Hey everyone — this is my Western Hermann's hatchling (~3 months old, born in July). I've had him for 3 days now and wanted to get some eyes on my setup and routine to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Setup: - Cement mixing tub (temporary while I build him something bigger) - Coco fiber / play sand mix substrate, kept damp underneath - Arcadia T5 UVB + 50W halogen basking lamp, both on timers, ~12 hrs a day - Basking spot 95–100°F, warm side mid-80s, cool side high 60s / low 70s - Humidity around 50–60% ambient, ~80% in his humid hide - Two temp/humidity sensors, one on each side, so I can check from my phone

Routine: - Warm soak every morning, then he goes and basks on his own - Fresh greens daily, roughly a shell-sized pile — collard greens, curly endive, dandelion greens, spring mix, and some Mazuri (his breeder also had him on squash, hibiscus, and mulberry leaves) - Plain calcium powder (no D3) dusted on a few times a week - He skipped food on day 1 but ate collard greens from my hand on day 2 and has eaten since. He's weirdly bold for a hatchling — doesn't hide from me, and he sleeps buried under his plant

Questions: 1. Does anything in the setup look off or missing for a hatchling? 2. Is the ambient humidity fine with the humid hide doing the work, or should the whole tub be higher while he's a baby? 3. Daily soaks — keep them daily long-term, or taper off as he settles in? 4. I'm planning a bigger build with deeper substrate — anything you'd design differently if you were starting over?

Thanks!

Hi all,

After 17-18 years I have re-homed my horsefield. I know logically speaking it was the right thing to do however, I still feel quite upset. If anyone wants to tell me any stories of their tortoises to cheer me up that would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone :)

Little Isaac had his last antibiotic shot today for a respiratory infection. He is all better! I found him all the last of my organic yard dandelions he can eat, his favorite treat! He was the bestest boy and so brave. I love him so much.

Hello I know this has been asked for many times but there is too many different opinions. For now I am using coco coir and peat moss mix (I know this isn’t ideal) but what can I do to make it first of all safe for my baby tortoise?

Today while I was out of the house my mother found an injured gopher tortoise on our property. She tried relocating it for some reason, but when she checked on it later she was displeased that red ants were near the wound. So she then put it in a box on my patio for "safety"

I called Florida FWC who referred me to a wildlife rehab that doesn't answer the phone.

My first instinct was to let nature take its course and stick it on the other side of the fence where there are no risk of dogs or mowers (Not sure what caused this, but thats my suspicion ) but im pretty sure Disney based Snow White on my mother's personality, so here we are.

Looking for suggestions on how to appease the Disney princess that is my mother and help this little baby, too.

Im in Citrus County Florida. Inverness.

UPDATE: Tortoise was brought to Nature World in Homasssa. I was told it was a survivable injury, and it would be released into the near by state park as soon as it was safe to do so. The facility itself was clean and well kept and appeared to have some type of outreach program for boys with learning disabilities. I felt good about leaving the tortoise there.

Hey everyone,

I ordered two bags of Arcadia Optimised52 freshly pressed tortoise food to try out for my russian tortoise. Unfortunately both of them have pass the best before date by 3 months when I got them. I got my money back but do you think its still safe to give? It still looks and smells fine.

That said, has anyone else tried this food?

I've heard they can live a long time but i don't know how long exactly. I don't know how many actually live over 100 years but it sounds like they will at least live as long as a human. It would pretty crazy to have the same pet for over 50 years. I'm just curious.

This is my tortoise Henry. He is a 6 year old marginated tortoise. Henry has been kind of a problem tortoise since I got him last year. He suffers with chronic runny nose syndrome, and he went into brumation early this year. I've decided to wake him up and bring him inside instead this winter, as we are scheduled to have really bad storms and he wasn't truly asleep, he was awake most of the time, but would go in to sleep for about a week at a time. Anyways, I've left him to warm up gradually, and then gave him a bath and then I fed him some mazuri to get him eating again. He ate the Mazuri right away but my big issue and something that has always kind of been an issue is water. He won't drink any water. I've tried reptiboost, vitamin drops, I give him baths every now and then as well as a water bowl in his table. WHY WONT HE DRINK!?? any tips to get him to drink ? ( Pic is proof that I bring my tortoise to the vet like a normal person but considering I thought his RNS was constant URIs , I was forking over a fortune for antibiotics and antiinflammatories for him... So any advice or things I can try before bringing him back out to the vet which is a long drive away is super helpful)

This tortoise is not being held safely and I’m trying to determine if it is of a protected status so that I can involve the authorities and get it taken care of. It’s very large—at least 12 inches long, if not longer.

