juat found a reptillian!!!!

Just found this little fella in my backyard.

I'm not too much of a reptile expert so I need tips and advice to help raise this little guy

Any feedback would be appreciated

reply to post by ElOmen


I don't think it needs raising.

Do these live naturally in your area, or is it an escaped pet?

You could put it back in a safe natural habitat.

That huge pic just used up all my bandwith.

If you want to keep it, lettuce and cabbage will do good. They love that.

vvv

reply to post by ElOmen


I'm sure you have good intentions but why not just let it go?

How would you feel if you were walking down the road and somebody "found" you and put you in a cage?

Worse yet what if whoever "found" you didn't know how to properly care for you.

I think its a gopher tortoise. Makes yummy soup. Or you can train it to be a teenage mutant ninja of some sort.

I can't see what your talking about in your picture it's extremely big
can you resize it ? Thanks.

reply to post by ElOmen

Well tortoises love most fruits and vegetables,especially grapes and lettuce,but you may need to supplement their diet with vitamin drops specifically tailored toward the needs of tortoises,your local pet shop should be able to advise you.They also need to have access to fresh drinking water,you'd be surprised how many people have the impression that tortoises don't require much water!

Another aspect of caring for tortoises is their hibernation cycle,they tend to hibernate from late autumn to early spring,and a comfortable area should be prepared for them for this purpose,I used to use a decent sized cardboard box with fine sawdust and lots of hay(not straw) to enable him to burrow deeply into the centre of the mass of hay.

It's also important to not disturb them whilst they are in hibernation,as this can cause them to wake prematurely and ,in some cases, can cause the death of the tortoise.when they do waken,make sure that there is a plentiful supply of fresh food and water for them,and it can also be beneficial to gently cleanse their eye area with a cotton wool wad dipped in warm water.

I apologize for the over sized image but honestly someone else will find it and destroy it or the wild cats next door will devour it....I think Irma take it to my friend he has a pond and its pretty big and he takes good care of all the animals at his house...

reply to post by ElOmen


As a Herpetologist I could give you a list of foods and Habitat requirements but because nake13 has given most of that for you I will not overstep the advice HOWEVER, it is very important to state that their statement of "lettuce" is incorrect and could ultimately starve this terrapin to death. It is very important that you do not feed it "Iceburg lettuce". Iceburg lettuce is the common lettuce that we humans enjoy and is the basis for most of our salads. It contains no nutritional value for the animal and is very sweet. Herps that are introduced to it have a very high chance of "liking it too much" and will stop eating anything else thus not receiving any nutrition at all. Fresh spinach is a better substitute as well as other types of lettuce. If you wish to give it "sweet" give it green apples(they love them).

Also in the habitat, make it large enough to allow for a heat lamp on one side so it can warm up but also large enough to get away from it to cool down and do not use cedar chips or news paper with colored ink as a substrate. The cedar will damage its neurological system and will lead to death and the colored ink effects its respiratory system also resulting in death. Clean the habitat at least once a week. As for water you can put a bowl of water in with it so that it may climb in and cool down(keep it away from the heat light) but it will most likely use it as a place to relieve itself as most(not all) of its water intake is from foods and therefore should be changed often. The rest, nake13 covered nicely. Follow these and you will have your new friend for a very long time.

reply to post by Agarta


Thank you for the info I will put it to good use.
Would a pond wih other fish. Be a good habitat?

reply to post by ElOmen


Actually it is a tortoise not a turtle therefore a land animal not an amphibian. It is not built to swim. It would be most comfortable and happy in an arid type habitat(ie hot and dry). Its substrate should be sand or fine brush like pine or sagebrush. I have found that by adding shredded cloth to the cooler section of the habitat in the fall(Autumn) for burrowing and hibernating will be appreciated but a larger amount of substrate will work fine as long as it can completely hide in it.

Edit to add: Also by placing a rock with a surface larger than the tortoise under the heat source it can warm its underside easier. Without knowing its actual size it is hard for me to give dimensions of a habitat needed but the rule of thumb is 3 to four times the length of its shell so it can escape the heat of the lamp. Also the water and food should be placed on the cooler side of the habitat. Another thing, keep in mind that herps continue to grow throughout their entire lifetime so in a few years the habitat may need resizing.

Also please keep in mind that its normal natural habitat is hotter during the day and cooler at night so please turn off your light/heat source when the sun goes down and turn it back on when the sun comes up(you can get a timer to do this for you fairly cheep) so that it realizes when it is time to hibernate. I have seen people keep it on a set pattern and it confuses the animal to the point where it hibernates for as long as 8 months after not hibernating for a couple of years. This puts the animal under unneeded stress. The reason for talking so much about the hibernation so much is that it is rapidly approaching.

Oh some reason i honestly admire tortoises, but anyway here's an obvious link for what and how to feed them.


Good Luck


Feedign Tortoises

Originally posted by dashen
I think its a gopher tortoise. Makes yummy soup. Or you can train it to be a teenage mutant ninja of some sort.

Where and why are you eating Gopher Tortoise

Im guessing your joking They are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. At Camp Shelby If we just looked at one the wrong way we would be in big time trouble.

Any creature we take into our hearts and homes are a big responsibility. You'd better find out just how huge that tortoise can get and how long it could live for. You may be handing him down to the next generation.

I have a turtle and just love him. I almost bought a tortoise years ago and I asked the guy, "How big will it get?" he said, "Big enough to ride." I said, Never mind." LOL

reply to post by Night Star


Lol I got this he's in good hands.
Can you share a picture of your turtle here I'd like to see it please

I'm About to go check if Theres a thread about members pets

Originally posted by ElOmen
reply to post by Night Star

 

Lol I got this he's in good hands.
Can you share a picture of your turtle here I'd like to see it please

I'm About to go check if Theres a thread about members pets

Don't have a pic of my turtle. It is a red-eared slider. He was the size of a quarter when I first got him, now he is at least the size of my hand. I've been a good turtle mommy.