Update on my Marginated babies (w/ pics!)

biochemnerd808

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I know that everyone loves pics of baby tortoises.... and I am so very proud of my little Margie group. :)

I have been raising them with a slightly more relaxed version of the 'hot/humid' methods that Tom uses on his Leos and Sulcata babies, and that Melissa has used for years for her RT babies. I am so happy with the extra-smooth growth I'm seeing. It is SO worth all the work!

These two are my little ones, Blossom (the lighter one) and Bubbles (the darker one). They were hatched by Gary (GBtortoises), and arrived here in WONDERFUL health when they were just 16g small. Now these two are 92g and 148g, and growing all the time!

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Here are my 3 Margies all together:
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From left to right, Bubbles, Buttercup, Blossom. Buttercup came from a local 'accidental' breeder. I got her when she was about 9 months old.

Now that it is warm, the tortoises get to spend several hours every day outside. The baby enclosure is covered with a chickenwire frame, to protect them from predators. Here is a pic of the converted koi pond - they will outgrow this by next year. In this picture it is still very sparse, but the weeds are growing, and I make sure to put a nice big pile of weeds in there for them. They do have water in there, it just wasn't in the pic. :)
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bouaboua

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Very very pretty. All of them. Thank you for sharing.
 

shanu303

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they're adorable and cute :) thanks for sharing the pics :)
 

BFrederick

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Hi,
I just received 3 baby marginateds myself today.
I'm well prepared for them; but was hoping you could link me to information or a post about Tom's "Hot and Humid Method". I'd be interested in taking a look.

Thanks
Brian
 

biochemnerd808

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Here's a link to one of his articles: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/ (written for leopard torts and sulcata)
Here's one he wrote about his RT babies: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Both of those are really good resources. Marginated tortoises grow REALLY QUICKLY if given the proper care (I believe in THRIVING tortoises, rather than SURVIVING). So they have a lot of the needs similar to e.g. sulcata babies. Since Marginated tortoises belong to the testudo species, the care sheet for RT babies is excellent, too. What I do is somewhere in between.
That said, with outdoor living, healthy, smooth Margie babies can also be achieved - GBtortoises and many other experts have proven this. :)

Hi,
I just received 3 baby marginateds myself today.
I'm well prepared for them; but was hoping you could link me to information or a post about Tom's "Hot and Humid Method". I'd be interested in taking a look.

Thanks
Brian
 

Tom

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Gorgeous tortoises and pics Katie. Thank you. They are going to be some amazing looking adults!

Their good health is obvious and I'm wondering what sort of reproductive success you will have with them once they reach adulthood, in comparison to tortoises raised other ways. Exciting times. Please keep us posted.
 

haze384

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i don't have any tortoises yet im still doing my research but ive decided on getting marginated and i want 2 but I've heard to not have 2 in one tank is this true with marganated torts too.
 

Yvonne G

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Yup, quite true of almost every species. And usually a "tank" isn't big enough for one, let alone two.
 

biochemnerd808

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Marginated tortoises are some of the less territorial tortoises among the testudo species, so in a large enough space, multiples CAN be successfully housed together.
That said, I would recommend starting with just 1 - get her properly set up (preferably get the set-up ready before getting the tortoise), and get a good care routine - baby tortoises need more humidity, need to be soaked daily, weighed regularly, brought outside for natural sunlight, etc... hard enough work with just 1 already. Then once you have the hang of it, and your tortoise has grown for a year or so, you can always get another (or 2 more?). Getting just 1 and sticking with that is perfectly fine though! Tortoises don't yearn for companionship the way e.g. mammals do. They are perfectly content living solo. In fact, a solo tortoise will thrive because it doesn't have to compete for food, the basking spot, etc. :)
 

haze384

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Thank you for the info. We are going on vacation in may so we are waiting till July to get the tortoise which gives me time to get a closed chamber and a yard pin set up
 
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