This is stumpy and he is a rescue. I don’t know what kind of tortoise he is and I noticed that the bumps on his shell are not tall.

I love when I stumble across the gopher tortoises around here :). Just never had one personally come in my yard. I put on gloves and moved him farther out away from the houses to a safer spot and let them go rummage around and eat.

part of my Jurassic Park themed backyard turtle garden/park.

Hi, this is Delly, about 1year-old hermann, Delly is taking a walk right after taking a bath in the photos, I noticed its shell isn't as shiny as before, it looks like no luster and its shell has little white, twisted lines on the side of shell, is there a problem with its stratum corneum or any other problems? And its mouth is turning green, is that also a problem?

I'm a beginner tortoise owner, really need and appreciate some advice 🐢

hi!!! a friend is having serious housing issues, so i'll be taking care of his sulcata in my medium-sized backyard soon. i've never kept a tortoise before, and while i'm doing as much research as i can i wanted to hear any advice people here can give me.

we don't know how old she is, but she's been an adult for at least 15 years and is around 30cm. she used to live in a huge backyard with plenty of basking space, shade, hiding spots, places for burrowing, etc. my backyard is mainly stone floor with a smaller garden for growing fruits and vegetables, and otherwise covered in ornamental plants. a section of the backyard has a roof and provides decent shade. i don't have the space inside my house for an indoor enclosure big enough for her, except for maybe an emergency one for when it's storming or very cold/hot outside.

my budget isn't very big, so i was thinking of getting the largest elevated garden bed i can get, place it half under the shade of the backyard's roof, use a waterproof pool tarp for lining and a coconut coir and soil mix for the substrate. i'm still figuring out how to add a cover and how to mantain appropiate sunlight/temperature/moisture/etc without spending an insane amount of money. it's only temporary, 8 months or so, but i want her to be as comfortable and healthy as possible while staying with me.

any advice is appreciated!!!!

Hi everyone. I’ve had Theodore for about a little over a month now. At first he (she?) loved his mustard, turnip and collard greens mixed with yellow bell pepper (he loves the bell pepper) and then all of a sudden he stopped eating weeks ago. Went from 35g up to 39g in two weeks and then steadily dropped 2g every week and now he’s sitting around 30g. Enclosure levels are around ~85 Fahrenheit and ~80% humidity. I don’t hear any wheezing or see any mucus around the eyes/mouth. Any help would be appreciated!

Hello All
My baby elongated tortoise likes to hide in the very corner of the enclosure most of the day. The thing is the humidity at shell level where it stays is around 67%. I have a humidifier with automatic setting but if I put the sensor at where the tortoise is and set it to 80% the rest of the enclosure will be at 100% humidity. I’ve read online that baby elongated tortoise need high humidity in the formative years. I don’t know what to do. The temperature is within range at 80 Fahrenheit with 95 Fahrenheit under basking light. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Little Foot turns 5! Got him at one month old. He now weighs 30lbs! I just wanted to share my cute shell puppy 🥰

I found him abandoned and someone told me the type but I don’t remember

Yesterday around 11:30 am I let him outside cause it was sunny and warm to get some exercise and forage for weeds. I put him in his little outdoor enclosure which is 4 wood planks forming the walls and netting over top to prevent predators from getting to him.

When I went to bring him inside at 4pm he was gone. Usually when I think he has disappeared it turns out he was just hiding under the grass within his enclosure. This time he’s actually gone. My family searched for him til dark and then set out water and kale in the morning. It’s currently 3pm and he’s still nowhere to be seen.

I’m very worried because I live in lower mainland BC, Canada, and night time temperatures are beginning to dip to 6-8C. I’ve reported him to the local missing pet services and hung up missing posters around the neighbourhood but I dont know what to do. I feel like he’s gone forever and I am so devastated. Is there anything else I can do to bring him home or is he gone? If he dug a burrow for himself can he stay warm enough and survive til the spring? I’m so worried and sad. He’s very small too, around the size of a coffee cup lid and 90g.

Note: I refer to my tortoise as he but I am aware you cannot tell their gender yet.