Our first tortoise Tommy

[OurTommy]

Hi all!
My girlfriend and I bought our first tortoise a few days ago and would just like some advice on it all really as naturally I am worrier!
He is 9 months old and a Horsefield. He is currently living in a vivarium, as sold to us by the pet shop (not perfect I know), until we can invest in a proper tortoise table and have the space for it. One end has a heater lamp which tends to heat the warm end to about 90F. The other end is cooler and he tends to sit under his little wooden arch or tree for most of the day. We have had him out for a walk about a few times and seems to enjoy it.
We are mainly feeding him on lettuce and grated carrot and tends to eat quite little of it.
He also had a water bowl in his vivarium which I don't notice him using much although when we placed him in he seemed to like it and dipped his mouth into drink some.
Like I said, I do worry in case there are problems that we don't pick up on. Although we haven't had tortoises before we did do as much research as we could before buying him.
I will post some pictures to show you what he looks like. Will do some more close up of his shell tomorrow so the more knowledgable of you can tell me what you think. (The first picture where you can see those small food pellets are when he first arrived and is the 'complete food' the pet shop gave us')

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. He does have quite a bit of pyramiding and looks dry too me. I would change his substrate out for a better, more appropriate one, like dirt, coconut coir or cypress mulch. Make sure the water dish is low sided and easy to get in and out of and bury it level with the substrate. A humidity of 30-40% would be good too.
He needs a much bigger variety of diet then lettuce, which is not good. Check out thetortoisetable.org.uk for broad leafy items for him to eat. Kale, mustard greens, etc would be better.

 

[OurTommy]

Hi thank you for your advice.
We had planned to change those wood chippings for some soil or sand of some sort and will look at doing that tomorrow for him.
What is pyramiding a sign of?
I am also planning to go out tomorrow to find some weeds for him but will make sure to pick up other leafy things too such as the kale you mentioned. Is carrot still okay?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Pyramiding is the bumpiness on his carapace (top shell). They are supposed to be perfectly smooth. He is bumpy because during the first year of his life (I think he's a little older than the 9 months they told you) he didn't get the correct UVB and calcium, the correct foods, a big enough habitat for lots of exercise and moisture in his environment. With the Mediterranean species of tortoise, it takes all these things to grow a smooth tortoise. Don't worry, this is not life threatening. It just adds a bit to his character!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ
Your RT looks happy and even more important you sound happy . I find they just need love
And don't get a 2nd one they don't do well together . And torts are like lays your going to want at least one more

 

[lkwagner]

Don't use sand it will cause impaction

 

[Laura]

how do they know the age? Id guess older...
greens, and dirt... they like to dig and eat broadleaf greens...

 

[OurTommy]

Thanks to everyone that has replied.
We're off to buy him a better substrate today.
One other thing, he doesn't seem to poo very much at all. Is that normal?

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how do they know the age? Id guess older...
greens, and dirt... they like to dig and eat broadleaf greens...

As for the age. It's just what they told us when we bought him. Can't be sure myself, just took their word for it

 

[OurTommy]

Just wanted to update you all.
Today we bought Tommy a new substrate which is a mix of soil and something else and instantly he seems to be enjoying it a lot more inside his vivarium. He seems a lot more active!
Only thing he is doing is eating little bits of it? Is that normal?
We have buried his water bowl so he can walk in and out much easier and have also bough him a rock to climb on.
I have attached a picture of his new setup. Any further advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Don't use sand it will cause impaction

This is not entirely true. I agree that sand should not be used for hatchlings because if they digest the sand it will make them very sick. However, juvenile and adult tortoises can be given a sand substrate because they will know not to eat it. And as long as you don"t place the tortoises salad directly onto the ground, they should not be eating anyways. Still, It is possible for tortoises to be raised on sand because that is what they live on in the wild.

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Just wanted to update you all.
Today we bought Tommy a new substrate which is a mix of soil and something else and instantly he seems to be enjoying it a lot more inside his vivarium. He seems a lot more active!
Only thing he is doing is eating little bits of it? Is that normal?
We have buried his water bowl so he can walk in and out much easier and have also bough him a rock to climb on.
I have attached a picture of his new setup. Any further advice will be greatly appreciated.

Your RT is a lucky little tortoise, and I love and envy his new enclosure! It looks like a mixture of sand and soil, and as long as he doesn't eat to much of the substrate he should be fine. However, I would monitor this closely and make sure it doesn't spiral out of control. A little nibble could turn into a big problem. Other then that, there shouldn't be any problems with the new additions. Good Luck!

 

[lkwagner]

Don't use sand it will cause impaction

This is not entirely true. I agree that sand should not be used for hatchlings because if they digest the sand it will make them very sick. However, juvenile and adult tortoises can be given a sand substrate because they will know not to eat it. And as long as you don"t place the tortoises salad directly onto the ground, they should not be eating anyways. Still, It is possible for tortoises to be raised on sand because that is what they live on in the wild.

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Just wanted to update you all.
Today we bought Tommy a new substrate which is a mix of soil and something else and instantly he seems to be enjoying it a lot more inside his vivarium. He seems a lot more active!
Only thing he is doing is eating little bits of it? Is that normal?
We have buried his water bowl so he can walk in and out much easier and have also bough him a rock to climb on.
I have attached a picture of his new setup. Any further advice will be greatly appreciated.

Your RT is a lucky little tortoise, and I love and envy his new enclosure! It looks like a mixture of sand and soil, and as long as he doesn't eat to much of the substrate he should be fine. However, I would monitor this closely and make sure it doesn't spiral out of control. A little nibble could turn into a big problem. Other then that, there shouldn't be any problems with the new additions. Good Luck!

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I wouldn't risk it. When I've seen adult torts become impacted I don't see the point in using it when I could use something that won't cause harm if digested

 

[OurTommy]

I wouldn't risk it. When I've seen adult torts become impacted I don't see the point in using it when I could use something that won't cause harm if digested
[/quote]

Is his initial small amounts of ingestion likely to cause any problems or would it just be from prolonged nibbling?
I've started to worry now as tonight he is sitting under his heat lamp which he hasn't been too fussed about before.

 

[tort_luv_5055]

I can see where this is true and I wouldn't risk it myself! I hope Tommy learns not to eat the sand, I wouldn't let him. He will try to eat everything (my tort tried to eat rocks and his substrate on his first day) but he quickly learned not to. I would possibly feed him on an area of the enclosure that is either clear of the substrate or is close to clear. Make sure you are feeding him in a bowl and not on a rock because he might swallow some this way if the substrate is tracked onto the food. Also, feed him on top of the sand. Hope I helped!