soon to be tortoise owner

[TimCarpenter]

Hi all, my name is Tim Carpenter and I am a soon to be tortoise owner so I thought why not start here. I live in central florida and I was wondering if any of you have any good tips on helping me keep my soon to be tortoise happy. I'm thinking of getting a testudo tortoise, probably greek or russian and as young as possible while still being safe any help is appreciated thanks a lot!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tim, and welcome to the Forum!

In my opinion, the best thing you can do for your tortoise is to set him up outside. I believe that as wild animals, they need the sun and the space to wander.

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome. Floroda's humidity can be a challenge with some species. How much space do you have indoors and out for enclosures? (You need to work on on 1 square foot of enclosure for each square inch of tortoise. Your pet will be around easily for the next 50 years, they don't accept change easily and they are not very portable, so you need to think about how you will care for it when you take a vacation and also if you are likely to be moving around a lot over the next few years (e.g. going to college)

A good start is to read this thread Beginner Mistakes

 

[TimCarpenter]

Well I am currently in college and living on campus so I dont have any room to permanently set up an outside enclosure but I am thinking of getting a 15-20 gal tank for the first first year after which I will most likely move off campus and will be able to purchase a larger tank. This is also why I plan to get a young tort so that s/he can hopefully grow with the tank. Also there is plenty of room outside to get exercise and I do not plan on keeping him/her in the tank all the time anyway. Also thanks for the beginner guide. Help still wanted : )

 

[JoesMum]

Realistically, I would suggest that you wait until you have graduated and you have more idea of how your life will pan out. Tortoises are pets for decades, not something cute for a college room.

 

[yillt]

Realistically, I would suggest that you wait until you have graduated and you have more idea of how your life will pan out. Tortoises are pets for decades, not something cute for a college room.

I agree with Joesmum but you can still make it work. Why don't you call a breeder and ask them to reserve one of this years baby's. Them find a large tank and order it close to graduation time. So as soon as you move out you will Be able to get the perfect tortoise and you will be an expert keeper. Sorry if this disappoints you but you don't want to have to give it back as tortoises are actually very hard to look after(but it does depend on the species. ) Good luck and well done on consulting us first and we can't stop you from getting a tortoise so if you do welcome to tortoise world.

 

[TimCarpenter]

I am aware that tortoises are pets for life and also that they do require a lot of attention in order to stay healthy which is why i came to this site in order to learn how to best care for my tortoise. Thank you for the advice but for now lets just assume that i am getting a tortoise even with these limited circumstances. i understand that i will not be able to provide superior living conditions but what would be the best with what i have and is there anything that i should look out for? for example is there any height level for tanks? should they be high, low, somewhere in the middle? are there any links either to other threads or sites that would help me pick an appropriate diet? is there anything dangerous about having a tortoise free roam around a house (supervised of course)? any helpful threads that help decide what the 4 temps i should keep the tank at? or just heating lamp help in general? anything to do with terrarium set up? how should one go about bathing a tortoise? how to keep the terrarium clean? under what circumstances should a vet be met with? what special treatment should i give a young tortoise in order to insure it stays healthy? where can i get the best quality stuff for the lowest prices? any of these things. i do have limited knowledge gained from my own research but any help from personal experience is very valuable. and this is not a limiting list but a general idea of what i'm looking for. after hearing this i will then make an educated decision on whether or not to get the tortoise but i can assure you that i do not intend to keep the tortoise as "something cute for a college dorm" and get rid of it as soon as i get bored.

 

[JoesMum]

Start with this Beginner Mistakes and I will look out some other threads if @Yvonne G doesn't get there first

 

[JoesMum]

Beginner Mistakes
Russian Tortoise care sheet
Greek Tortoise care sheet
Net setup for beginners

 

[Patjava30]

I just rescued a russian tortoise 2ish weeks ago. I've done the best I can for him and greatly improved the living situation he was in. My best advice is to read everything you can. Almost everyday he does something or I have a question about how to make him happier and do a little research. As long as you do your best and try your hardest to make him a loved pet I think that's great.

 

[TimCarpenter]

Okay, just worked out a deal to get a 55 Gal tank so that fixes the room issue for a least a little while. all of the links were very helpful. keep em coming if you still have anything useful. i'm all ears

 

[Kathy Coles]

You will want to avoid the curlly lightbulbs. I think my tort's eyes were harmed by them. That was before I found tortoise forum. There is so much wisdom here. Just read, read, read. A tank has some advantages of keeping humidity in. But all tort's just don't ever "get" glass. A 5 inch band of paper around the bottom will help him to keep from bumping into it. Good luck.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I would say you now know what not to do .good luck with school


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[TimCarpenter]

Thanks Kathy, and thats pretty much what ive been doing for a couple days now. just going through the threads : ) thanks for the info

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome to TFO!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome to TFO! I applaud anyone who is doing as much advance research as you are!

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome. Good to have you here! ! !