Hi all!
I have no experience whatsoever owning or working with tortoises before, and I just happened to take one in recently. I live in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and found this little guy crossing the highway on a red light, and ran to grab him and take him home. There's no way for a tortoise his size to be on the road so I am sure careless, irresponsible owners discarded him from their car. He could have been run over.
He was severely dehydrated, dry and flaky and I soaked him in little water and fed him cucumbers to restore his health. It's been almost 3 weeks now and I've built him a small enclosure with coir, dry grass, a small pool of water, a place to hide and sleep, food, and a 40 V golden light bulb from a table lamp for heat. All apartments here have central A.C so I cannot control the humidity or temperature that often.
His diet as far of now consists of: white melon and pumpkin slices, lettuce leaves (he absolutely loves this and refuses to eat if not fed pumpkin or lettuce at least once per day) dry grass sometimes, cucumbers, carrots
I know there are concerns about excess calcium and protein, but I do not have sufficient knowledge about their diets and enclosures.
I really would like to know what kind of tortoise Supreme is (named him Supreme Evil, or "Supreme" for short because at first he'd always bite!), although I suspect Sulcata. How do I know how old and what gender it is, as well? He is about 13 cm (5 inches)
I've also noticed that Supreme's back legs don't function too well. He (I call him he) cannot stand on all fours and usually drags his hind legs around instead of keeping them upright. Is this because of age or should I be concerned? Has anybody else faced this problem with their tortoises?
I'd really appreciate any help!
Andy
I have no experience whatsoever owning or working with tortoises before, and I just happened to take one in recently. I live in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and found this little guy crossing the highway on a red light, and ran to grab him and take him home. There's no way for a tortoise his size to be on the road so I am sure careless, irresponsible owners discarded him from their car. He could have been run over.
He was severely dehydrated, dry and flaky and I soaked him in little water and fed him cucumbers to restore his health. It's been almost 3 weeks now and I've built him a small enclosure with coir, dry grass, a small pool of water, a place to hide and sleep, food, and a 40 V golden light bulb from a table lamp for heat. All apartments here have central A.C so I cannot control the humidity or temperature that often.
His diet as far of now consists of: white melon and pumpkin slices, lettuce leaves (he absolutely loves this and refuses to eat if not fed pumpkin or lettuce at least once per day) dry grass sometimes, cucumbers, carrots
I know there are concerns about excess calcium and protein, but I do not have sufficient knowledge about their diets and enclosures.
I really would like to know what kind of tortoise Supreme is (named him Supreme Evil, or "Supreme" for short because at first he'd always bite!), although I suspect Sulcata. How do I know how old and what gender it is, as well? He is about 13 cm (5 inches)
I've also noticed that Supreme's back legs don't function too well. He (I call him he) cannot stand on all fours and usually drags his hind legs around instead of keeping them upright. Is this because of age or should I be concerned? Has anybody else faced this problem with their tortoises?
I'd really appreciate any help!
Andy
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