allthesmallthings
New Member
Hey all. would love to get some advice if possible.
I am realising that I may not be able to provide the healthy home our tortoise needs.
We've had him for about 5 years and we thought he was fine. I realise now that this was down to a combination of bad advice, questionable sources, and our own naivety/ignorance about keeping tortoises. For example he spent years under a MVB because we were told by the store we got him from (which is full of very healthy looking reptiles of all types and ages) that it was the best thing. We have now switched and he has a regular Arcadia heat lamp and a UVB strip (which i believe is also Arcadia). We were told to do weekly soaks, so that's what we did. I now realise that he's probably been too dry from day one.
He is at least 5 (not sure how old he was when we got him), and very small. For the most part throughout his life he has been active, climbing stuff in his table, eating well, etc, so in my ignorant mind I had no need to worry, I just thought he was naturally small. Our circumstances have changed recently and I'm finding myself with less and less time to do all the things he needs, and I have noticed over the last few weeks that he is displaying signs of dehydration. He looks scaly, he's been lethargic, sunken eyes etc.
I feel terrible. I have really done a s*** job at this. He is dehydrated and likely stunted. I'm having a little cry as I write this, yes we followed bad advice but I absolutely know we could have done better, I don't want to shift blame and I want to do the right thing by him.
Over the last couple days I have been doing long soaks, carrot soaks, sunning him in the garden as we are having warm weather, regularly misting his enclosure to keep it humid in there. I'm reading everything I possibly can in this forum and trying to learn how to do better. He is perking up already and really enjoyed splashing around in his carrot bath this morning!! He even had a run around the patio while the slabs were still cool and seemed to have a great time in the sun. I'm making plans to build him an outdoor enclosure so he can get his UVB needs met naturally through the summer months, and I'm changing up his setup to make it more humid and enriching after reading the temperate species care sheet on this forum. I still feel confused about what lights and things he needs but I'm going to figure it out.
On the other hand, we are short on space. We are very short on time. And even shorter on money. I am at college as well as working and raising two teenagers by myself. Our circumstances have changed a lot over the last few years.. My son would be devastated but I am considering whether it would be better to rehome the tort with someone who has the time and the means for optimal husbandry. I want to do that myself but I am overwhelmed by all the information and I don't know whether we can adjust our lives adequately to do it long term. I don't know if I'm just feeling overwhelmed by all of the information (and my guilt) or whether it really is a case of not being able to do it.
For eg, there are some days maybe 2-3 days a week where I have to be out for at least half the day, and there's nobody at home to keep an eye on the setup, so the basking light needs to be left off all day. We live in a flat and there was a fire in our building a couple years ago, and as such I am really concerned about leaving hot bulbs unattended all day - and also the risk of him flipping over and cooking with nobody there to save him (when he was more active he would like climbing his hide and couldn't always get down alright after!)
Basically I just want to know what you good people would recommend in my situation. I really, really want to find a way to make this work if we can. I want the little guy to be happy and well, even if he'll now always be small because of my failings, and for us to be able to provide that without our entire lives being focused around tortoise care - as wonderful as that sounds, there's only one of me and I am spread thin as it is. It would be really helpful to get answers to these questions:
1. How do you manage heat/light stuff when you need to be away from home all day? I can't imagine everyone just stays home all the time or has someone else in the house at all times.
2. How much time do you spend, roughly, each day doing tortoise care and what does your daily routine look like?
Thank you. I really want to make this work but ultimately my main focus is that he gets what he needs, even if I can't provide it. I feel very ashamed.
I am realising that I may not be able to provide the healthy home our tortoise needs.
We've had him for about 5 years and we thought he was fine. I realise now that this was down to a combination of bad advice, questionable sources, and our own naivety/ignorance about keeping tortoises. For example he spent years under a MVB because we were told by the store we got him from (which is full of very healthy looking reptiles of all types and ages) that it was the best thing. We have now switched and he has a regular Arcadia heat lamp and a UVB strip (which i believe is also Arcadia). We were told to do weekly soaks, so that's what we did. I now realise that he's probably been too dry from day one.
He is at least 5 (not sure how old he was when we got him), and very small. For the most part throughout his life he has been active, climbing stuff in his table, eating well, etc, so in my ignorant mind I had no need to worry, I just thought he was naturally small. Our circumstances have changed recently and I'm finding myself with less and less time to do all the things he needs, and I have noticed over the last few weeks that he is displaying signs of dehydration. He looks scaly, he's been lethargic, sunken eyes etc.
I feel terrible. I have really done a s*** job at this. He is dehydrated and likely stunted. I'm having a little cry as I write this, yes we followed bad advice but I absolutely know we could have done better, I don't want to shift blame and I want to do the right thing by him.
Over the last couple days I have been doing long soaks, carrot soaks, sunning him in the garden as we are having warm weather, regularly misting his enclosure to keep it humid in there. I'm reading everything I possibly can in this forum and trying to learn how to do better. He is perking up already and really enjoyed splashing around in his carrot bath this morning!! He even had a run around the patio while the slabs were still cool and seemed to have a great time in the sun. I'm making plans to build him an outdoor enclosure so he can get his UVB needs met naturally through the summer months, and I'm changing up his setup to make it more humid and enriching after reading the temperate species care sheet on this forum. I still feel confused about what lights and things he needs but I'm going to figure it out.
On the other hand, we are short on space. We are very short on time. And even shorter on money. I am at college as well as working and raising two teenagers by myself. Our circumstances have changed a lot over the last few years.. My son would be devastated but I am considering whether it would be better to rehome the tort with someone who has the time and the means for optimal husbandry. I want to do that myself but I am overwhelmed by all the information and I don't know whether we can adjust our lives adequately to do it long term. I don't know if I'm just feeling overwhelmed by all of the information (and my guilt) or whether it really is a case of not being able to do it.
For eg, there are some days maybe 2-3 days a week where I have to be out for at least half the day, and there's nobody at home to keep an eye on the setup, so the basking light needs to be left off all day. We live in a flat and there was a fire in our building a couple years ago, and as such I am really concerned about leaving hot bulbs unattended all day - and also the risk of him flipping over and cooking with nobody there to save him (when he was more active he would like climbing his hide and couldn't always get down alright after!)
Basically I just want to know what you good people would recommend in my situation. I really, really want to find a way to make this work if we can. I want the little guy to be happy and well, even if he'll now always be small because of my failings, and for us to be able to provide that without our entire lives being focused around tortoise care - as wonderful as that sounds, there's only one of me and I am spread thin as it is. It would be really helpful to get answers to these questions:
1. How do you manage heat/light stuff when you need to be away from home all day? I can't imagine everyone just stays home all the time or has someone else in the house at all times.
2. How much time do you spend, roughly, each day doing tortoise care and what does your daily routine look like?
Thank you. I really want to make this work but ultimately my main focus is that he gets what he needs, even if I can't provide it. I feel very ashamed.
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