Found abandoned Tortoise. Plz help Identify & have Calcium concerns

[Jabuticaba]

Love it!


May
THBs: Darwin & Merlin
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket
IG: @AUSSOMEAUSSIES

 

[Moozillion]

OMG!!! That tortoise portrait is PRICELESS!!!

 

[ascott]

Hoping your children get a lesson in, "good things still happen to good people"...hope all works out well.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Basic enclosure question:
I am doing nothing but reading about how to take care of her and get an understanding of enclosure basics. I'm in the process of ordering the correct lighting and heating elements from Amazon. I need to ask the obvious and make sure I have the right idea...

-buying a UVB vapor bulb for basking spot
-also want to buy a unheated uv/uvb florescent strip just to maintain descent fake sunshine during the winter in addition the basking spot vapor bulb glowing during the day.
-ceramic heating emitter for night temps no lower than 60 degrees F.
-??During the day--do I just use the basking bulb to maintain heat at the heated and let the rest be the basic warm temp of my house? Or do I have the heat emitter going all day and night with some sort of thermostat to maintain day and night temps?
-humid hidey hole...for this winter can I just have an open ended up side down small Tupperware with daily dampened sphagnum moss and run a humidifier near her enclosure?

 

[Prairie Mom]

Basic enclosure question:
I am doing nothing but reading about how to take care of her and get an understanding of enclosure basics. I'm in the process of ordering the correct lighting and heating elements from Amazon. I need to ask the obvious and make sure I have the right idea...

-buying a UVB vapor bulb for basking spot
-also want to buy a unheated uv/uvb florescent strip just to maintain descent fake sunshine during the winter in addition the basking spot vapor bulb glowing during the day.
-ceramic heating emitter for night temps no lower than 60 degrees F.
-??During the day--do I just use the basking bulb to maintain heat at the heated and let the rest be the basic warm temp of my house? Or do I have the heat emitter going all day and night with some sort of thermostat to maintain day and night temps?
-humid hidey hole...for this winter can I just have an open ended up side down small Tupperware with daily dampened sphagnum moss and run a humidifier near her enclosure?

I should probably post this in the enclosure section of the forum,huh? I'll go ahead and do that and hope no one gets annoyed

 

[Yvonne G]

No, we won't be annoyed. It would be much better in the enclosure section.

 

[Prairie Mom]

No, we won't be annoyed. It would be much better in the enclosure section.

Thanks, Yvonne

 

[Prairie Mom]

Well, the animal control officer came just after I thought they were ditching me. He seemed annoyed to have to make the call, but once he and I handled Mavis for her to be scanned, he switched to being very cheerful. It's not every day that they handle a tortoise! Mavis does not have a microchip and the animal control officer said that if the owner hasn't called them now, then they are probably not going to.

 

[Moozillion]

YAAAYY!!!

 

[littleginsu]

How's Mavis doing?

 

[Prairie Mom]

How's Mavis doing?

Hi Littleginsu!
Thanks so much for writing to me. We've only had her a couple of weeks now and we're still honestly holding our breath just a little bit and wondering if someone will pop up looking for her. We've checked for "lost" signs, paper and internet ads, and both our animal control/shelter and Humane society have our contact info if anyone calls. We really don't think anyone is looking for her, but we've fallen so in love with her that my whole family will breath easier once a little more time goes by. Meanwhile, my husband and I are spending lots of time trying to learn about tortoises and coming up with ideas for housing her permanently.


Mavis is doing AMAZING. She used to be so scared of us, but is becoming so much more relaxed now. I can't help but wonder if I'm imagining how well she is doing, but she just seems to be THRIVING. She is drinking regularly and eating bigger amounts and more diversely. Even the soft spots on her shell that I was worried about, seem to be getting a bit harder already. I may be over-doing it with soaking her. I'm doing it about 2-3 times a day and most of the time she actually seems to enjoy it. We're thrilled that the weather has really warmed up again. We went from snow and 28 degrees to the low 80's these past couple of weeks! We have a whole routine where she spends lots of time outside (under close supervision because we're not totally tortoise-proof yet, have kids, dog, and even the occasional Hawk fly-overs). She loves our yard. It's so obvious that she enjoys herself and has obviously memorized where her favorite tasty flowers are planted. Every day she seems to be eating more and more and is becoming more tolerant of the crazy new people that surround her---as illustrated in the photo below...


I hope you and your own beasties are doing well and appreciate you checking in on us!

 

[littleginsu]

Fantastic news! I would hope that if no one has claimed her yet, they aren't going to. I am so glad to see your beautiful family enjoying her!

 

[Moozillion]

Your story has been SO heartwarming, from the very beginning! And the picture of Mavis and the kids is BEYOND cute!

 

[Abdulla6169]

That's good to hear!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Fantastic news! I would hope that if no one has claimed her yet, they aren't going to. I am so glad to see your beautiful family enjoying her!

Thanks We're hoping the same thing and feel that if someone isn't trying harder to actually FIND their pet, than they probably shouldn't have had it in the first place. Have a great day!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Your story has been SO heartwarming, from the very beginning! And the picture of Mavis and the kids is BEYOND cute!

Thanks so much, Moozillion! Your support is very appreciated.

 

[Prairie Mom]

That's good to hear!

Thanks for keeping up on us Abdulla! Have a great day!

 

[bouaboua]

Hi Littleginsu!
Thanks so much for writing to me. We've only had her a couple of weeks now and we're still honestly holding our breath just a little bit and wondering if someone will pop up looking for her. We've checked for "lost" signs, paper and internet ads, and both our animal control/shelter and Humane society have our contact info if anyone calls. We really don't think anyone is looking for her, but we've fallen so in love with her that my whole family will breath easier once a little more time goes by. Meanwhile, my husband and I are spending lots of time trying to learn about tortoises and coming up with ideas for housing her permanently.
View attachment 97444

Mavis is doing AMAZING. She used to be so scared of us, but is becoming so much more relaxed now. I can't help but wonder if I'm imagining how well she is doing, but she just seems to be THRIVING. She is drinking regularly and eating bigger amounts and more diversely. Even the soft spots on her shell that I was worried about, seem to be getting a bit harder already. I may be over-doing it with soaking her. I'm doing it about 2-3 times a day and most of the time she actually seems to enjoy it. We're thrilled that the weather has really warmed up again. We went from snow and 28 degrees to the low 80's these past couple of weeks! We have a whole routine where she spends lots of time outside (under close supervision because we're not totally tortoise-proof yet, have kids, dog, and even the occasional Hawk fly-overs). She loves our yard. It's so obvious that she enjoys herself and has obviously memorized where her favorite tasty flowers are planted. Every day she seems to be eating more and more and is becoming more tolerant of the crazy new people that surround her---as illustrated in the photo below...
View attachment 97445

I hope you and your own beasties are doing well and appreciate you checking in on us!

How lovely! ! ! !

What a nice story to read and knowing she is doing well and with all that love.......Wonderful.

 

[Prairie Mom]

How lovely! ! ! !

What a nice story to read and knowing she is doing well and with all that love.......Wonderful.

Thanks, Bouaboua! We feel pretty lucky to have her and equally lucky to have run into such nice people on this forum. Thanks for keeping in touch!

 

[leopard777]

nice , glad you found it