diablo882
New Member
Hey guys, as some of you may have read my thread in the enclosure section where i show my garden and Erza's little kingdom 
(i will also make a thread about how Erza ened up with me ^^) well let's just say Erza is not my only scaly friend.
back to Marcel !
So on the 27th of November i went to my local pet store (which by the way does not have a reptile section) just to buy some cat litter and some bloodworms for my fishes when Angelique ( a friend that happens to work at the petstore) run to me saying "do you want a tortoise !!, do you want a tortoise!!".
I was so caught of guard that i just said hello and stood there not knowing what to say but after a few second i realised what she said and asked "tortoise what ? where ? who ?", she then explained to me that an edderly woman and her husband where in their garage about to go shopping when they saw a little "rock" in front of one of the wheels, the husband picked it up to throw it away and realised it was a live baby tortoise; since they didn't know what to do with it and were anxious to set it free they gave it to the my friend at the petstore.
lucky for her a few minutes after the couple gave her the tortoise she saw me in the cat litter section ! fate !
anyway she then gave my a shoebox with the tiny little hatchling inside and i then rushed home, made a little terrarium with an old empty fish tank, plants, eco earth and that was it (thank god i have loads of stuff that i keep just in case in my garage) !
After that i had a close look at the baby and i was so suprised to see the little white diamond shape "thing" on his/her beak just like chicks have to help them break their shell when hatching; so i figured he/she would be just days old. other than that a healthy full of energy little baby !
Wild and pet tortoise in france hatch between late july and late september, when they hatch and the weather is already cooler they just bury themselves right away and we don't see them until spring, but this one for some reason hatched in late november and had no intention of hibernating ! the little one had no chance to survive the winter outside.
So The next day after work i went to a store that sells wood and construction materials, with the idea of making my very first terrarium ever !
Looked Really easy to do on youtube but was a nightmare for me but i eventually ended up with a somewhat okay looking box i guess, after setting it up with eco earth, coco fiber and various plants i added a heat lamp, and some repti glo bulbs that i kept in case my adult tortoise get sick and needed to be inside for a while. the box is about 30 inches long and 16 inches large/wide ?
Sorry if i have a hard time to explain im french and english is my second language ^^
anyway it's been a month now and the little one is a very hungry happy exited baby tortoise ! Just so you guys know i have kept baby tortoise before and we don't believe in terrarium here since they are native to our area and are equiped to live outside, so when spring comes i will but him/her in a diy enclosure outside and hopefully next winter Marcel will decide to go into hibernation.
Marcel eats a mix of wild weeds/grasses that i pick up in my garden, chicory, dandelion, plantain, radish leaves, occasional baby tomatoes etc....
now a month later here's some pictures of marcel
(i will also make a thread about how Erza ened up with me ^^) well let's just say Erza is not my only scaly friend.back to Marcel !
So on the 27th of November i went to my local pet store (which by the way does not have a reptile section) just to buy some cat litter and some bloodworms for my fishes when Angelique ( a friend that happens to work at the petstore) run to me saying "do you want a tortoise !!, do you want a tortoise!!".
I was so caught of guard that i just said hello and stood there not knowing what to say but after a few second i realised what she said and asked "tortoise what ? where ? who ?", she then explained to me that an edderly woman and her husband where in their garage about to go shopping when they saw a little "rock" in front of one of the wheels, the husband picked it up to throw it away and realised it was a live baby tortoise; since they didn't know what to do with it and were anxious to set it free they gave it to the my friend at the petstore.
lucky for her a few minutes after the couple gave her the tortoise she saw me in the cat litter section ! fate !
anyway she then gave my a shoebox with the tiny little hatchling inside and i then rushed home, made a little terrarium with an old empty fish tank, plants, eco earth and that was it (thank god i have loads of stuff that i keep just in case in my garage) !
After that i had a close look at the baby and i was so suprised to see the little white diamond shape "thing" on his/her beak just like chicks have to help them break their shell when hatching; so i figured he/she would be just days old. other than that a healthy full of energy little baby !
Wild and pet tortoise in france hatch between late july and late september, when they hatch and the weather is already cooler they just bury themselves right away and we don't see them until spring, but this one for some reason hatched in late november and had no intention of hibernating ! the little one had no chance to survive the winter outside
.So The next day after work i went to a store that sells wood and construction materials, with the idea of making my very first terrarium ever !
Looked Really easy to do on youtube but was a nightmare for me but i eventually ended up with a somewhat okay looking box i guess, after setting it up with eco earth, coco fiber and various plants i added a heat lamp, and some repti glo bulbs that i kept in case my adult tortoise get sick and needed to be inside for a while. the box is about 30 inches long and 16 inches large/wide ?
Sorry if i have a hard time to explain im french and english is my second language ^^
anyway it's been a month now and the little one is a very hungry happy exited baby tortoise ! Just so you guys know i have kept baby tortoise before and we don't believe in terrarium here since they are native to our area and are equiped to live outside, so when spring comes i will but him/her in a diy enclosure outside and hopefully next winter Marcel will decide to go into hibernation.
Marcel eats a mix of wild weeds/grasses that i pick up in my garden, chicory, dandelion, plantain, radish leaves, occasional baby tomatoes etc....
now a month later here's some pictures of marcel
