I was wondering if the Egyptian tortoises are much more difficult to care for when obtained as cb babies than say Greeks? Do they have any special care requirements? They are hands down my favorite tortoise and I really want to work with them. They will have to be housed indoors most of the year as I live in MA fyi.
Egyptian care
- Thread starter varanus
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Welcome to the TFO
varanus said:
First, hello and welcome to the forum!
I have no experience with Greek tortoises, but I do have 4 Egyptians and they are the best torts ever! As long as you have the correct setup, they are really easy to care for
I have my torts on a 4x3ft tort table that my dad built. The more space the better. Then comes the substrate. I now use shredded aspen. You can also use crushed oyster shells which is what I used before switching to aspen. Make sure to provide a few hiding spots and humid hide. You can use small flower pots or whatever you would like, as long as they can "get away" and hide and feel secure. For humidty you can use sphagnum moss. Also you can add a shallow water bowl. I don't know the correct spelling, but I use a terra cotta bowl that they usually sell at Lowes or home depot for cheap. Just keep the water shallow so that the torts don't have the risk of flipping over and possibly drowning.
Lighting is key. You need a bulb that gives off both UVA and UVB. I use a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent bulb, and sometimes a 5.0. You can also buy a mercury vapor bulb like the Mega Ray or Powersun, which are said to be some of the best out there. And of course, if possible, the sun is always better : )
As long as you have those things and feed a varied diet like kale, Collard greens, mustard greens, rhadiccio, different succulents and flowers, you should have no problem. You might also want to sprinkle some calcium to their food every few days to help them get the necessary calcium. Aside from calcium, I also use TNT from Carolina Pet Supply, which is a powder with a blend of many greens that are great for all tortoises. My torts love it!
Anyway, long reply :shy:, but I hope I helped! Egyptian tortoises are awesome and will be happy and healthy as long you care properly for them.
Hi veranus:
Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name and where you are?
Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name and where you are?
I keep Egyptians, and I love them! They are such little spitfires!!! I think their care is fairly similar to baby greeks. I'm just a little more careful with the Egyptian temps. I don't like them getting under 70 if possible. My greeks can go lower than that. Other than that - I keep them on the same substrate and feed them the same diet. Good luck to you!
Welcome to TFO! I love egyptians too, but I doubt I'll ever find one up here in Canada. Here's a good care sheet if you're interested; http://home.earthlink.net/~fridjian/
[/quote]
First, hello and welcome to the forum!
I have no experience with Greek tortoises, but I do have 4 Egyptians and they are the best torts ever! As long as you have the correct setup, they are really easy to care for
I have my torts on a 4x3ft tort table that my dad built. The more space the better. Then comes the substrate. I now use shredded aspen. You can also use crushed oyster shells which is what I used before switching to aspen. Make sure to provide a few hiding spots and humid hide. You can use small flower pots or whatever you would like, as long as they can "get away" and hide and feel secure. For humidty you can use sphagnum moss. Also you can add a shallow water bowl. I don't know the correct spelling, but I use a terra cotta bowl that they usually sell at Lowes or home depot for cheap. Just keep the water shallow so that the torts don't have the risk of flipping over and possibly drowning.
Lighting is key. You need a bulb that gives off both UVA and UVB. I use a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent bulb, and sometimes a 5.0. You can also buy a mercury vapor bulb like the Mega Ray or Powersun, which are said to be some of the best out there. And of course, if possible, the sun is always better : )
As long as you have those things and feed a varied diet like kale, Collard greens, mustard greens, rhadiccio, different succulents and flowers, you should have no problem. You might also want to sprinkle some calcium to their food every few days to help them get the necessary calcium. Aside from calcium, I also use TNT from Carolina Pet Supply, which is a powder with a blend of many greens that are great for all tortoises. My torts love it!
Anyway, long reply :shy:, but I hope I helped! Egyptian tortoises are awesome and will be happy and healthy as long you care properly for them.
[/quote]
Excellent info here on EGYPTIANS, i will be picking up 3 later today and will be going but what has been written here, thanks.
First, hello and welcome to the forum!
I have no experience with Greek tortoises, but I do have 4 Egyptians and they are the best torts ever! As long as you have the correct setup, they are really easy to care for
I have my torts on a 4x3ft tort table that my dad built. The more space the better. Then comes the substrate. I now use shredded aspen. You can also use crushed oyster shells which is what I used before switching to aspen. Make sure to provide a few hiding spots and humid hide. You can use small flower pots or whatever you would like, as long as they can "get away" and hide and feel secure. For humidty you can use sphagnum moss. Also you can add a shallow water bowl. I don't know the correct spelling, but I use a terra cotta bowl that they usually sell at Lowes or home depot for cheap. Just keep the water shallow so that the torts don't have the risk of flipping over and possibly drowning.
Lighting is key. You need a bulb that gives off both UVA and UVB. I use a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent bulb, and sometimes a 5.0. You can also buy a mercury vapor bulb like the Mega Ray or Powersun, which are said to be some of the best out there. And of course, if possible, the sun is always better : )
As long as you have those things and feed a varied diet like kale, Collard greens, mustard greens, rhadiccio, different succulents and flowers, you should have no problem. You might also want to sprinkle some calcium to their food every few days to help them get the necessary calcium. Aside from calcium, I also use TNT from Carolina Pet Supply, which is a powder with a blend of many greens that are great for all tortoises. My torts love it!
Anyway, long reply :shy:, but I hope I helped! Egyptian tortoises are awesome and will be happy and healthy as long you care properly for them.
[/quote]
Excellent info here on EGYPTIANS, i will be picking up 3 later today and will be going but what has been written here, thanks.
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teq1 said:varanus said:
First, hello and welcome to the forum!
I have no experience with Greek tortoises, but I do have 4 Egyptians and they are the best torts ever! As long as you have the correct setup, they are really easy to care for
I have my torts on a 4x3ft tort table that my dad built. The more space the better. Then comes the substrate. I now use shredded aspen. You can also use crushed oyster shells which is what I used before switching to aspen. Make sure to provide a few hiding spots and humid hide. You can use small flower pots or whatever you would like, as long as they can "get away" and hide and feel secure. For humidty you can use sphagnum moss. Also you can add a shallow water bowl. I don't know the correct spelling, but I use a terra cotta bowl that they usually sell at Lowes or home depot for cheap. Just keep the water shallow so that the torts don't have the risk of flipping over and possibly drowning.
Lighting is key. You need a bulb that gives off both UVA and UVB. I use a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent bulb, and sometimes a 5.0. You can also buy a mercury vapor bulb like the Mega Ray or Powersun, which are said to be some of the best out there. And of course, if possible, the sun is always better : )
As long as you have those things and feed a varied diet like kale, Collard greens, mustard greens, rhadiccio, different succulents and flowers, you should have no problem. You might also want to sprinkle some calcium to their food every few days to help them get the necessary calcium. Aside from calcium, I also use TNT from Carolina Pet Supply, which is a powder with a blend of many greens that are great for all tortoises. My torts love it!
Anyway, long reply :shy:, but I hope I helped! Egyptian tortoises are awesome and will be happy and healthy as long you care properly for them.
we have 1 egyptian, and we're pretty new to the game, but we found out that she doesn't like coco husk chunks. They're too difficult for her to walk on. She doesn't seem to mind the coconut fine ground stuff, but she loves to burrow in the aspen. We also keep calcium sand in there just to give variety. She does love to hide under and climb upon moss.
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