Questions about tortoise!

[keiraliang]

I been looking for tortoises and reading things about tortoise.

I am new to tortoise! so might ask some stupid question, please don't be mad at me trying to learn!..

My questions...
1. Sellers on kingsnake, are they reliable? Which seller do you recommend? Which seller you don't recomment?

2. What does "pyramids" means when you are talking about a tortoise?

3. What's conisder as good color for tortoise? shell and skin..

4. Does tortoises needs light at night? or just need heat?

5. I went to homedepot and saw some working clamp light fixture. would that work the same as the one in pet store?

Thank you everybody!

 

[Scooter]

Welcome to the forum! You will find lots of help and info here.

1. I am not sure I have never purchased from that site.
2. Pyramiding is when the new shell growth, grows vertical instead of horizontal. This causes each scute to be up raised instead of growing smooth.
3. The color depends on the species of tortoise. Do you have a specific one in mind?
4. The do not need light at night and heat only if the room temp goes too low at night, most seem to say if it goes below around 65 they need heat.
5. That fixture should work fine just make sure you secure it with wire or screw not just the clamp it comes with.

 

[keiraliang]

Thank you for replying !

For tortoise color..
Could you tell me how to look at Russian, Greek and Hermanns's color?

Thank you

 

[GBtortoises]

1.Depends upon the seller. There are many sellers on kingsnake.com that have been advertising there since nearly the beginning of the site and were in business before then. Most with excellent reputations. There are also a few that pop up overnight and seem to disappear as quickly. I would suggest asking people on forums such as this about certain vendors and to get their input and experiences. There are also some very honest and reliable breeders and vendors that frequent this site.

2.Scooter basically described it. It's full explanation is much longer and always in dispute as of late. For the most part pyramided growth is considered undesirable growth. You can find photo examples of it from mild to hideous by seaching the web for "pyramided tortoise growth" or something close to that.

3.Tortoise skin color and growth depends completely upon the species that you talking about. For the most part each species general color and patterns are distinct that species and does not vary to the degree that they might with certain mammal species such as certain breeds of dog or horses. Basically one tortoise looks similar to another tortoise of the same species. Not identical, but similar. It us usually very easy to identify a tortoise species by first site if you've seen another of the same species prior to.

4.No a tortoise does not need and shouldn't have light at night. For many species there should be no heat required at night either but this will depend upon species and the environment that they are being maintained in. Many northern species of tortoise should have a 15-20 degree difference in day to night temperatures. Many warmer climate species do not require such a temperature difference and may not do well with one. This is where it is very important to learn and know the requirements of the species that you're keeping.

5.Technically any light fixture will work. Some are just better than others. If you're going to be using anything stronger than a 40 watt bulb it would be safer to spend a little bit more and purchase a lamp with a ceramic base and heavier duty cord. Incandescent and Mercury Vapor bulbs produce heat, sometimes alot of it. This heat radiates into the base where the bulb is screwed into and it can also cause added heat within the wire and at the outlet. It's better to play it safe and buy a fixture that is designed for heat producing bulbs. Many pet product manufacturers produce very good quality fixtures for that. I buy most of mine in farm stores that sell ceramic base fixtures designed for raising baby chicks. They are as good as those produced by pet product manufacturers at about half the price.
Scooter also brings up a good point about safety too-don't just rely on the clamp on the fixture to keep it in place. A friend of mine made that mistake many years ago with a puppy being kept in their back room while they were at work. The clamp-on fixture slid down and made contact with the puppy's blanket, long story short, the puppy died and half of my friends house burnt down before a fire department got there to put out the blaze. I learned from that lesson and all of my fixtures are securely attached with screws or closed hangers!

As far as "how to look at Russian, Greek and Hermann's color" that is a very broad question! Each of the species are generally (very generally) similar. But each has many individual characteristics. Depending upon who you want to believe there are 2-3 subspecies of Hermann's, 1-4 subspecies of Russians and anywhere from about 5-20 subspecies of Greek tortoises! Obviously with so much variation the colors and patterns are going to be all over the place. It's extremely hard to discuss what the color and contrast should be unless you are looking at a specific species. Even then there will be alot of variation based on individual animal. There are lots of forum members here that can provide you with loads of photos of tortoises of the above species but they may still not look like one that you would encounter elsewhere.

3

 

[Scooter]

I am glad someone could answer your questions in more detail.