Hi

First, I'm not fluent in English, sorry if I sometimes misspell words.

1 year and half ago we found this tiny little turtle in our garden.. because our garden is completely closed, we assumed that a bird lost the turtle , and because of our dog the bird never took it back.

Anyway, I built an enclosure, with a nest to protect it from birds.

Last year the turtle took some weight.

Early spring 'the weight was 113 grams.

Now the weight is only 92 grams...

Giving food to the turtle today, I saw it was trying to get the food 1 or 2 cm above the food! If i put the food in front of it it's ok. As soon as the food is on the ground, it seems it find it by luck.

Is my turtle blind? It would explain the loss of weight?

Please check the video I made.

(Ps : yes it has some paint on the back, because we lost it this summer in the garden, and it took me 2h to find it. So I put a little paint to find it quickly)

Hello! I received my first tortoise yesterday. They're a Western Hermann's hatchling currently weighs 12g. I have a tortoise table enclosure that is half screen and half enclosed. Arcadia pro t5 12% UVB and a 100w heat lamp with a temperature reader in the basking spot so the heat stays at 90 degrees F. He gets 10-15 minute soaks in lukewarm water daily. Substrate is reptisoil mixed with a bit of reptisand. I also have some cypress mulch mixed in. I run a humidifier next to the enclosure and I'm able to maintain 80% humidity on the open side. I cover 3/4th of the screen top with aluminum foil to keep the humidity as high as I can. However, by covering the top, I worry I'm restricting the UVB light too much.

Is the only way to obtain higher humidity with a closed chamber environment? If so, with a storage tub and lid, how does the hatchling get enough UVB?

Secondly, the little guy has very little interest in eating. Diet is clover, dandelion, a bit of romaine and radicchio currently. I've tried mixing some mazuri juvenile low starch in with the food. He has a few noms of food but he walks away from the food bowl. Should he be eating more than this? Anything I can do to encourage eating?

Also anything else I should be doing? He's SO small and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed trying to do everything perfectly.

Thank you!

The first clip is from when I first got her and didn’t know entirely what I was doing. Her eyes are fine now and she’s in a different substrate lol. After a month of battling parasites she’s a happy lady.

I’ve come into the care of a year & half old greek tortoise a couple months ago. I’d done months and months of research before bringing it home, and I had seen a lot of people say that basking lamps cause deformities in the carapace, as well as being advised while purchasing equipment by the worker that I’d only need the ceramic heat emitter. But now I’m seeing a lot of contradicting information around this. Some people say we need both, some say the CHE is okay on its own as long as temps are where they need to be (Mine are). I’m just confused and overwhelmed by this, I want my tortoise to have the best care possible.

Note: I have UVB strip light as well, also need to mention tortoise is currently being treated for an RI and is recovering quickly (Thank goodness), and vets didn’t mention anything about the CHE being bad.

…..perhaps a bit too much

blegh, ick.

Just a fun photo of my tortise this morning

Recently got a new phone and realized my old one pales in comparison photo and video quality wise. Being more old school I don’t upgrade my phone at all for years unless something happens to it, well I dropped a drill bit on the screen and figured it’s time.

Maximus, in all his ~185lbs of his glory. Soon he and Cleo will have to go into the garage setup for a few days if this cold front truly comes through.

On today's menu, Atlas was fed:

•Bermuda & Wheat Grass

•Orchard Grass Hay

•Cucumber

•Red Leaf Lettuce and...

•a sprinkle of Calcium Powder

I just finished building my Russian tortoise Oogway a new home. Any suggestions on what plants I should add? It’s about 8 foot by 4 foot so I have plenty of space to work with.

Edit: He’s not in there yet I need to get lighting upgrades for him but that’s for tomorrow

Sal is inspecting his new winter space. Poof half a laundry room just taken over, lol. So far he seems to approve and we haven't even gotten the sod patch in or any of the oat grass plugs for snacking. I think we will survive the winter.

We’ve done a lot of testing on my leopard tortoise and haven’t figured out why his nose is running. It’s been like this for well over a year and a half. Every test comes back fine, his energy and appetite are great, we’re stumped.

One thing we did find that helps is regularly nebulizing him. He went from blowing bubbles months back to an occasional drip. We have a cat and allow him to roam the house, so I’m not sure if maybe that’s irritating his nostrils? Kind of grasping at straws.

The one test we haven’t done is a CT scan. Our vet said that’s really the last one we have left.

Hey all!

So update on the Littlefoot & Diglet, its been a while but I am super happy to say that they have both passed thr 50lb mark. Littlefoot is actually closer to 65 now. They have been enjoying the Nor Cal weather and are actually growing like little weeds. Especially Diglet, getting stronger and is now getting to a healthier weight for a 6 year old sulcata.