How to manage my tortois care with a full time job

[Geng]

Hi guys,

I’ll be starting my internship next week, which is basically a full time job from 8 am – 5 pm 4x a week. I have to get up early and I barely have time to soak her or make her food ready. Even if I put down her food it has already been dried up before she wakes up. At the time I get home she is sleeping. My parents and brother are also in a hurry in the morning so I can’t count on them.

I suppose that most of the members have a full time job. So any tips and ideas about how you manage your tortoise care is really appriciated.

Thanks!

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Before i leave i put food in my tortoises enclosure & spray water on top. I also keep it on the cool side of the enclosure so it does dry up fast. And if youre off at 5, I'd say thats early enough to soak him for 15-20 mins. On days i work 12 hr shifts, I come home at 6:30pm and the first thing i do is get my tortoises soaking tub ready and put one into soak. Then i change my clothes and lay some food on the counter to prep for cooking. Then i'll go back to my tortoise, check on him/her and wipe them dry. Then ill change out the water and soak the next one. Wash my hands and get to doing what i need to for another 15-20 mins.
It takes a little more time out of what you're doing (cooking, resting, delayed shower...) but its for the babies.

 

[IIzDaFury]

I look after two russian tortoises, with a full time job and strict gym routine of 3 days aweek, amature bodybuilding.

I make sure they have clean fresh water when ever i'm home, i turn their lights on before i go to work at 8am and turn them off around 8pm varies depending on how long ago i fed them. i get home on a gym day around 6:20pm on a none gym day around 4pm. I only feed my tortoises 3 times a week because i feel it's all thats needed for now and it helps me with my full time job, i do feed them fairly large amounts since it's not daily. I also bathe them twice a week. They seem to be happy and active throughout my keeping and are not losing any weight so my practice is obivously working!

I also wake them up leave them for half a hour if they're asleep before feeding them. Since i'm in a strict time squedual this is the only way i can do it. I don't think they mind it too much afterall it's food!

I also look after two corn snakes! I still have plenty of time spare, in a way it's good to leave the torts on their own for so long during the day they don't get stressed with my presents yet they know who i am!

All i can say is, try make them fit around your work hours, a hour extra of sunlight wont effect them all that much.

 

[Pearly]

When our babies were tiny I'd just wake them up and bring to their food. Otherwise they would never eat. I still do that (wake them if they are in hiding). They get used to "being violated" by being taken out of their hide over time as you handle them daily. Just be gentle and don't make make sudden quick movements, as they startle. My babies don't mind being "asked to dinner" now, in fact they wait in their hides with their little heads sticking out in anticipation. If you care for little baby tort, and morning feeding is important, you could soak your dry food pellets overnight in your fridge and have the fresh stuff and greens washed ready for chopping. Then all you have to do in am before work is change the water, get the stuff out of the fridge, chop, mix and serve. You could also possibly chop the night before... but the greens are best when chopped fresh

 

[orasteele]

I work full time 8-4pm and get home around 5. I'm up an hour early to take care of all our animals (4 cats, 3 dogs, 2 ball pythons, and my baby sulcata). Like Pearly, I usually change his night heat off and switch on his daytime lamp while I feed the dogs/cats & soak his pellet food during this time. By the time the dogs are done and put away he's usually peeking out of his hide at me or waiting just outside of it, as when I started I was wakking him up to eat before I left for work. When I get home it's outside time if the sun is out. Then a good long soak. I usually chop his greens while he is soaking for the next morning as well as prepare him a light dinner (sometimes he doesn't touch it because he's already grazed his fill during outside time). I keep the greens in a small tupperware container in the fridge so they retain their crispness. As he hates the calcium supplement I have to be sneaky and top either his pellet food or shredded carrot bits. On the weekends he gets a lot more outside time than during the work week. When he's a little bit bigger I'll have him in the outside run so long as the weather allows for it.

 

[Randi]

I just woke up earlier on days that I felt would be pressed for time. You need to figure out how much time it takes for your tort and then how much time you need to get ready. You will have to learn to manage both. You may have to wake up earlier. I found that starting my day with the tortoise and turtle stuff (feeding, soaking, etc) and then starting to focus on getting ready for work in between saved a lot of time.

You will notice I refer to my tortoise as her - too young to sex and I feel weird using the term "it".

Anyways, I start every morning by getting the tortoise in the soaking tub. I then prepare any additions to her meal immediately, such as pellets that require soaking, etc. I then focus on getting myself ready until her soak is done. Her soak is 45 minutes in length normally. Some days, if really pressed for time, I do a 30 minute soak. By the time she's finished soaking, any additions to her meal are ready to be mixed up with the greens and weeds. I mix up her food, put it on her tile and put her in the enclosure. I then finish up getting ready and leave for work. Once home from work, I start all over again. I always deal with the animals first. Then the rest of the day/evening is mine. I normally won't do anything for myself (cleaning, eating, etc) until the animals are dealt with. I just feel it's unfair to make them wait - they can't do these things on their own so they come first then myself. One thing that helped shorten the time spent each morning was cutting up all fruit, greens and weeds up, and storing in a big container in the fridge until needed. Figure out the time required, and make a plan. Once a plan is made, it will become a routine. Of course there are days where this needs to be adjusted. Hope you are able to find some solutions and make it less stressful. Best of luck to you and yours.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

I do all my tortoise chores after work. An evening bath and meal work just fine for my guy. In the morning, I really just pop my head in and toss in a little snack if all the leftovers from the previous night were eaten.

 

[deadheadvet]

Get up earlier a previously suggested. The majority of us do have full time jobs. I can't remember the last time I had less than a 50 hour work week. Oh yeah, now I remember, that was 27 years ago. If this is your hobby, then make it work. I get up at 6am every day and get my tortoises soaked, cleaned, fed before leaving for work. I also have 16 tortoises, sounds like you have 1. Prioritize how you manage the tortoise. While mine are soaking, I get the food ready. I put together about 3-4 days worth of food in advance. Than after they are done soaking, they get put back and already have the food distributed. Then clean all water bowls, soaking tubs, etc. It is easily 40 minutes every day. Than out the door by 7:30.

 

[Yvonne G]

Before I retired, I just got up earlier. I had to be at work at 6a, so I got up about 4:30a. Yes, it was dark, and I got pretty handy at holding the flashlight, the manure rake and scoop and whatever else.

I live in the country, but the food stayed on the feeding station without wild critters helping themselves. I would open the shed doors and the tortoises have a wonderful sense of smell. They would come out sometimes even before it was light out and gobble up their food.

If you are dedicated, you will do whatever it takes to make your tortoise happy.