Tortoise cage in Viet Nam

[rockerdien]

First time joining a tortoise forum, this is my tortoise cage and all 6 tortoise (5 of mine and one of my younger brother).

Radiated

Others:

 

[BuffsTorts]

How many species do you have in there!?
What are you going to do with them all when they are big?
Thats a lot of tortoises...
How do you manage to meet every species individual needs in that cage?
Nice looking tortoises tho, beautiful cage.

 

[Laura]

Nice looking torts, but some concerns... they need different care... look up the care sheets for each of those species..
The sulcata is going to outgrow that 'cage' very quickly and shouldnt be with them... its also too dry..
Do some more reading and make some changes...
welcome to our family..

 

[terryo]

Welcome...beautiful torts. What kind of water dish is that? Where did you get it? I really love it.

 

[Laura]

Terryo, I have a dish like that.. I got it at a pet store.. feed dish I think..

 

[Yvonne G]

Its a beautiful habitat, Rockerdien, however, its way too small for the amount of tortoises that you have in there. I would suggest that you need to make four more just like it and separate the babies.

I really love your radiated tortoise. Its just beautiful.

 

[terryo]

Terryo, I have a dish like that.. I got it at a pet store.. feed dish I think..

I love that dish. It's shallow and big...great for hatchlings and little guys. Do you know the name of it or what pet store you got it in?

 

[gummybearpoop]

Nice collection of animals and nice cage, but I would seperate all those tortoises by species. Why chance anything with such a nice collection. In addition, I am sure veterinarians are not easy to come by in Vietnam if one of your tortoises were to get sick.

Either way, thank you for sharing photos and hope you like coming to this forum. It has grown sooo much the past few years.

 

[rockerdien]

My cage size is 1,2m(L) x 0,5m(W) x 0,4m(H)
I have already sent two torts to my brother. So I have only 5, 1 indian star, 1 sulcata, 2 leopard and 1 radiated.
I see it is still good for 5 tortoises.
Just keep them two or three years, than I will think about another cage.

To Gummy:
You are right, Viet Nam does not have any vet for tortoise, just a few people know and feed tortoise.
When my tortoise had Running nose last month, I asked some vietnamese vet but no one knows.
So, I bought antibiotic for baby (use for baby child when got flu) and mixed to vegetable for my tortoise.
After 3 - 5 days, luckily all became normal.
Hope to study more experiences from you all.

 

[gummybearpoop]

To Gummy:
You are right, Viet Nam does not have any vet for tortoise, just a few people know and feed tortoise.
When my tortoise had Running nose last month, I asked some vietnamese vet but no one knows.
So, I bought antibiotic for baby (use for baby child when got flu) and mixed to vegetable for my tortoise.
After 3 - 5 days, luckily all became normal.
Hope to study more experiences from you all.

My uncle goes frequently to Vietnam and told me that animals are really cheap....that being said-some day those tortoises may not be available anymore. You have some nice animals and you need to seperate them by species. Prevention is the best medicine and you will save yourself some grief and money. Maybe make a cages like you have made, but also make a shelf for your cages so that you can fit 4 cages on it for the 4 species I noticed in your pictures. Do that before you buy more tortoises...actually do that before you eat lunch tomorrow.

Keep us updated!

 

[rockerdien]

Terryo, I have a dish like that.. I got it at a pet store.. feed dish I think..

I love that dish. It's shallow and big...great for hatchlings and little guys. Do you know the name of it or what pet store you got it in?

that Zoomed dish, they have many size and color.

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To Gummy:
You are right, Viet Nam does not have any vet for tortoise, just a few people know and feed tortoise.
When my tortoise had Running nose last month, I asked some vietnamese vet but no one knows.
So, I bought antibiotic for baby (use for baby child when got flu) and mixed to vegetable for my tortoise.
After 3 - 5 days, luckily all became normal.
Hope to study more experiences from you all.

My uncle goes frequently to Vietnam and told me that animals are really cheap....that being said-some day those tortoises may not be available anymore. You have some nice animals and you need to seperate them by species. Prevention is the best medicine and you will save yourself some grief and money. Maybe make a cages like you have made, but also make a shelf for your cages so that you can fit 4 cages on it for the 4 species I noticed in your pictures. Do that before you buy more tortoises...actually do that before you eat lunch tomorrow.

