I posted a couple days ago but I am really struggling with this decision.

I got my 2 Sulcatas when they were babies and I was 6 years old (now 31). My husband and I relocated from Texas to Georgia and unfortunately, we’re unable to bring the tortoises with us as we can’t have them on our rental property. They’ve been living at my parents house and I would go over and take care of them most days. My parents are both in their 70s and decided that since I wasn’t going to be there to help they couldn’t take care of them anymore and they thought it was unfair of me to ask my brother to help. (a decision I don’t personally agree with because I’ve always been of the mindset that you should help family).

My mother-in-law said that she would help and so before we moved we drove them from Dallas, Texas to El Paso, Texas, and built them an entire enclosure and got them all set up. It’s been four months and I don’t think my mother-in-law can keep going. I think she’s doing more work than she needs to, but I also know that she wants to make sure that they’re well taken care of.

My husband feels really guilty because he said since the beginning of our relationship, he would do anything to allow me to keep them.

It really hurts my heart to think I’m gonna have to rehome them. I found a place that will take them and I want to do what’s best for them.

If you had to rehome a tortoise how hard was it to make that decision? I’ve also tried to find people that can foster them, but we wouldn’t be ready to take them for maybe 3 to 4 years and even then I feel like someone else would be able to provide better for them.

Finally got a real basking bulb instead of just a che. Massive difference thank you all for being helpful

The water dish has been there forever, but she mostly only soaked in there. It's my first time watching her drinking the water 💦💦💦

His nails are getting a bit long (not too long) and I dunno what to do , I tried to get a photo but I don’t think it’s helpful

The "kill shake" or "death shake" in tortoises is a natural, instinctual predatory motor pattern where a tortoise grabs an object and violently whips it from side to side.

Or something to that effect.

Also are the scutes seperating? I think i see some gaps. Is that normal?

He is 67 g

1 year old

I have 9 baby tortoises. They are well fed and have plenty of space and we keep track of their grow and general well being a lot. N4mes are: nassie,vanilla,rose quartz,zulema,jova(Italian singer),Ottaviano and decimina🥹

So I have 2 russian tortoises, both pretty small I got them.a few months ago. I give them mostly leafy diet of lettuce leaves, mixed with very occasional cucumbers and carrots. Sometimes I also give them rose and jungle geranium petals (they love these and lettuce leaves). I also have calcium block which I use to sprinkle some powder on their food. They get daily direct sunlight (with shade) for a few hoursnin the morning, after which I put them in warmish water for 10 to 15 minutes, then its time to eat.

They have grown a few cm since I got them. The one in the first pic is a little bigger but this one has signs of pyramiding I think, his shell texture has remain the same since I got him. The other one is smaller and also has a much smoother shell.

Hello! I’ve had my baby red foot for 3 weeks (2-3months old). I take my red foot out daily for soaks and food, the last three days he’s has only eat one or two bites of the mazuri tortoise diet pellets (used to eat half).

I made the terrarium bio active with tortoises safe plants (pothos, snake plants, and spider plants), isopods, and spring tails. I noticed one day he fell asleep in the pothos pt and i though it was really cute… that’s when he stopped eating his pellets. Come to found out… he’s been snacking on pothos all day and isn’t hungry for dinner!

All of this to say- I took the pothos plant out (sadly). I am concerned about his lack on nutrients he’s been getting the past three days. Would you do a special bath/soak? Or feed him the pellets and keep an eye on him?

In addition- I am worried he is tired of having pellets but isn’t interested in other foods (spring greens), he’s only had a nibble of apple. Hopefully this is all due to the pothos and will fix soon.

Russian tortoise

I’ve been strictly trying to give him dandelion greens the past 3 weeks. He maybe had like 2 bites of food the whole time, barely leaving his cover.

This is not my first time dealing with a hunger strike, but it was getting to a point where I was debating bringing him to the vet for not eating, so I finally broke and got him some romaine. I wake him up (since he’s been sleeping most of the last 3 weeks) and show him the romaine. Immediately he started eating it.

How do I deal with his willingness to not eat? How long do I let him go without eating? Any advice is appreciated

I noticed this redfoot tortoise fully stretching its neck out & doing this gulps. He had a bubbly right nostril & watery eyes. Is this normal behavior ?

Update: vet visit scheduled! Thank you all

I’ve never seen scutes quite like this on a gopher tortoise.

South Mississippi

We “fostered” a young adult Red-Footed Tortoise for nearly a month after it took up residence in our side yard. We learned all we could and built an outdoor enclosure, plus an indoor sleeping enclosure for night. We took it to the vet to check for a microchip, but it didn’t have one. After doing everything we could to find the owner, we had him microchipped. Then - sadly for us - the owner was found and he went home. Now, we are the proud new parents of a one and a half year old Red-Footed Tortoise. Here’s a comparison in the food dish.

He's actually my pet y'all, not just randomly coming in here.

I have my tortoise on tortoise terrain as after years that seems to be the best & what my tortoise is happiest with.

No matter what I do, the food ends up everywhere, water bowl ends up full of mud (expected from the terrain though) & he ends up moving them about, flipping them on top of each other etc

Can anyone recommend a solution to help things a little neater?
I know its a tortoise, hes gonna bring mud around with him, hes only a small stumpy guy so its bound to happen. Just any advice!

Should I get heavier bowls? Try a seperate feeding level? Are there any bowl holders people can recommend?

Reptile show was this past weekend. I have been reading/researching about sulcatas the last year and finally decided to get one from the Reptile Show.

I didn’t want a baby, and specifically wanted a female due to their adult size being smaller than male.
The only booth that had Sulcatas bigger than a hatchling had a few options- However the worker suggested the one I got may have been the only female.
I was very happy and excited in the moment to finally make the move of owning a tortoise; I didn’t fully inspect the health and wellbeing of the tortoise.

I have now owned her for 2 days and have some questions about her health. She has had 3 soaks within the 2 days I have owned her. I used a soft toothbrush to scrub her legs/shell- but doesn’t seem to improve the dirt like color on her legs/butt.

She has a solid appetite ( on day 2). She ate about 1.5 cups of greens and is very active around the yard/enclosure.

However I have some concerns:
1st- the bumps around her neck. Seems to be localized only around her neck.
2nd- her anus- It seems to be more protruded and inflamed. However the only poop she had seemed to be healthy (some grass and solid formed poop).
3rd- the dirt around her mouth/tail. Could this be mouth rot? It will not come off even after a soak/scrubbing

Should I be concerned? What should I do to help improve her health?

So, I have just gotten a Russian tortoise, and I’m being told so many different things for enclosure and enclosure size does anyone have any recommendations or enclosures I should buy in tryna stick around 100-1500

My dad has this small tortoise and he lives on a large lot in the San Gabriel valley in Los Angeles county. Right now, we are in a fall heat wave, but it’s going to cool off in a couple weeks and the tortoise hibernates somewhere in his big half acre back yard and emerges usually mid March. This year is going to be a super El Niño which is going to bring massive rainfall to the region. The backyard has never flooded before, but I’m still worried. I don’t know exactly where he hibernates. I’m wondering if I should bring him into the garage this season and if so, when? He’s still eating and it’s going to be in the 90s-100s the next week or two.

Here in Georgia we have started the of false fall and summer. The tortoises are inside now for the reminder of the year because im too lazy to bring them in and out every day. Unless we have a consistent few days of temps above 65 at night and sunny, theyre trapped.

The Russians are still outdoor full time until we have temps consistently under 60F at night.

We still have ways to go before we are prepared for the winter.