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Found the little padloper again today for the first time in a week. He is so hard to find, buries himself right under ground when sleeping so we can only spot him on sunny days when he moves around. Weighed him and he hit 10 grams - really just a large beetle!

Will do! We had a padloper in the garden for ages. She was the sweetest thing and we all loved her. Then after a few years, suddenly she just moved on and was gone. I worry about this little guy, he is so tiny, would not be even a mouthful for some of our bigger birds.

Found this adorable little guy today. He is about half the size of a baby angulate, very passive and sweet, has a black belly and I can see the start of his little hook like parrot beak. He is less than 2cm long.

Beautiful additions - and I will be watching your progress with great interest!

The garden is quite a large area - about 1600 square metres - so there is a lot of roaming space.

Good to hear from you again, Will. I hope it stays this way, I will do what it take to ensure it does. When we moved to this area about 15 years ago there were a lot of empty plots and the tortoises had a very wide territory. Development has happened and their world has shrunk so I feel as if I...

Hi there - they are free to come and go but I find the small ones do not wander out of the garden. They move between a few places within the garden and most have a favourite section where they spend most of their time. They all return to the same place to sleep at night, each has their own bush...

It's possible. You never know with these Vikings of the tort world.

That she is. I was really interested to see the difference in weight between babies born in the same month though. Kingsley's is 150grams, one wild baby is 70grams and the other only 45grams.

Yes, they breed very well here. It's interesting finding this forum and hearing how tortoise lovers in the North battle to raise Angulates. We take them a bit for granted here as they are quite prolific and very hardy.

What a little beauty! The Karoo, as you probably know, has a completely different climate. Desert like, extremely hot and dry. We are separated from the area by the Outeniqua mountains, which trap the rain. If not for them we would be pretty desert like too. So very interesting about the...

Judging by your pic Baby looks very healthy and beautiful! They might just be like us and come in all sizes. I guess if they are active, and eating and peeing and pooing, then they are doing fine. It is us who weighs and worries, not them!

I am obsessed with spekboom, it is a miracle plant. Not only great tortoise food but it has huge carbon storing capabilities. Its capacity to offset harmful emissions is equal to that of moist, subtropical forest. It needs virtually no water too, so brilliant for Cape Town! Your tort at...

I love Spekboom, as do the tortoises! How old is your little one? I had never thought of weighing them before kingsley asked. I don't feed them at all or give them anything, apart from dropping a Hibiscus flower or two when I think of it. These ones are wild and hard scrabble, come and go as it...

WOW!! This is really fascinating, Kingsley. I have just weighed them both on a scale exactly like yours. The bigger one, Otis, weighs 70grams, and the smaller one, Winston, weighs 45grams. So that is a big difference. They are both very active and walk quite large distances each day, I see them...

Damn, just see this now! I had them a few hours ago. I will look for them and weigh one or the other as soon as I find them. Your little one is absolutely beautiful, so dark in colour. I wonder what causes that - diet maybe? I have posted a pic of the two of them in another thread - the...

I wanted to find the two hatchlings from last year to photograph their growth. Looked for about 5 minutes and found six, including one of the babies. A minute later I found the other baby. Impossible to keep them in one place for a photo so I had to resort to putting them in a basket for a few...

I do, I live on the Garden Route on the southern Cape coast. I have had a couple of Leopards in the garden, and once the sweetest parrot beaked padloper. Mostly, though, we have the Angulates, which are very common around here.

And here they are about a month ago. Both times they are pictured in my teenage son's hand, to give you an idea of size. Interestingly, the one on the right has that fused marking on the top of his shell. We have an adult in the garden with the exact same marking, so it is genetic and passed on...

That keeper has the perfect plan. Sounds like an ideal environment for them. They seem to need the extreme contrast in temperatures. They are so active when it is warm that I think they need the total shut down that happens when it gets cold. They love gazanias (eat the entire plant until it...