Inexperienced and in need of help!!
Hi there, I'm a 17-year-old living at home with my mum and we have just come into possession of a tortoise. I did not advise getting a tortoise, as we have never had one, but my mother believed it would be fine and said we could rescue her anyway. She will not let us give it up, despite me saying we are most likely unfit to care for her correctly. Her previous owners are clients of my mum's, she does kids' entertainment and we asked about their tortoise when we were packing up our stuff from their home. They explained that it was their son's, who had just turned 10 that day, and that he was the only person responsible for its care. But they were planning to release it into a local park because he no longer seemed interested. We were able to ask a little more about her, they have been feeding her bags of grocery store baby-leaf salad, baby corn, carrots, and sometimes kale or fruits, apples being the main one I think. She has also never been hibernated, they had her for about 3 years. They gave her to us along with the stuff they had for her, which consisted of a small enclosure, a little bit of terrain, a bag of pure pasture meadow hay, a thing of reptile calcium powder, a heat lamp, a heat mat, and 2 dishes that barely fit into her space. I have removed both dishes as they have tall sides and after a quick google, it appears they are a flip hazard? they aren't too deep but I really don't want her falling over.
My mother took it upon herself to offer to take the tortoise, so now it is in my bedroom. They had been calling him Ralfie, but after a vet trip on Friday, we found out that he is actually a she. We then renamed her Myrtle thanks to my niece's suggestion. I did not attend the appointment as I was in school but according to my mum, the vet has said she is underweight, and her nails are overgrown as is her beak. Her beak is also wonky? not sure how but it is longer on one side than it is on the other. The vet also said she looks as though she's been squished, she said it might be a birth defect or that when she was little someone used to press down on her shell frequently. My mother could not remember if the vet said what type of tortoise she was, which wasn't helpful at all, but that she is around 13 years old.
The thing she lives in seems really small in comparison to her though, it has an open top and it was filthy. I believe what she was living in was mostly filled with sand as terrain, it was very very dry and it was not clean at all. When she first got home I just cleaned out any waste that was in the enclosure, it was pretty late so then I just let her chill and I went to bed. This morning she has been quite active, she walks around the little space and likes to peek out of the glass front. I was reading posts anonymously on here yesterday trying to find what to feed her on such short notice and so I gave her some carrot tops, Lettuce, and some zucchini we had in the fridge, all are store-bought and I washed them all before giving them to her. I also sprinkled on some of the calcium stuff her last owners gave me. She didn't seem to want to touch it and I then read a post that mentioned soaking stimulating appetite. Which seemed to work because after I let her roam about supervised in my bathtub she ate it all. I then went to pets at home, which I know probably isn't great as it is a big-name store and likely has questionable animal care advice, but I asked anyway and came home with a replacement substrate that I have pictured below. I put the whole 10L bag in.
As far as getting a new enclosure for her we are a low-income household and with the current cost of living crisis I doubt we could afford one any time soon, but we do have a woodworker in the family! I was thinking if someone gave us measurements of what an ideal size home would be for her we could make her a better living space and then I can save to buy her some hides. She currently only has one built-in shelter, so I feel like she really needs some new places to hide out. I'm currently on the lookout for a more suitable dish I can use as a water source for her, unfortunately, until I can get one she will have to have regular soaks instead.
The point is I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what her enclosure is meant to be like, what she's meant to eat, or what type of tortoise she even is! I could really really use some help, I don't want her to be neglected because I am unaware of what I'm doing and my mother has put her foot down that she won't let us rehome her. Here are some pictures!! If anyone can tell me what species she is or kind of mentor me on what I'm doing that would be really helpful! I'm also open to like, brand suggestions of what I should be getting for her, plants, hides, terrain, anything helps really!
Hi there, I'm a 17-year-old living at home with my mum and we have just come into possession of a tortoise. I did not advise getting a tortoise, as we have never had one, but my mother believed it would be fine and said we could rescue her anyway. She will not let us give it up, despite me saying we are most likely unfit to care for her correctly. Her previous owners are clients of my mum's, she does kids' entertainment and we asked about their tortoise when we were packing up our stuff from their home. They explained that it was their son's, who had just turned 10 that day, and that he was the only person responsible for its care. But they were planning to release it into a local park because he no longer seemed interested. We were able to ask a little more about her, they have been feeding her bags of grocery store baby-leaf salad, baby corn, carrots, and sometimes kale or fruits, apples being the main one I think. She has also never been hibernated, they had her for about 3 years. They gave her to us along with the stuff they had for her, which consisted of a small enclosure, a little bit of terrain, a bag of pure pasture meadow hay, a thing of reptile calcium powder, a heat lamp, a heat mat, and 2 dishes that barely fit into her space. I have removed both dishes as they have tall sides and after a quick google, it appears they are a flip hazard? they aren't too deep but I really don't want her falling over.
My mother took it upon herself to offer to take the tortoise, so now it is in my bedroom. They had been calling him Ralfie, but after a vet trip on Friday, we found out that he is actually a she. We then renamed her Myrtle thanks to my niece's suggestion. I did not attend the appointment as I was in school but according to my mum, the vet has said she is underweight, and her nails are overgrown as is her beak. Her beak is also wonky? not sure how but it is longer on one side than it is on the other. The vet also said she looks as though she's been squished, she said it might be a birth defect or that when she was little someone used to press down on her shell frequently. My mother could not remember if the vet said what type of tortoise she was, which wasn't helpful at all, but that she is around 13 years old.
The thing she lives in seems really small in comparison to her though, it has an open top and it was filthy. I believe what she was living in was mostly filled with sand as terrain, it was very very dry and it was not clean at all. When she first got home I just cleaned out any waste that was in the enclosure, it was pretty late so then I just let her chill and I went to bed. This morning she has been quite active, she walks around the little space and likes to peek out of the glass front. I was reading posts anonymously on here yesterday trying to find what to feed her on such short notice and so I gave her some carrot tops, Lettuce, and some zucchini we had in the fridge, all are store-bought and I washed them all before giving them to her. I also sprinkled on some of the calcium stuff her last owners gave me. She didn't seem to want to touch it and I then read a post that mentioned soaking stimulating appetite. Which seemed to work because after I let her roam about supervised in my bathtub she ate it all. I then went to pets at home, which I know probably isn't great as it is a big-name store and likely has questionable animal care advice, but I asked anyway and came home with a replacement substrate that I have pictured below. I put the whole 10L bag in.
As far as getting a new enclosure for her we are a low-income household and with the current cost of living crisis I doubt we could afford one any time soon, but we do have a woodworker in the family! I was thinking if someone gave us measurements of what an ideal size home would be for her we could make her a better living space and then I can save to buy her some hides. She currently only has one built-in shelter, so I feel like she really needs some new places to hide out. I'm currently on the lookout for a more suitable dish I can use as a water source for her, unfortunately, until I can get one she will have to have regular soaks instead.
The point is I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what her enclosure is meant to be like, what she's meant to eat, or what type of tortoise she even is! I could really really use some help, I don't want her to be neglected because I am unaware of what I'm doing and my mother has put her foot down that she won't let us rehome her. Here are some pictures!! If anyone can tell me what species she is or kind of mentor me on what I'm doing that would be really helpful! I'm also open to like, brand suggestions of what I should be getting for her, plants, hides, terrain, anything helps really!