wanna check out this RT for me?

[e79]

And share you thoughts? I received some cell phone shots (not always clear) of the guy we're going to look at tomorrow morning...would love some input and/or advice on anything that I might need to get a closer look at...assuming it's possible to "tell" anything from these of course, lol.

Personally I'm distracted by the cuteness of the sleepy guy under the plant <3

 

[laney]

Looks like a handsome male going by appearance it looks good, kept on nice substrate, smooth shell. Of course you never know if there is something underlying but that usually makes me more inclined to 'save' them lol

 

[Jacqui]

Nothing jumps out at me as being wrong. So have you gone and saw him yet?

 

[Yvonne G]

He looks a little thin to me. There's not much meat on the upper front legs (that's usually how I judge thinness).

Make sure his eyes are open and bright-looking. Can't tell from the picture but I get a bad feeling about the sleepy picture. He's all stretched out like he's trying to get warm, but he's under the plant - can't get warm in the shade.

He should feel like a rock when you pick him up, not a shell full of air.

See if he'll eat something while you're there.

 

[e79]

Everything looked ok as far as my untrained eyes could tell today - looking at one in person is soooo very different than all the photos on the internet!! He was very active and happily crunching on endive w/spring mix. He yawned at one point and I nearly died from the cuteness - had to snap myself back into reality in order to go over the rest of my "how to choose a healthy tortoise" checklist, lol. We did bring him home and he seemed happy and active until around 6pm or so when he dug himself a hole next (burrowed in but not covered) to the hide in the warm end and fell asleep.

We have a vet check scheduled for Wednesday - fingers crossed that he's healthy and we can keep him :xfinger:

I'm obsessively checking the temperature (put one on each end of the enclosure and I have one of the "guns") trying to figure out where and how things need to be to maintain the proper environment which is proving to be a bit stressful/anxiety-causing for me. I don't want to mess it up, ya know?

 

[WillTort2]

Give him a soak tomorrow morning. Then offer some food. After a quiet day or 2 to adjust, measure and weigh him.

And please post some pictures.

Good luck.

 

[mikeh]

Congrats on the tort! Sounds like very exciting time for you. How did your son react to the surprise when he came home from school?

One word of advice at the vet. Some vets are needle happy. Don't allow any vitamin injections, some can be fatal. If need be, most vitamin/mineral deficiencies can be safely corrected orally. Bring a fresh stool sample instead to check for parasites.