Severe Contradictions

[Yellow Turtle01]

So I decided to take a little look see at pancake torts, and I'm finding a lot of contradicting info, and not very many websites... does anyone have a reliable source of info on these little guys?
Thank you

 

[Tom]

I bought five hatchlings for a friend a few years ago. All 5 were pyramiding and had been started fairly dry. He made a closed chamber for them and raised them the way I raise my sulcatas. All 5 smoothed out, are very healthy, and are thriving to this day. I also correspond with three forum members who raise them in closed chambers with moderately high humidity and all of theirs are thriving too. Some of them keep posting egg and baby pics! I would recommend raising them following the Sulcata and leopard care sheet. It works very well for pancakes and the dry routine does not.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Ditto what Tom has posted. That and it seems they have a higher calcium requirement than most specie. This could be from the shy nature of the pancake stopping them from basking and getting the D-3 they need to metabolize the calcium.

 

[David Norris]

What about keeping a single pancake?
They are communal in their natural habitat... correct?

Then, would it be cruel to keep one by itself?

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I'm not sure on the lonely tortoise concept. Mine have always been in a group. 2 to 3.

 

[tortadise]

They're fine solitary. They are reclusive partially. In that sense I mean they are typical hiders. Unless feed, or conditions are favorable to them coming out of hiding. Typically being sprayed down, fed, or changing water. Natural they display a reserved/reclusive behavior because of semi harsh environments. They're rock dwellers, so only need to adventure beyond there crevices for food, mating, or search for a new home.

 

[Tom]

What about keeping a single pancake?
They are communal in their natural habitat... correct?

Then, would it be cruel to keep one by itself?

This has been debated often. Some people think they live in groups purely out of necessity due to their unique habitat. Island of rock surrounded by miles of flat open ground. They have to live communally in the wild to utilize what little cover is available.

I know people who have kept them singly, and it wasn't a problem. Of course most people keep them in groups and those do fine too.

 

[mike taylor]

You guys are forgetting the most important part . There's no way you could keep just one of the beauties .

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

You guys are forgetting the most important part . There's no way you could keep just one of the beauties .

Like potato chips or hamburgers…how can you have just one…?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I'll start looking in this section Just curious
Thanks guys!

 

[Yvonne G]

Like potato chips or hamburgers…how can you have just one…?

Or BACON!!

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Two things for this topic,

1) From the OP's question how did you, Tom and Cowboy Ken figure it was about humidity?

2) Single or multiple, sometimes male will tussle with each other, but for the most part they do fine as singles or in groups.

And for the record, they do live in areas with a naturally higher humidity than the surrounding countryside. I have raised many pancakes, kept on a paper towel changed daily. In the morning the towel is wetted so it lays down and keeps humidity up. The box they are in is slightly tilted so the down side ends up with about an 1/8 inch standing water. This dries out by the next day, but is down again. The box lid covers 3/4 of the box, with just enough open so direct light can get to them. I use the lid to a small yogurt cup for the water dish, and I place the tortoise in the water dish each morning. After doing this for a few days, they will just come over and get into the dish on their own.

@YellowTurtle01 was your question about humidity? Diet? What exactly are you reading to get such strong conflicting (severe constridictions) information? What are the contridictions you are hearing/reading?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

That they are naturally 'desert' species. They should live on sand, and should have low humidity all around Obviously, it's not true
Everyone was pretty straightforward about the diet, grasses and weeds, which was surprising, because of the other conflicting info about their habitat. Some people said no groups. Some people said they are communal and will get lonely (what?? tortoises don't get lonely!) All of the websites weren't really clear about what they NEED. How hot. How dry. How big. I hear about these little tort every once and a while, and I canseem t find any solid info on them out there. What is good for them? It all just kind of glazed over the basics needs of these animals.
You guys have cleared some things up, though, like the humidity.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Although I do think I saw a “Pancake" dating site once. ; )

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Well, there is alway scientific literature, from people who do see the animals in the wild, and do crazy things like collect microclimate data from crevices where pancakes live, how many are found of what size and sex together or alone. Where they find eggs and juveniles, you know basic stuff like that. Not available for some species, but is available for others.

Use google 'scholar' and see what you can find. Then there are good old fashion libraries, some univeritites still allow access to non-students, though not many. Most scientists will send you an electronic copy (pdf) of their paper, at least if you don't go at it like it's your right to know or something like that.

There is a surprizingly large amount of information on many species out there, from direct field observations. Just ask @tortadise about Kalahari Tents, and the field data available about them.

TFO is a great resource, but hardly the only resource.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Hmm, well put.
There is a lot of information about panckake torts, but not all of it's right, which is why I asked So thank you, I did learn about them a little!
I could go the library and find a book about them, but considering the knowledge for 'good' tortoise keeping has only been the last few decades, and the original flair for the pet trade of pancakes was right at the 'beginning' if you will, I can't imagine all of it's reliable and 'right'.
Thank toy for the great ideas, though, I'll have to look into them

 

[Tom]

1) From the OP's question how did you, Tom and Cowboy Ken figure it was about humidity?

When we got the five babies they had been started in fairly dry typical tortoise fashion. Dry substrate, infrequent soaks, hours of sunshine outside in a dry climate for 3 of the five. They had the typical dried up sponge look to them. Pyramiding had begun and was well on its way.

Since I now know what causes pyramiding, and how to stop it, my friend and I applied the same techniques that I have been using for other species. Damp substrate, closed chamber to hold in humidity, humid hide, frequent soaks, etc., and of course it worked.

Does that tell you what you wanted to know?

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

When we got the five babies they had been started in fairly dry typical tortoise fashion. Dry substrate, infrequent soaks, hours of sunshine outside in a dry climate for 3 of the five. They had the typical dried up sponge look to them. Pyramiding had begun and was well on its way.

Since I now know what causes pyramiding, and how to stop it, my friend and I applied the same techniques that I have been using for other species. Damp substrate, closed chamber to hold in humidity, humid hide, frequent soaks, etc., and of course it worked.

Does that tell you what you wanted to know?

I get the humidity answer, but how'd you sort that out from the question. Sometimes I see this where the question seemed vague to me, but others hit it.

 

[Yvonne G]

I didn't get that the OP was asking about humidity either, Will.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Hmm, well put.
There is a lot of information about panckake torts, but not all of it's right, which is why I asked So thank you, I did learn about them a little!
I could go the library and find a book about them, but considering the knowledge for 'good' tortoise keeping has only been the last few decades, and the original flair for the pet trade of pancakes was right at the 'beginning' if you will, I can't imagine all of it's reliable and 'right'.
Thank toy for the great ideas, though, I'll have to look into them

Well that's not what I meant at all, read field work narratives and create your own "keeping". I'm not suggesting reading all the dizzying aray of 'keeping' information at all, that'd drive anyone nuts. Read what they do in the wild and sort out your own keeping stradegy.