lot better if treated with the athlete's foot cream for a week or ten days. It will most likely never look 100% normal again, though.

It looks like shell rot to me even though it is in an unusual area of the shell for that to occur. You might need to treat it with athlete's foot cream for several days to make it go away. Is it on the bottom shell also?

Are you sure you are not seeing hardened urates rather than cuttlebone pieces? They would be very similar in appearance.

Personally, I would have no problems with feeding any one of my tortoises the remaining watermelons. I think you can do the same without worrying about it.

Sorry, but I have no ideas. I have never heard of a tortoise with gout. From my knowledge of gout in humans, I do not think gout would have anything to do with the failure to eat.