Im sorry for the tort and the girl you cant leave them out or unattended if your spending time with them cool but never alone if mine are out they are always in my site so they cant get hurt
I also have a comment for those like me who see the tortoise as more of a pet than wild animal, I know there's people who feel both ends of that.
Speaking from someone with a Russian tortoise, and likes to spend time with him, I still take him out of his "home," and others still can too, I have one of the plastic totes, like under the bed height and still quite large, it used to have mulch (until I witnessed the cat, right in front of me pee in it... and it was covered when Franklin wasnt in it) So now I have a microfiber type bath mat (not one of those with the fuzzies) and cover up a side by sliding an old shirt onto one end as a make shift hide. I call it his "mobile home" is what he goes to the vet in too-trauma free. He doesn't use it often, but when I do it is for a movie night or something and i'll put him on me and he'll nap... or turn around and stare at the TV, I know he cant "watch" TV but he sure seemed to enjoy the colors and sounds of Ice Age! Then if I have to get up or he's antsy that night and I assume being on me is stress, he gets put into the enclosure that s usually sitting next to me, then he'll just sit watch or plunk into a corner or hide if its a scary movie: I swear this dude is a movie fanatic even if he isn't really watching the reactions to similar movies are similar! I mean I know of no one who does this, but we do, not often of course, in fact the only time I've done it this semester of school was Halloween night. But I mean there are safe ways to be with your tort than to let him wander the floor.
Instead of telling people not to (since many may not listen) this seems like a good suggestion, bring the tortoise safe out to you in a small controlled area.
I've never had a hatchling, while I think the idea of watching them grow and all is adorable I know too much can go wrong and how delicate they are. I don't know if i'd do what I do with Nank with a hatchling, since I know the temp of the room is warm enough but humidity isn't there.Many months when I first was given Bob I "played" with him. Inside the house, on my bed and out on the lawn. I spent 70% or so of my time with him. He was about 5 pounds then. I personally think that was the start of his social personality. I'd put him on the dummy seat in my Camaro and take him places with me. I did everything wrong, I broke all the rules. But he was 5 years old, NOT a hatchling. Plus he's a Sulcata, mostly a very forgiving species. BUT hatchlings are hard to raise. Especially if some 'breeder' (she says sarcastically) has started them dry. I would never recommend a newbie to get a hatchling.
On the other hand, there's my sister who has been involved in tortoise rescue for 35 yr or so. She breeds Leopards, and Manouria emysemys; Burmese mountain and black tortoises. Maybe just the Mountain ones. She has Aldabrans, and colonies of this and colonies of that. She has Dudley a 120 pound Sulcata, I think he's in his 20's maybe 25 or older.
The point of this is she believes chelonia are wild animals, not pets and she treats hers as such. Most of mine are pets, and we bond and they always look forward to seeing the "Food Goddess"...and guess what??? Neither of us is wrong....
signed,
The clumsy sister
I was tooI was upset when I had read about that baby tortoise to.
I don't admit it often, but my Nank was an "impulse" pet, one day I said "I want a tortoise" less than a month later I had brought home the tank and a week later my little guy joined my family. But I realize he wasn't complete impulse buy, I did do my research, I knew tortoises got large, my Petco (I know, I know) had redfoots and Russians, it wasn't actually the size of redfoots that was the reason I ended up with a Russian, it was that they needed protein... no thank you (that opinion has changed with me wanting a bearded dragon) I got him because I had been told a 20L tank was enough for a Russian... which is still a problem since I had no room for much bigger, and still don't, so in the winter Nank lives a very boring life, and I made the Repti-Sand mistake (for less than a month before I found this forum and quickly changed that out!) But I came into it knowing he needed heat and lights, and that was right from the beginning. As a quick buy I did know he was going to be with me for life and i'd plan around him for housing and people I live with. But he was always in a proper house, though I was guilty of letting him run on the floor (while being watched of course) and the entire yard (also supervised/followed) he now goes into our old sandbox when he's outside (its grown weeds its been unused so long) this coming summer that box is getting dirt and a top so he can stay out all day. Sometimes people who buy on impulse turn things around, heck Nank is happy as ever even though he's not in the greatest current house (think of where he could be though!) I never think anything about people who buy on "impulse" here since they're here, they will learn literally this place is most certainly the reason I still have a living breathing tort!It seems that a lot of us have gotten into tortoise keeping without realistic expectations of what we were getting into and not first making sure that we could provide everything needed for the very first day up to many decades later, when the animals is still alive and dependent on us. Tortoise purchasing should not be done on impulse. It should be researched to decide what would best suit your housing and environmental situation, etc.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/mary-anne-must-be-dehydrated.36385/
Maggie, I believe you referred earlier to Mary Anne/Torty Mom, aka; piddle pants....lol....I do miss her.
Oh my gosh yes, Lordy she was funny. I miss all the laughing from that group. Wonder what happened to make her leave TFO?
If I recall correctly...that was about the time things began to become a little snarky here on the Forum.....also, she did teaching and a bunch of other stuff that took up time....????
Is it ok to let them wander around even if they are fully supervised? I cordon off an area in my flat (my flat is really warm above 22 degrees most of the time) and always keep an eye on her. She loves exploring and looking at things. She likes climbing over the door stop and back again (quite entertaining to watch), I put her climbing toys and I think she really enjoys it. I never let her out of my sight even for a moment and its never for more than 30 mins a day.
Is this ok? If I need to leave to room, I put her back in her enclosure. I find when she is inside her enclosure she just lies there or goes to sleep. Ive checked the temperature, enclosure set up (including size its quite big) but she just seems to love wandering around my living room.