New Member from Upstate NY( Tortoise Recommendations)

[HooteeHooo]

Hi All,

I live in Upstate NY and recently I have recently rekindled my love for Tortoises, I've been trying to figure out what species would work for me. I want to get a Red foot after holding one in a petstore and utterly falling for the little critter. I have space outdoors to make a habitat, indoors is little harder due to living in an duplex apartment. So i was thinking i would need to go with a smaller species of tortoise due to the space indoors, and the weather in Upstate NY being colder for more than half the year seems like it would not be a good fit for a Red foot. I had thought of Western Hermans or a russian, but i really like how eye catching Red foots are, are their any small species that have colors like Red foots? What kind of Tortoise would you recommend? I appirecate any help that you can provide

Ryan

 

[wellington]

The Hermann's or Russian would be best for not having much room. Even they need a 4x8 foot enclosure at a minimum.

 

[SinLA]

@jsheffield is sort of in your neck of the woods...

 

[zovick]

Hi All,

I live in Upstate NY and recently I have recently rekindled my love for Tortoises, I've been trying to figure out what species would work for me. I want to get a Red foot after holding one in a petstore and utterly falling for the little critter. I have space outdoors to make a habitat, indoors is little harder due to living in an duplex apartment. So i was thinking i would need to go with a smaller species of tortoise due to the space indoors, and the weather in Upstate NY being colder for more than half the year seems like it would not be a good fit for a Red foot. I had thought of Western Hermans or a russian, but i really like how eye catching Red foots are, are their any small species that have colors like Red foots? What kind of Tortoise would you recommend? I appirecate any help that you can provide

Ryan

Gary Bright is in Davenport, NY (near Oneonta). He keeps and breeds several species successfully there. Maybe you could communicate with him and get some good ideas plus buy a baby tortoise and see its parents. Tell him I sent you and he'll charge you extra (LOL)!!

Contact Gary at: [email protected]

 

[HooteeHooo]

Gary Bright is in Davenport, NY (near Oneonta). He keeps and breeds several species successfully there. Maybe you could communicate with him and get some good ideas plus buy a baby tortoise and see its parents. Tell him I sent you and he'll charge you extra (LOL)!!

Contact Gary at: [email protected]

Thank you, ill reach out to Gary. Hopefully he wont hit me with a Zovick fee haha

 

[HooteeHooo]

The Hermann's or Russian would be best for not having much room. Even they need a 4x8 foot enclosure at a minimum.

Would a 4x2 work until they are an adult? Or is it best to start them at a 4x8 off the bat?

 

[HooteeHooo]

@jsheffield is sort of in your neck of the woods...

Ill shoot him a message thanks

 

[wellington]

Would a 4x2 work until they are an adult? Or is it best to start them at a 4x8 off the bat?

That is fine for a hatchling.

 

[HooteeHooo]

That is fine for a hatchling.

Okay thank you

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Would a 4x2 work until they are an adult? Or is it best to start them at a 4x8 off the bat?

4x2 would be plenty for a baby. Even a 38x18 would be fine for a while. In my experience I find a single baby does better not being put into a huge enclosure right away.

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

*36

 

[zovick]

4x2 would be plenty for a baby. Even a 38x18 would be fine for a while. In my experience I find a single baby does better not being put into a huge enclosure right away.

Yes, plus it is a lot easier to find them in smaller enclosures than in a 4' x 8' one. Using the smaller size for a year or so will save you a lot of wasted time searching for the baby.

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Yes, plus it is a lot easier to find them in smaller enclosures than in a 4' x 8' one. Using the smaller size for a year or so will save you a lot of wasted time searching for the baby.

Yes! Especially one that likes to be buried

 

[wellington]

Don't get too small, that's when it's harder to get the temp variants.i always used a 2x4 for my leopard hatchlings. They had no problem with it and it was easy to get the temps where they needed to be. I only needed two temps for my leopards, you need a variant of 75-80 and then the basking and night temp.

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Don't get too small, that's when it's harder to get the temp variants.i always used a 2x4 for my leopard hatchlings. They had no problem with it and it was easy to get the temps where they needed to be. I only needed two temps for my leopards, you need a variant of 75-80 and then the basking and night temp.

Yes 36x18 exoterras work great for hatchlings. Never had a problem with gradients. Just cover the screen tops to keep in humidity

 

[Tom]

I had thought of Western Hermans or a russian,

Either the Russian or the hermanni would be an excellent choice.

Also have a look at the star tortoises. They don't brumate, so you can enjoy them year round, and they are gorgeous. You could keep a small group of Indian stars in a 4x8 for half the year. Burmese stars tend to be a little larger, much more outgoing, but also beautiful. Males sometimes stay 6-7 inches, and larger females top out around 11 inches, so these would be manageable indoors over winter too.

Have a look at these threads to give you some ideas:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Care sheet for stars:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Care sheet for Russians and Hermanni:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Introduction to the Burmese Star tortoise:

Introduction To The Burmese Star Tortoise

I've been wanting to do this thread for a long time... This species has become one of my all time favorites, and for good reasons! The purpose of all of my ramblings that follow are primarily intended to showcase how great this species is and why its a better species for most people than most...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[HooteeHooo]

Yes 36x18 exoterras work great for hatchlings. Never had a problem with gradients. Just cover the screen tops to keep in humidity

How long do you think I would be able to use that enclosure for? I was thinking of get a zen habitat because i saw that they have extension kits for length and depth, have you ever used them before?

 

[Tom]

How long do you think I would be able to use that enclosure for? I was thinking of get a zen habitat because i saw that they have extension kits for length and depth, have you ever used them before?

I've looked at the Zen habitats. They are workable, but not cheap. If I recall correctly, my main problem with them was that they could only be 24 inches wide, but as long or tall as you wanted in multiples of 24". They had a booth at a reptile show here and I got to see them first hand.

 

[HooteeHooo]

Either the Russian or the hermanni would be an excellent choice.

Also have a look at the star tortoises. They don't brumate, so you can enjoy them year round, and they are gorgeous. You could keep a small group of Indian stars in a 4x8 for half the year. Burmese stars tend to be a little larger, much more outgoing, but also beautiful. Males sometimes stay 6-7 inches, and larger females top out around 11 inches, so these would be manageable indoors over winter too.

Have a look at these threads to give you some ideas:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Care sheet for stars:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Care sheet for Russians and Hermanni:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Introduction to the Burmese Star tortoise:

Introduction To The Burmese Star Tortoise

I've been wanting to do this thread for a long time... This species has become one of my all time favorites, and for good reasons! The purpose of all of my ramblings that follow are primarily intended to showcase how great this species is and why its a better species for most people than most...

tortoiseforum.org

Holy cow, thank you the information. I wasn't even thinking about brumation so thank you for saying something another subject of research LOL. I have to agree that the star tortoises are really gorgeous. Do you recommend keeping tortoises in groups or just certain species?

 

[HooteeHooo]

I've looked at the Zen habitats. They are workable, but not cheap. If I recall correctly, my main problem with them was that they could only be 24 inches wide, but as long or tall as you wanted in multiples of 24". They had a booth at a reptile show here and I got to see them first hand.

Yea the price is a little high but it seems like all the enclosures that are closed chamber seem to be higher priced from what I have seen. What do you start your hatchlings in?