Helloooo!

JonN

New Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
15
Location (City and/or State)
South Mississippi
Helloooo! My name is Jon, and I live in South Mississippi. I enjoy baking and woodworking. My love of turtles and tortoises started when I was a kid. Growing up there was a Eastern Box Turtle that would always show up and eat the dog's food right out of his bowl. We called him Speedy. I would go out on the front porch and sit next to him and tear up bite size pieces of bread for him to eat. It's what my parents did for him, as he was coming around long before I was born. Now I know that was so bad. Sometimes after he had his fill he would hang out and sometimes he would walk off into the yard on his way to wherever. It was like that until hurricane Katrina. I have been stalking y'all for months. I have learned a lot here, so thank you. I believe I stumbled across this forum a few years ago, but decided it wasn't the right time to get a tortoise. Now I'm back on the tortoise train. I have been trying to decide which species to get that will thrive and live comfortably in my area with the humidity here. I'm torn between Redfoot, Ibera Greek, Hermann's, or a Russian. What are your opinions on these species and why?

Thanks
Jon
 

LaLaP

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Messages
959
Location (City and/or State)
Portland, OR
Welcome Jon! What a sweet story about Speedy! I've only ever had Russians and they have great personalities and I love em and adults don't have as much need for high humidity so in that way they are easy. Maybe you've already seen the caresheets listed in each species' section but if not check them out. Happy researching!
 

daniellenc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
2,084
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
Hi and welcome!! I always tell people when they're trying to decide what species to keep think about what you really want to get out the experience. Do you want a small, medium, or large tort? Do you want a tort that hibernates? Is getting to feed a lot of different foods important? Do you want a burrowing species or one that doesn't dig and stays out?

When I started researching I realized I wanted a species that was up year round. Even though you can trick them somewhat by increasing the hours you leave the lights on, and bumping up their temps this does not work 100% with every tort. Some are just that hard wired to hibernate so I narrowed my search to species that don't hibernate. Then I considered size. I have adequate outdoor space but not ideal climate year round meaning my tort would need an indoor enclosure large enough for an adult to live comfortably in the winter.....this canceled keeping large species as I don't have a spare room (until the kids move out) to provide enough room indoors. I didn't want to deal with a digger or burrower it's just messy with an indoor enclosure and I knew I'd have 15 heart attacks a day thinking it escaped. I envisioned tearing apart my cage multiple times a day just to find the little guy and decided I'm too uptight for all that nonsense. Then I started to look at diet. Grass eaters are great because most of us have grass year round....but if it's treated can't be used which meant growing my own. Also, most grass eaters require hay and while you can purchase it relatively cheap in bulk it has to be stored properly or it grows mold and bacteria. I wasn't totally turned off by either of these considerations but then learned the predominantly grass/hay eating species can't tolerate fruits and protein well. At first I wasn't put off by that either except in winters I'd have to grow indoors which meant financing and making space for indoor growing or relying on grocery store greens entirely. I feared my black thumb would leave me relying on the store and worried about variety. Now here was my deciding factor - personality!! My neighbor had a 5 year old red foot male who seriously is the friendliest guy ever.....like lap dog friendly. I learned red foots don't hibernate and thrive with leafy greens, fruit, and moderate protein which means adding variety with these guys is effortless. They are naturally pretty bold natured, not picky eaters, don't climb, burrow, or dig unless laying eggs. Biggest bonus is they stay small enough to be housed indoors in a 10x4 enclosure comfortably but are larger than some of the smaller species you mentioned.

Good luck on your search and post pictures when you finally bring a shelled friend home.
 

JonN

New Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
15
Location (City and/or State)
South Mississippi
Thank you for the warm welcomes. I really like the redfoot, for various reasons. Personality, easy to care for, size (not small, not big). I feel it would be a good fit, and easier to care for compared to the others. I have read and reread the care sheet many times that Redfoot Nerd posted. It makes so much sense to me and easy to follow for smooth growth and a well balanced healthy tort. I guess I just like the looks and wonder if or how a Greek or Russian would handle the humidity and heat in the summers here. But I will probably go with a redfoot. What are the sizes and weights of your redfoots, Greeks, and Russians?
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
Jon
What heat do you have ? I understand it’s cool where you are . All my torts are outside in the summer, and very happy Evan when it’s over 112 degrees . Oh I’m in Phx. Az . Better none as tortoise heaven! [emoji217]have a great day !
IMG_2188.jpg
 

JonN

New Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
15
Location (City and/or State)
South Mississippi
Jon
What heat do you have ? I understand it’s cool where you are . All my torts are outside in the summer, and very happy Evan when it’s over 112 degrees . Oh I’m in Phx. Az . Better none as tortoise heaven! [emoji217]have a great day !
View attachment 259822
Here on the Gulf Coast it gets humid torture hot here in the summer in the 80s and 90s, but will touch low 100s.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,389
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Welcome to the Forum, Jon! As long as you provide lots of plants (for shade and relief from the sun) your RF tortoise will thrive in Mississippi.
 

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