Hello! New from Oregon.

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Oceania

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Hello everyone. My names Heather and I have recently Adopted (what I think is) a Female Texas Tortoise. I do not have a name for her yet. My friend had got her from her friend who didnt take care of her AT ALL! My friend took her in from her friend when she found out she would forget to feed her for weeks. She was living in a 2ft octagon fish tank with no light and well lots of thing she obviously needs.She was in pretty rough shape.My friend had her for 2 weeks and in that time she has made progress she is happier seeming and her shell is looking more healthy.. My friend new I wanted a tortoise and just couple days ago I got her. She seems pretty happy here. She has so much personality!

I am working on making her a cage or trying to find one thats not 200$. I got her coconut fiber bedding but I read she needs sand? I also got her a huge dish where she can lay and drink in it. She does it all the time now its so cute. I got her a reptile light too. I got calcium supplement and have been feeding her leafy spring lettuce, carrots and broccoli. I live in oregon its freezing here right now so shes in hibernating mode most of the time but i keep her tank to 70-80*.

Is there anything I absolutely need for her or anything I am missing? I am new to the tortoise world and would appreciate any input anyone could give me so i can make her even more happy! I absolutely am in love with her so i want to give her all i can.

Here is some pictures.
I posted a picture of her shell to show how progress she had her shell horns were very dull almost brown and now there raised and yellow :)
 

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Yvonne G

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Hi Heather:

Welcome to the forum!! My sister lives in Corvallis. Is that anywhere near you?

I think you have a desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), not a Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri).

It takes really bad treatment for them to not look normal. They are one of the most forgiving of poor care of all tortoises. And she looks pretty flat, not nicely domed. Thank goodness she now lives with someone who is going to take an interest in her and give her the best care.

Your first order of business is to make her understand that she's NOT hibernating. If you allow her to "hibernate" in temperatures above 50 degrees, she might not make it through the winter. Wake her up every morning with a warm soak, then put her in front of the food. Don't let her sleep the day away.

Next, I wish that sand comment could be erased from the 'net. That's so wrong. The dirt in California's desert doesn't really resemble sand at the beach. Its packed down, hard dirt. If you have her on sand, it gets mixed in with her food and she might get an impaction from eating it.

Make sure that your reptile light emits UVB rays. Your new tortoise needs calcium (because of the flat silhouette, she hasn't been getting the calcium and vitamin D that she needs for strong bones and healthy shell). She needs calcium plus the expensive UVB light. If you didn't pay more than $30 for the light, its probably not good enough.

For a big tortoise like yours, an old book case laying on its back with the shelves removed would be a good habitat. Or a big plastic wading pool.

Be sure to do lots of reading here on the forum.
 

jeffbens0n

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Hello and welcome, if you are looking for a UVB light like yvonne mentioned look around on here, people always have good links to places where they are on sale. Most people on here would recommend a mvb or mercury vapor bulb, you should be able to find a good one online for 40-45 dollars shipped.
 

Morwen13

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Welcome! I am glad you found this place, everyone here is super helpful and can get you going in the best direction. It is great of you to take in a rescue, especially one that needs to much attention. Torts can be a handful on the best days. :)

I am up in the Tri-Cities, WA, so say hi if you ever head up this way!
 

Oceania

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emysemys said:
Hi Heather:

Welcome to the forum!! My sister lives in Corvallis. Is that anywhere near you?

I think you have a desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), not a Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri).

It takes really bad treatment for them to not look normal. They are one of the most forgiving of poor care of all tortoises. And she looks pretty flat, not nicely domed. Thank goodness she now lives with someone who is going to take an interest in her and give her the best care.

Your first order of business is to make her understand that she's NOT hibernating. If you allow her to "hibernate" in temperatures above 50 degrees, she might not make it through the winter. Wake her up every morning with a warm soak, then put her in front of the food. Don't let her sleep the day away.

Next, I wish that sand comment could be erased from the 'net. That's so wrong. The dirt in California's desert doesn't really resemble sand at the beach. Its packed down, hard dirt. If you have her on sand, it gets mixed in with her food and she might get an impaction from eating it.

Make sure that your reptile light emits UVB rays. Your new tortoise needs calcium (because of the flat silhouette, she hasn't been getting the calcium and vitamin D that she needs for strong bones and healthy shell). She needs calcium plus the expensive UVB light. If you didn't pay more than $30 for the light, its probably not good enough.

For a big tortoise like yours, an old book case laying on its back with the shelves removed would be a good habitat. Or a big plastic wading pool.

Be sure to do lots of reading here on the forum.

I live in Southern Oregon> Medford..Oh just a desert tortoise well thats cool! I take her out often and let her walk around a lot. She loves to explore I just think shes use to being in her cave a lot and not coming out because of her past. I will get the right light asap. I wasnt sure on the light so I got a bar long light thats esu reptile daylight bar. It puts out a lot of heat but I wasnt sure on it so i am glad you told me the right one :).
An old bookcase would be a great cage thanks! i wouldnt even have thought of that. Thanks for your help!
 

DoctorCosmonaut

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Welcome! I'm from Oregon too! If you ever need some help there are a few of us Oregonians on here :)
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome. You've already gotten great advice above. I would add to cut out the broccoli and substitute with more different leafy greens. When spring time rolls around, weeds to eat and an outdoor pen in the sunshine are the best thing you could possibly do.

P.S. Be careful who you tell about your new friend. Its not exactly legal to have one up there, so you might want to call it something else just to be safe. Call it a marginated or a hingeback tortoise or something. Less than 1% of the people you ever talk to will actually know that it is not a marginated tortoise.
 

Oceania

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What weeds should I watch out for? I am just afraid that she will eat something she shouldn't... but thank you everyone for your kinds words and help :) I appreciate it a lot!

Oh and I picked out a name for her. Her name is Roxy :)
 
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