Keep us updated!

Thank you very much. I will think the best way to separate them, my house is small so I can not make 4 cage .
The distance from zoomed heating light to my tortoise is 35cm, UVB light to tortoise is 40 cm, could you please let me know if it is OK to my tortoise eyes?

 

[Laura]

Do you have a outside yard? If not, then you will be in big trouble when the sulcata gets bigger..If your house is too small, then start building outdoor enclosures. Its better for them and will be needed soon anyway.

The reasons they should be seperate and not all together:
Diet
Parasites to each individual
Temps
Care
Size of the animal as they grow.
What do you feed them now? Loook up individual care sheets for them.
Such a nice group. I'd hate to see something happen and there is no Vet to go to..
How did you get them? Is there a Pet Store?

 

[gummybearpoop]

Make a shelf where you can stack 4 cages

 

[Tom]

You have some amazing, beautiful baby torts there. We are all quite envious. I love that cage, but I too would like to see the species separated. Do they sell those large plastic storage bins over there? We have Rubbermade, Sterilite and a few other brands here. Watering troughs for other animals will work too. Good luck and please stick around. We ALL want to see MANY more pics of those fantastic looking tortoises.

 

[BuffsTorts]

What kind of UVB light?
If the UVB light is a compact fluorescent, it is bad for their eyes at any distance.

Do you understand that 4 species requires 4 different types of care? Different Temps, humidity, food....
There is a lot of information on all 4 of those species on this forum.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

We love that you have joined our forum. But many of us are experienced keepers and are envious of the rare and beautiful tortoises that you have. Most of us cannot afford the cost of those tortoises here in the United States. We also know that your beautiful tort table is already too small for the number of animals you have in it. Each different species needs a different type of care then the other species. So we see beautiful animals and a beautiful tortoise table and not good care for your animals. The Radiated needs different care then the Sulcata, as one example. Each different species needs different care from the other species. The table is already too small for the animals. Your substrate is too dry. I know Vietnam is humid, but your Sulcata and your leopard (?) need more humidity. We don't want you to think we are yelling at you, we are simply trying to help you and give you good advice for your such beautiful animals...

 

[mightyclyde]

Holy cats, a bevy of torts! Very beautiful. Your enclosure is very nice Very good advice from the previous posters... glad you are starting somewhere to provide adequate housing. Good luck~!

 

[rockerdien]

What kind of UVB light?
If the UVB light is a compact fluorescent, it is bad for their eyes at any distance.

Do you understand that 4 species requires 4 different types of care? Different Temps, humidity, food....
There is a lot of information on all 4 of those species on this forum.

I use Zoomed UVB 10.0 compact fluorescent. Why is it bad for their eyes?
You know, I really love tortoise and in Viet Nam, a few people feed tortoise, so no experience.
I will read all information in this forum.

To all,
Thank you very much for your all advises, I appreciate for that. I will study and try to find the best way to separate them by species.
Average temp in my torts cage is 30 - 34 C degree, I turn the UVB light 6 hours in the morning and the heating light at night.
I see they sleep so much, get up, eat and go to sleep.
Is there any problem with them?
Please advise.

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[firework]

Very nice collection. However, housing them together is really a bad idea. The specises you have are not "indoor" tortoises, you will need outdoor sheds/pens for all of them very soon. I think the winter in Vietnam is warm, that's very good, you don't have to hibernate them or house them indoors in winter time.

I noticed, on the last picture, it seems you torts have swollen eyes. This might be a sign of poor diet, nutrition imbalance/deficiency or even kidney stones. I heard India stars are especially prone to kidney stones.

Your torts are well worth of maybe $3,000 to $4,000 here in the U.S. I am just curious how much you paid for them? Where did you get them? Are they wild caught or breeded? The other day, I saw a video, a girl in Malyasia has a Slow Loris as a pet. That little thing is amazingly funn. Do you also have those in pet stores in Vietnam?

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Another point is, tortoises like all other animals are cute when they are small, you fall in love with them immediately and want "a lot of them", sometimes the seller/breeder lure people to buy more by giving fase information. But they will not stay small forever. When they are bigger, it's tremendous responsibility to provide them space, food and required hygiene level.

 

[hpfirework]

I am curious how they are doing now.