- Joined
- Jul 30, 2013
- Messages
- 436
Hey all, I am very excited to share that our new aldabra tortoise arrived this week and we are thrilled with this little guy. Against the advise of several of you, and in reverse of my earlier thinking, I went ahead and took the plunge into this world of the fabulous aldabra. I live in Minnesota and that will be the biggest challenge to deal with. As I see it I've got a couple years to develop the best set up inside and out and am in the planning stage. I did not want to wait any longer as I am 49 years old and want to be around this guy as long as possible.
I have no doubt that many of you will curse my name for bringing one of these guys up here to the cold, but that will not deter me from doing the best I can to care for him! I hope you will still be willing to share your knowledge with me. I have been raising P.Pardalis Leopards for 10 years and I hope some of that experience will translate. This is the best place on the planet for communicating with experienced tort folks, for tort info & support.
My little guy's name is Brian! (after my unlce Bri who died 20 years ago, who was an actor, who once played a character named Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, which I named my first turtle when I was 7 years old, and who loved elephants - hence, I now have the elephant of tortoises, therefore - Brian!). I have several pics attached.
I will keep good records of him/her (I have recorded every meal for my leopards since the day I got them, including weekly weight and length) and will share that here, along with how I develop his enclosures.
Currently I have him in an indoor enclosure of about 16 square feet with a plywood floor. It has two levels with a change in height of about 3". The lower level is covered in a layer of cyprus mulch that I keep moist. He has a humid hide, and I have a MVB light, a UVB flourescent, and a CHE. His primary diet is chopped and soaked orchard grass with a few mazuri. I supplement with fresh kale, carrots, apples, cactus, banana, mustard greens, bell peppers, etc.... I rotate powdered vitamin, calcium with D3, calcium without D3.
I plan to eventually house my aldabra with my leopards until he outgrows them. Yes, I have read all the advise about not doing that, and have hear from several offline that they still do it, have done it for years, and have had no problems. At this point I plan to do it and will share my experience.
Currently this little guys is 5.5" and 22 ounces.
Thanks everyone,
Ben
I have no doubt that many of you will curse my name for bringing one of these guys up here to the cold, but that will not deter me from doing the best I can to care for him! I hope you will still be willing to share your knowledge with me. I have been raising P.Pardalis Leopards for 10 years and I hope some of that experience will translate. This is the best place on the planet for communicating with experienced tort folks, for tort info & support.
My little guy's name is Brian! (after my unlce Bri who died 20 years ago, who was an actor, who once played a character named Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, which I named my first turtle when I was 7 years old, and who loved elephants - hence, I now have the elephant of tortoises, therefore - Brian!). I have several pics attached.
I will keep good records of him/her (I have recorded every meal for my leopards since the day I got them, including weekly weight and length) and will share that here, along with how I develop his enclosures.
Currently I have him in an indoor enclosure of about 16 square feet with a plywood floor. It has two levels with a change in height of about 3". The lower level is covered in a layer of cyprus mulch that I keep moist. He has a humid hide, and I have a MVB light, a UVB flourescent, and a CHE. His primary diet is chopped and soaked orchard grass with a few mazuri. I supplement with fresh kale, carrots, apples, cactus, banana, mustard greens, bell peppers, etc.... I rotate powdered vitamin, calcium with D3, calcium without D3.
I plan to eventually house my aldabra with my leopards until he outgrows them. Yes, I have read all the advise about not doing that, and have hear from several offline that they still do it, have done it for years, and have had no problems. At this point I plan to do it and will share my experience.
Currently this little guys is 5.5" and 22 ounces.
Thanks everyone,
Ben