Just bought a 4 year old Aldabra Tortoise and I have ?

[Yvonne G]

I have two with bumpy shells too, but in my case it's because they were raised on the dry side as babies. I've since learned that baby tortoises need quite a bit of humidity. And the moisture in their environment makes the shells grow smooth.

In your case, since he's also a bit big for his age, it might be a combination of too much food and not enough moisture. As long as metabolic bone disease isn't accompanied by the bumpy shell, it's purely cosmetic. I doubt your new baby suffers from MBD. Just be sure to offer calcium-rich foods or a calcium supplement several times a week. I think the opuntia cactus is calcium-rich.

 

[franz_see]

Congrats on Kona! Aldabraman is the best resource, but (no offense) many folks are great resources and info on Aldabra care is readily available. I think if you have sulcatta experience, much of that transfers in terms of diet - hay and more hay, with grazing available, supplemented with fresh stuff.

Personally I've never known really how much Mazuri to feed. I think it's a pretty good product, especially the new stuff, and especially in my climate (Minnesota).l, so I supplement with it.

Mine just turned 4 last month, got him/her at 1 year and 1 pound. Would you share the size and weight of yours?

Looking forward to seeing pics as well! Best of luck!

Feeding instruction by Mazuri for their tortoises diet is up to 4% of a tortoise's body weight daily.

That is, a 1kg tortoise, can be fed up to 40g of Mazuri tortoise diet. For the old formula (5M21), that's about 40 pellets (one 5M21 pellet is roughly 1g). 40 pellets is roughly half a cup (250ml).

For 5E5L (aka, new formula), it's roughly 5 pellets = 1g. So for a 1kg tortoise, that's roughly 200 pellets, or still, half a cup

 

[Soefianto]

Hello,

Diana's husband here. Thank you all for your comments and feedback. We're trying to do the best for Kona and thank you all for your comments. Thought I'd ask another questions since we're newbies with the Aldabra. Kona isn't home yet, we're getting ready to welcome him/her so we're doing our best to make sure he/she is safe and happy. One thing of concern are the rocks in the backyard. We're not sure if this is a danger for a 4yr old Aldabra like Kona. I've tried to include the photo of the rocks we're concerned with. We were told Kona could eat them. I wasn't sure if that's true or not but thought I'd ask fellow owners and enthusiasts. Are these rocks dangerous? Could Kona indeed swallow them? Thank you in advance for your input.

I have exactly the same backyard as yours, with pebbles. So far still okay. I don't know whether to avoid this kind of pebbles but that's what i have.
I own only two aldabras, about 24" in length, both of them. I don't know if this information help you or not..