New Vision Cage - Just In Time!

[Yvonne G]

I got 9 desert tortoise babies from the Chino chapter CTTC today. William brought me the loan of a Vision cage and set it up. It came just in time! I already had 4 desert tortoise babies, so now I have 13! They are just the cutest little things. I like to keep desert tortoise hatchlings until they're a year old before I adopt them out, but with 13 of them I may be looking for new owners sooner than that:

 

[Tom]

Didn't you read the care sheets??? They are going to get shell rot and respiratory infections if you raise them like that!!!


{This post is pure satire for anyone who doesn't really know Yvonne or me.}

 

[orv]

Bless you for your loving care, Yuvonne.

 

[orv]

Tom . . . your sarcasm is noted.

 

[Yvonne G]

In October, 2018, I went to SoCal and picked up nine desert tortoise babies from the CTTC Chino chapter. If you look closely at the first picture you can see one of the two babies I kept because of their 'different' color (the other on is actually sitting on the food, but the color doesn't show right in this picture). I kept those two because their shell had an orangish color and I wanted to see how they turned out as they grew.

I think I have more pictures of the two here on the Forum, but I couldn't find the posts, and my picture program has hundreds of pictures and the way to find a particular picture is to look for how I titled the picture. . . couldn't find them there either.

At any rate because there were two tortoises in one Vision cage, one grew bigger than the other (well, DUH!) They outgrew the Vision cage and they were put out on the carport to brumate. In Spring I moved them outside into the regular CDT yard, which is inhabited by only one adult CDT. That was earlier this year (they're six years old).

Here is a view, right then left, of the CDT yard. The fence posts are set at 8' centers to give you an idea of the size of the yard:




And here is the yard from the other end:



It's interesting to note that even though they're no longer kept in a pair (there are now three in this yard) the two juveniles have each claimed a 'territory.' One of them has the east end (you can see him on the left of the picture with the dog in it), and the other has claimed the west end.

This picture is of West. The board laying next to the tortoise is 4" wide.




This is East. East is still slightly larger than West, but they're much closer in size than they were before I put them in this yard:



'East' and 'West' are the two orange babies I kept from the SoCal batch of babies. As you can see, they are no longer a different color, looking just as normal as can be.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

In October, 2018, I went to SoCal and picked up nine desert tortoise babies from the CTTC Chino chapter. If you look closely at the first picture you can see one of the two babies I kept because of their 'different' color (the other on is actually sitting on the food, but the color doesn't show right in this picture). I kept those two because their shell had an orangish color and I wanted to see how they turned out as they grew.

I think I have more pictures of the two here on the Forum, but I couldn't find the posts, and my picture program has hundreds of pictures and the way to find a particular picture is to look for how I titled the picture. . . couldn't find them there either.

At any rate because there were two tortoises in one Vision cage, one grew bigger than the other (well, DUH!) They outgrew the Vision cage and they were put out on the carport to brumate. In Spring I moved them outside into the regular CDT yard, which is inhabited by only one adult CDT. That was earlier this year (they're six years old).

Here is a view, right then left, of the CDT yard. The fence posts are set at 8' centers to give you an idea of the size of the yard:


View attachment 381298View attachment 381299

And here is the yard from the other end:

View attachment 381300

It's interesting to note that even though they're no longer kept in a pair (there are now three in this yard) the two juveniles have each claimed a 'territory.' One of them has the east end (you can see him on the left of the picture with the dog in it), and the other has claimed the west end.

This picture is of West. The board laying next to the tortoise is 4" wide.

View attachment 381296


This is East. East is still slightly larger than West, but they're much closer in size than they were before I put them in this yard:

View attachment 381297

Love to see updates years later. This forum is truly something else!

 

[seanbaker1]

I kept those two because their shell had an orangish color and I wanted to see how they turned out as they grew.

And did the coloring turn out different from the "regular" DT coloring?

 

[Yvonne G]

And did the coloring turn out different from the "regular" DT coloring?

Well, West is more on the grey side and East is more tan, but both are natural colors for CDT.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Well, West is more on the grey side and East is more tan, but both are natural colors for CDT.

Great question and answer, most think they all should look identical.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I REALLY LIKE those cages

 

[Yvonne G]

I REALLY LIKE those cages

I like them too, however they need a bit of tweeking to make them better. My house is pretty cold during winter and it's heated by a wood stove, which means the reptile room, which is furthest away from the stove, isn't very warm. The walls of the Vision cage are thin. I've had to wrap them in sheet styrofoam on the outside in order to get the inside warm enough.