Hello, and welcome to the forum to both you and your new tort. I ran into the same problem last night with my tortoises. I heard it pouring and ran outside to find out that their home is no longer waterproof. Personally, I would make him a new (waterproof) home with good bedding/ insulation and...
It was a rather warm 82 degree day in phoenix today and I fully expected to see my torts, but they are still in their den. Unfortunately it's that time of year where the days are warmer but the nights are still chilly. I was wondering if anyone's torts have woken up yet?
I'm also from phoenix and this is my second summer with my desert torts. In this weather I would soak them once a day and have multiple shallow water dishes near their hiding spots in the yard. Mine also seem to do a sort of "summer Hibernation" on hot days. They will come out in the mornings...
I believe they are Sanoran desert tortoises. By fodder I mean sprouting seeds in water and feeding them after 7 days of growing. I would assume that timothy or alfalfa would be okay for this.
I recently began experimenting with fodder for chickens and horses and i wondered if I could feed fodder to my desert Tortoises and if so what kind and how much? Has anyone had any luck with this?
It's warming up in Arizona again and I have a feeling my two desert torts will be waking up today. Today's temperatures are supposed to be 78/50 and tomorrow 81/51. Should I be allowing them to wake up or should I try to move them to a cooler location until the night temps get higher? If they do...
I see people say on the forum all the time that a tortoise is "too dry". How exactly do you determine if a tortoise is too dry? When I first joined the forum, I was told my torts were too dry and I began soaking them more often. I just wanted clarification for myself and other newbies. Also, can...
I actually decided to let them hibernate after all. I let them fast for a week while soaking them every day. They have been hibernating for about a week now and I check on them every few days. I built them an insulated den in their original enclosure and on nights when the temp drops below 35F I...
I recently moved my desert tortoises indoors because they were trying to hibernate but now they are trying to hibernate in their indoor enclosure. I'm not really sure what to do anymore. Since this picture was taken I took out one of the logs because no matter what they go in the same one. They...
One other question. I got them a heat lamp and basking light but I just realized that the basking light only gives out uva. The sun shines pretty bright in my window. Would it be ok to just have the uvb come from my window and uva from the lamp or should I go buy another light?
Thank you Ciri. I have got some seeds from them but I haven't planted them yet. Also, I used coconut fiber with some of the regular dirt but it is messy so I am probably going to switch to mostly dirt like you said.