Aldabra enclosures

[incognet]

UPDATE: My tortoise has finally arrived! The little one is very rambunctious and shows a healthy appetite (for grass, herbs and Mazuri pellets). She (?) had ~5h to explore the enclosure before nightfall and fell asleep next to sedge clumps. It's fun to watch from our kitchen table. 🍿

We have yet to choose a name. I'm vacillating between "Olive/Oliver" (a reference to eye color) or "Akupara" (the Hindu World Turtle and modern Hindi girl's name).

 

[Tom]

Yeah, I stopped using it and bought another one from a diffrent brand just to make sure. Maybe it wasn't the brand, maybe it was just a "Monday piece" as we a´say here in Finland 😁

I don't get the meaning... A Monday piece?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I don't get the meaning... A Monday piece?

It means a dud, this is what one dictionary has to say: "Defective or low-quality product. It is said that Monday is a traditional hangover day, when the production usually turns out not so good." 😅

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

It means a dud, this is what one dictionary has to say: "Defective or low-quality product. It is said that Monday is a traditional hangover day, when the production usually turns out not so good." 😅

Same as "don't buy a car made on Friday"?

 

[jaizei]

UPDATE: My tortoise has finally arrived! The little one is very rambunctious and shows a healthy appetite (for grass, herbs and Mazuri pellets). She (?) had ~5h to explore the enclosure before nightfall and fell asleep next to sedge clumps. It's fun to watch from our kitchen table. 🍿

We have yet to choose a name. I'm vacillating between "Olive/Oliver" (a reference to eye color) or "Akupara" (the Hindu World Turtle and modern Hindi girl's name).

You got her from Sam?

 

[incognet]

You got her from Sam?

Yes, we did. She arrived in multiple layers of protection... cheesecloth, Styrofoam, straw and cardboard. I was nervous about live shipment via FedEx, given past experiences with home delivery, but employees at their 'Ship Center were more professional. Little tortoise was completely unfazed by her journey and I couldn't be more pleased.

 

[Big Charlie]

UPDATE: My tortoise has finally arrived! The little one is very rambunctious and shows a healthy appetite (for grass, herbs and Mazuri pellets). She (?) had ~5h to explore the enclosure before nightfall and fell asleep next to sedge clumps. It's fun to watch from our kitchen table. 🍿

We have yet to choose a name. I'm vacillating between "Olive/Oliver" (a reference to eye color) or "Akupara" (the Hindu World Turtle and modern Hindi girl's name).

Unless you know for sure she is a girl, pick a unisex name.

 

[TammyJ]

Your little Giant is absolutely beautiful. Make sure you have the humidity level right, l may be seeing slight pyramiding?

 

[incognet]

Your little Giant is absolutely beautiful. Make sure you have the humidity level right, l may be seeing slight pyramiding?

Thanks! I don't believe her shell is pyramiding; the position of LumenIZE bars overhead just makes it appear so in pictures. Under different light conditions, we only see normal growth rings. Either way, I'm watching humidity & temp with Sensorpush app. 📡

 

[incognet]

UPDATE: Hi folks... ~2 weeks have passed since a little Aldabra joined our family. We are going to assume that she's female until proven otherwise, at which point "Olive" will become "Oliver". ♀️ ♂️

Olive seems to enjoy her enclosure... alternately grazing and napping beneath the LED bars. She doesn't use the Petmate shell/hide for some reason (too dark?), but that might change with time.

Her favorite edibles are live mint and basil (from grocery store). She's also very fond of mulberry leaves (from local forest). We haven't tried cactus yet... I'm concerned that wild-type Opuntia may be too thorny for her.

Olive frequently drinks from a terra cotta saucer. I've never seen her take an extended soak, however. Should we do anything to encourage the behavior, or trust her instinct?

We're taking Olive to our herps-vet on Friday. I realize this may be stressful, but going without basic checkup would be negligent (imo). Our vet is also excited to meet/treat Aldabras.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Everything sounds great so far. I would not push tortoise to soak in the enclosure if it doesn't want to - Olive drinks on her own and, probably, soaks for several minutes and it's great. You can pour lukewarm water in the dish and see if she will take a longer bath.

If you are concerned about opuntia spines - you can remove them with knife. Also, cutting a pad in thin slices usually provokes them to eat it (smaller tortoises can't take a bite of older pads).

 

[wellington]

Yeah, I stopped using it and bought another one from a diffrent brand just to make sure. Maybe it wasn't the brand, maybe it was just a "Monday piece" as we a´say here in Finland 😁

Monday and Fridays are not the best work days lol. Said here in the US too.

 

[wellington]

UPDATE: Hi folks... ~2 weeks have passed since a little Aldabra joined our family. We are going to assume that she's female until proven otherwise, at which point "Olive" will become "Oliver". ♀️ ♂️

Olive seems to enjoy her enclosure... alternately grazing and napping beneath the LED bars. She doesn't use the Petmate shell/hide for some reason (too dark?), but that might change with time.

Her favorite edibles are live mint and basil (from grocery store). She's also very fond of mulberry leaves (from local forest). We haven't tried cactus yet... I'm concerned that wild-type Opuntia may be too thorny for her.

Olive frequently drinks from a terra cotta saucer. I've never seen her take an extended soak, however. Should we do anything to encourage the behavior, or trust her instinct?

We're taking Olive to our herps-vet on Friday. I realize this may be stressful, but going without basic checkup would be negligent (imo). Our vet is also excited to meet/treat Aldabras.

Oh wow, be very careful with the vet. So many do more harm then good. They don't know much if anything about tortoises, even herp vets. Mine and many others have never seen a vet. I wouldn't let them give her anything without first researching.
Btw, you can safely assume it's a male as females are not as common as males.