My first post I mentioned that I keep multiple species together....I know it is frowned upon, but, I have had no ill effects yet.
the "mistake" I made was before I knew much about tortoises I got one. in 2002 I got a baby sulcata. did not know much about them but I knew they got huge and were destructive and told myself i'd do what it took to keep the tort as part of my family, so over the years I learned what I could...kept him growing slow and healthy. as he did well, in 2006 i came home from a reptile show with a 4" redfoot and a 4" greek! didnt know much about either. so I hit the internet and learned about them. now the challenge is to keep the redfoot in a more humid enviornment and the greek and sulcata a bit drier. then I thought it would be a good idea to try a baby leo. so I found one and it arived! then last year a lady in my town could not take care of her female greek so....you guessed it,, its at my house now. ...and the last chapter of the story is last week i found a pancake for a good price from a reputable breeder and it has arived...
now, my climate is cold, so i have put the effort into it. I have 1500 square feet of tort accomodations. (bigger than my house) this includes a 2 zone fenced in yard (fenced so that the big boy sulcata cannot get into all of the outside pen but the smaller torts can)
A green house for the spring and fall days, and a shed (super insulated) for the winter and nights.
they have free range for about 6 months, tunnels allow them tomove to the area they want to be in. at night in the summer i will find them in the shed staying warm and grazing in the yard during the day, on rainy or cool days the will graze breifly then head into the greenhouse to stay warm... they all move about at will
I think the key is space. they have there own little hiding spots, they are not harrased or stressed.
I have witnessed the sulcata trying to mount the redfoot and the red will walk away and go straight to a place where he cannot follow. its like the red knows he can not follow her to these areas of the pen.
i make holes and burrows of apropriate size so the sulcata cannot follow.
inthe winter it is a bit tighter quarters but i still see no ill effects.
the hard part is that they become part of the family. i am not a breeder. (yet) and if i decided to breed i should focus on specific species. but how would i choose? I care for them so much and enjoy watching them grow... how do you all choose which torts to raise?
and yep...go ahead, let me have it, i can take the critisizing. i will listen and i will take all coments into consideration, as long as you are nice about it!
the "mistake" I made was before I knew much about tortoises I got one. in 2002 I got a baby sulcata. did not know much about them but I knew they got huge and were destructive and told myself i'd do what it took to keep the tort as part of my family, so over the years I learned what I could...kept him growing slow and healthy. as he did well, in 2006 i came home from a reptile show with a 4" redfoot and a 4" greek! didnt know much about either. so I hit the internet and learned about them. now the challenge is to keep the redfoot in a more humid enviornment and the greek and sulcata a bit drier. then I thought it would be a good idea to try a baby leo. so I found one and it arived! then last year a lady in my town could not take care of her female greek so....you guessed it,, its at my house now. ...and the last chapter of the story is last week i found a pancake for a good price from a reputable breeder and it has arived...
now, my climate is cold, so i have put the effort into it. I have 1500 square feet of tort accomodations. (bigger than my house) this includes a 2 zone fenced in yard (fenced so that the big boy sulcata cannot get into all of the outside pen but the smaller torts can)
A green house for the spring and fall days, and a shed (super insulated) for the winter and nights.
they have free range for about 6 months, tunnels allow them tomove to the area they want to be in. at night in the summer i will find them in the shed staying warm and grazing in the yard during the day, on rainy or cool days the will graze breifly then head into the greenhouse to stay warm... they all move about at will
I think the key is space. they have there own little hiding spots, they are not harrased or stressed.
I have witnessed the sulcata trying to mount the redfoot and the red will walk away and go straight to a place where he cannot follow. its like the red knows he can not follow her to these areas of the pen.
i make holes and burrows of apropriate size so the sulcata cannot follow.
inthe winter it is a bit tighter quarters but i still see no ill effects.
the hard part is that they become part of the family. i am not a breeder. (yet) and if i decided to breed i should focus on specific species. but how would i choose? I care for them so much and enjoy watching them grow... how do you all choose which torts to raise?
and yep...go ahead, let me have it, i can take the critisizing. i will listen and i will take all coments into consideration, as long as you are nice about it!